Murder in Time

Ellie Quicke #15

by Veronica Heley

Ellie Quicke has her work cut out when past wrongdoings put the future of a child she's grown to love at stake

Ellie opens the door to a man who is a stranger but instantly recognisable as the father of her housekeeper's brilliant but difficult young son. Mikey had been conceived at a party during which his mother Vera, a schoolgirl, had been drugged and raped. Abdi hadn't wanted anything further to do with her - then. Twelve years later he is a high-flying consultant whose wife cannot have children, and he aims to pay off Vera and adopt Mikey: a suggestion that does not go down well.

Ellie discovers that Vera still thinks fondly of her then boyfriend, even though he had also rejected her after that fatal night. But was that because he had fallen out of love with her, or because his father had been murdered that same weekend? Could the two events have been connected? And what part had Vera's closest friends and her family played in the tragedy?

Uncovering betrayals between friends and discovering the greed and jealousies behind past events only makes it more difficult for Vera and Mikey to decide on their future . . .

Genres: Mystery

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

Veronica Heley has published more than fifty books, including crime fiction, historical, and children's titles. She is currently involved in the Ellie Quicke series of crime stories and a variety of other projects. A full-time writer, she has been married to a London probation officer since 1964, and has one musician daughter.

AKA Veronica Thorne

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Generous, helpful Ellie Quicke finds herself drawn to the aid of Vera Pryce, a onetime cleaner turned college student who now acts as housekeeper in the Quicke home. Readers will learn the devastating secret about Vera’s son Mikey’s birth — and a threat of exposure of said secret.

Murder in Time, the 15th novel in this delightful series by British cozy-writer Veronica Heley, introduces a set of new characters, including Dan McKenzie, Vera’s naïve former boyfriend. Ellie’s husband Thomas comes across as considerably more of a prig than he has in novels past, but I enjoyed Ellie’s newfound decisiveness and grit. I also enjoyed 12-year-old Mikey’s becoming Ellie’s resourceful sidekick in crime. He’s a boy who’s clever and knows it perhaps a bit too well, yet he delights in outwitting anyone who would do harm to Ellie or his mother. How wonderful to see Mikey, once solitary and selectively mute, blossom into this quick-witted young man!

Murder in Time also contains very little of Ellie’s unreasonable daughter Diana, which let me realize how tired I am of her! All in all, this novel’s excellence will make it all the harder to wait until October for the next volume in the series, Murder by Suspicion!

[KathyTap · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Ellie Quick tales usually take no more than 2-3 days for me to finish. This took over a week, as I kept having to force myself to continue. And every time, there was another scenario where Ellie (and maybe another character) is explaining all or part of the same, same story to yet another person. The plot barely moved. Too many pointless chars: What purpose did Jack the Lad serve besides having a quirky nickname? Why did we need Sam? Was it necessary, or even interesting, to introduce Heidi and daughter (can’t remember her name) on practically the last page?

Mikey’s behavior was all over the place. Seems he got over hearing he was a product of rape pretty darn rapidly, practically yawning about it by the end. He started to trust Dan way too soon, as well. I mean, the night they met Mikey learned Dan had supposedly loved his mom, yet immediately gave up trying to find out what happened and abandoned her, never mind her dad. And the clincher: confronted with his grandfather, he actually *smiled* back at him? The dad of the man who raped his mother, tried to blackmail her, and kidnapped him?

And what the hell not reporting the kidnapping to the police? Yeah, yeah, Vera doesn’t want the rape to come out. Geez.

I hated that hardly anybody seemed to think that gang rape was much of a problem. Oh, well, they were young and foolish. Peer pressure, don’t you know? Let bygones be bygones.

I gave it two stars because, at long last, Diana was scarce.

[Sylwia]

I picked this up by accident when looking for a book with the same title. When I realized it's not the book I'm supposed to be reading that was recommended by a friend, I DNFed it, but I was around 25% in and the book wasn't bad! There were two moments of body negativity and fatphobia, and the whole story revolves around whether a woman lied about being raped or not, but other than that it was okay. I'm not rating it.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

How do these people get published? Absolutely unbelievable plot with characters whose behaviour made them seem like little puppets being yanked around by the author's clumsy hand. Shallow, one-dimensional and without any redeeming features except for the big table where everyone sat around eating comfort food and drinking countless cups of tea, which merited the label "British cozy". I read it because of the tea.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read in a series I am working my way through. I liked this one. I have stuck with this series because I was curious what the author was going to do with the less than perfect characters. Though this one doesn't include much about them. Diana a bit - Ethan senior not at all - Ellie's older grandson, ex son in law and family (nothing) - then I remembered that dear Rose also had a difficult daughter who has never been mentioned since Rose moved in with the family. I will likely continue on with this one to the end. At first I was ordering them from my library because I was concerned older titles would be weeded before I could get to them. Now that I have reached the end of #15 I feel less pressure. Still Ellie Quicke is my easy, go to mystery series for now.

[Violet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This episode is about the very sensitive topic of a teenage party where some drugs are introduced and a rape occurs ... twelve years ago. There was also a murder involved, of the father of the teenager hosting the party. These events are still very much on everyone's mind because of the 12 year old son born to Vera as a result of that rape but now the biological father shows up and wants custody. Ellie is a marvel. There is no beating around the bush in the way she gets to the bottom of the whole thing. The dialogue is all very straight forward. I guess it does help that it is 12 years later, but still hard to imagine all talking to each other as adults. Excellent.

[Lucy Takeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third Ellie Quick novel I’ve read. I enjoyed more than the previous two, mostly because of a smart, feisty boy that Ellie is trying to “save.” I’m undecided on how I feel about Ellie’s female police friend.
Vera lives in Ellie’s house with her son, helping with cooking and housework while taking business classes. A man suddenly appears, announcing that he wants to adopt the son he has ignored for decades. The man happens to be a spoiled, rich, powerful immigrant that essentially threatens first Vera, then Ellie. It is a complex situation, involving what turned out to be a wild party more than a decade back, drug dealers, sleazy politicians, and a murder.
I adore Mikey!

[Karen L Sisco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed

Many circumstances in the last few books have been silly and unbelievable. It's as if they turned the book over to a pre-teen to write. The series started with interesting, realistic plots but has become more unbelievable as it goes. Also, too many details that add nothing to the story. I skip over paragraph after paragraph which are just words taking up space.

[Liisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very satisfying read.... Good characters, lots of surprises and "out-loud" reactions on my part. It was never boring and I was annoyed when someone interrupted me during my reading. This book was also not terrifying, which in my book is good--a satisfying cozy.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

storytelling

This book was one book I read that I like reading about her characters back ground. I didn’t know if I was going to like it as read someone review. Read it on your own merits it’s a very good read.

[Elliemae · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish the book.

[Caroline Ingvaldsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another predictably entertaining cozy featuring the redoubtable Ellie Quicke and an endearing cast of intimates.

[aprilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy this series, will continue

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

And on to Murder by Suspicion.

[Anne Herbison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, the subject matter becomes quite gritty in this 'cosy' crime series.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the fifteenth book in an excellent series of cosy murder mysteries rooted firmly in everyday life. Families need to be fed shopping needs to be done and errands need to be run in between solving murder mysteries and righting wrongs. Ellie Quicke has grown and developed as a character over the series and is more than capable of standing up to most people but all her talents will be given a rigorous workout in this latest mystery.

Vera - Ellie's tenant and part time housekeeper - is being threatened by a man from her past who is the father of her twelve year old son, Mickey. In order to remove the threat Ellie must try and solve a twelve year old murder without revealing something in Vera's past which she doesn't want made public. Can Ellie find a way forward which will bring justice and still keep Vera's secret?

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced and thought provoking mystery and liked the way Ellie manages to find the solution as well as helping to re-organise the lives of those around her. The book is well written and the characters interesting and believable and the plot, even though there is no on the page violence doesn't skate over difficult issues.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel in the long running series is different from most of the previous books. We do not see the murderer's side as in the other books. Actually the murder is a side plot to Vera's problems. Vera. Ellie's part-time housekeeper, friend, and tenant is being threatened by her son Mikey's long lost father. Abdi wants full custody of Mikey although he never wanted him to be born, paid no child support and is a despicable creature. Abdi is blackmailing Vera by accusing her of a long ago murder that happened while Vera was gang raped at a party. Vera never went to the police out of fear and her father's embarassment so there is almost no way to prove her innocence without accusing the four men of rape. Ellie, as usual, uses her abilities and disarming manner to find a viable solution and solve the murder.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The one thing I can say about Heley is that she keeps you reading and the pace is good. I usually pick her up at the library and catch up with what her protagonist and her obnoxious daughter is doing. I think the daughter has run her course -- but it is such a sweet little cozy. The reader is invited back into this lady's life to pick up where she left off in the previous book. I get a bit tired of Ellie being smart enough to figure out all the murders but scatter brained and often downright dithery.

So, the stories may be contrived, but they are definitely a diversion. It is annoying to be unable to put down a book that you do not value with five stars. I guess Heley is able to accomplish what she sets out to do.

[Amy Thorleifson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An English series with Ellie Quicke, revolves around a rape and murder which occurred 12 years prior. Ellie's housekeeper Vera was the victim of the rape, she and her 12 year old son live in the Quicke family home. When one of the rapists appears to claim his son, Ellie decides to investigate the murder which followed the rape. A kidnapping, a suicide, some blackmail and some false leads result in a resolution to both crimes.
Some of the events of the story appear way beyond belief, but in general an ok read.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love every single Ellie Quicke Mystery by Veronica Heley that I have read thus far. I like that every character in Ellie's circle , as well as Ellie herself, is very true to life -- children are often big pains and even grandchildren can be a handful and then some. These are easy to read which helps me right now. I simply enjoy Ellie's world and can't put any of Heley's books down.

[MaureenAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Veronica Heley book I have read. I liked the book overall and especially the characters of Ellie Quicke and her husband. However, I found some of the characters and some dialogue not very realistic, which is why I've only given it 3 stars here.

[Viccy · Rating 3 out of 5]

15th in series

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed this book

[Kay Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing, silly, disappointing.

[Mary Curd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not know who had done it right up to the end. A good book,enjoyed every page