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Lloyd & Hill #2
Redemption
A white Christmas
Deepening snow has isolated the village of Byford from the outside world, but as the locals settle down for the festive period, the peace is suddenly destroyed with news of a violent crime at the vicarage.
A domestic murder
The victim is the vicar's son-in-law, but few are saddened by his death. And although Chief Inspector Lloyd is expecting an open-and-shut case, he is soon confronted with more than he bargained for.
A web of lies
Struggling to keep control of his personal relationship with Sergeant Judy Hill, Lloyd must work his way through a tangle of suspects, each doing their part to disrupt the investigation in this perplexing mystery.
'Murder at the Old Vicarage' is Jill McGown's classic homage to Agatha Christie, with a decidedly uncosy twist.
Deepening snow has isolated the village of Byford from the outside world, but as the locals settle down for the festive period, the peace is suddenly destroyed with news of a violent crime at the vicarage.
A domestic murder
The victim is the vicar's son-in-law, but few are saddened by his death. And although Chief Inspector Lloyd is expecting an open-and-shut case, he is soon confronted with more than he bargained for.
A web of lies
Struggling to keep control of his personal relationship with Sergeant Judy Hill, Lloyd must work his way through a tangle of suspects, each doing their part to disrupt the investigation in this perplexing mystery.
'Murder at the Old Vicarage' is Jill McGown's classic homage to Agatha Christie, with a decidedly uncosy twist.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1988
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1163 people want to read
About the author
Jill McGown
34 books39 followersJill McGown (9 August 1947, Campbeltown, Scotland – 6 April 2007 in Kettering, Northamptonshire) was a British writer of mystery novels. She was best known for her mystery series featuring Inspector Lloyd and Judy Hill, one of which (A Shred of Evidence) was made into a television series. McGown wrote her first mystery novel after being laid off from the British Steel Corporation in 1980. She is sometimes credited as Elizabeth Chaplin.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
April 28, 2022
The title makes the novel sound as though the readers are well and truly in Agatha Christie land, and in some respects we are. But in the respects that matter – characterisation, development of relationships and close examination of domestic harmony– Jill McGown is writing for a much more modern readership.
On a snowy Christmas Eve, Lloyd is regretting that he won’t be spending Christmas with Judy who is his lover as well as his sergeant. The village vicar George Wheeler, happily married, is less happy about his calling, but newcomer to the village Eleanor Langton, whose husband was killed in a motor cycle accident three years earlier is a welcome distraction. But then Graham Elstow, George’s wife-beating son in law, calls in search of his wife, Joanna. Christmas is not going to be the happy family festival that they had expected. Far from it, because a vicious murder takes place, which Lloyd and Judy are called upon to solve.
A domestic murder in a snowbound village seems familiar territory, but Murder at the Old Vicarage provides far more than that. The author handles a small cast of characters with great expertise, as the plot twists and turns with the characters each following their own agenda, taking the reader deep into their minds and motivations. It is for Lloyd and Judy to endeavour both to solve their personal relationship problems and to understand what has been going on in Byford village. They work their way to the centre of the maze with which they have been presented and by revealing the truth behind the murder bring redemption to those who have been caught up in its horrors. Very enjoyable!
On a snowy Christmas Eve, Lloyd is regretting that he won’t be spending Christmas with Judy who is his lover as well as his sergeant. The village vicar George Wheeler, happily married, is less happy about his calling, but newcomer to the village Eleanor Langton, whose husband was killed in a motor cycle accident three years earlier is a welcome distraction. But then Graham Elstow, George’s wife-beating son in law, calls in search of his wife, Joanna. Christmas is not going to be the happy family festival that they had expected. Far from it, because a vicious murder takes place, which Lloyd and Judy are called upon to solve.
A domestic murder in a snowbound village seems familiar territory, but Murder at the Old Vicarage provides far more than that. The author handles a small cast of characters with great expertise, as the plot twists and turns with the characters each following their own agenda, taking the reader deep into their minds and motivations. It is for Lloyd and Judy to endeavour both to solve their personal relationship problems and to understand what has been going on in Byford village. They work their way to the centre of the maze with which they have been presented and by revealing the truth behind the murder bring redemption to those who have been caught up in its horrors. Very enjoyable!
December 21, 2019
This police procedural, first published in the 1980s, is about a domestic murder that takes place at Christmastime. It seems to be a homage to Agatha Christie's "Murder at the Vicarage," though the vicar and his wife are very different from those in Christie's classic mystery. There is even a direct reference to "Murder at the Vicarage" at the end. One minor character is a Miss Marple-like old lady who is much sharper than she appears to be, and it becomes obvious later that detectives Lloyd and Judy Hill should have paid more attention to her. I'm not sure if I've read this one before or not, but I didn't have a clue who the murderer was until very close to the end.
December 17, 2025
I thought it about time I started on the Christmas reading … what a pity I chose one that I could not get on with even though it looked promising.
'Murder at the Old Vicarage' has a bullying husband, a vicar who queries his beliefs, a police officer who flits in and out in the early scenes while drooling over an old flame and a number of feckless characters, so much so that I unfortunately abandoned it before the end - even before the murder had taken place! I could not get to grips with the characters and the story went rambling on its way so I felt that I had better things to spend my time reading.
Sorry!
'Murder at the Old Vicarage' has a bullying husband, a vicar who queries his beliefs, a police officer who flits in and out in the early scenes while drooling over an old flame and a number of feckless characters, so much so that I unfortunately abandoned it before the end - even before the murder had taken place! I could not get to grips with the characters and the story went rambling on its way so I felt that I had better things to spend my time reading.
Sorry!
December 10, 2021
My first New Year's resolution will be to stop falling for books that are 'Just like Agatha Christie's!'
February 7, 2017
Book number two in the Hill and Lloyd series was just as enjoyable as I hoped with a good honest proper mystery, complete with a limited number of suspects and a solid investigation. As much as I am a fan of the newer types of crime fiction there is something incredibly appealing about a straightforward murder mystery, told in a sequential timeline with a single (reliable) narrator.
Redemption is set in the Christmas period with snow on the ground, which was credible in 1988 when this book was first published, and in the Vicar’s home. George Wheeler, said Vicar, has a lack of faith which surely is a pre-requisite of the job, is ably supported with the lack of faith firmly disguised and ignored by his wife, Marian. They are both understandably distressed when their young daughter (a mere twenty-one) is visited by her husband in the small village outside Stansfield. Joanne, has been previously been beaten by Graham Elstow and returned to the bosom of her family after a particularly serious incident, and then on Christmas Eve night, he is found beaten to death in bed at the Vicarage. Acting Chief Inspector Lloyd (it seems Jill McGown went with her former Latin teacher, Colin Dexter’s naming preference for the chief protagonist and declined to give him a first name until much later in the series) and Sergeant Judy Hill are hopeful that this is going to be a case they can swiftly solve, after all surely young Joanne has retaliated with the handy murder weapon of a poker? It’s not to be, because it isn’t long before the alibis for the entire household come rolling in and the occupants insist that he must have been attacked by an intruder.
It was the skilful misdirection employed throughout this novel that really had me gripped. There are some convoluted relationships to dazzle the reader, including that of the young playgroup attendee Eleanor Langton who lives in the castle grounds as a single mother while working as an archivist. She has caught the Vicar’s eye and he is having very unholy thoughts about her. For Lloyd and Hill things are no less complex as there are some confessions, time lines which simply don’t fit with the time of death and locked doors that are usually left open, as I presume was the habit in a small village in the 1980s. Fortunately the reader doesn’t need to spare any sympathy for the wife-beating victim all of which ensures this book falls into the gentler half of crime fiction but far away from the cosy variety. I will grant you that we don’t get too far beneath the surface of the characters in the way more modern crime fiction tends to, but what is lacking here is made up for with a story with a puzzle that is told in a mere 246 pages.
Of course Christmas is a great setting for a murder mystery because you have all the angst and families, which often amount to one and the same thing, competing with the forced merriment. Jill McGown uses this aspect to breathe a contemporary feel into her mystery which has tendrils reaching back to the Golden Era. Lloyd and Hill are having an affair the beginnings of which stretch back through time but with Judy Hill moving back to the area, it has reignited, and we all know with those families hanging around that for those involved, Christmas is a tricky time to conduct any secret assignations. There have been strenuous efforts made by the author to remove the sordidness from this relationship with Judy’s marriage (almost) being one of convenience and the way both professionals keep their two worlds separate, meaning that the investigation isn’t sullied by bedroom antics.
All of this made for a very satisfying read, my first of the Mount TBR challenge which may not be succeeding in actually reducing the TBR as I now want the next book in the series which fortunately for me have been republished by Bello. Redemption has since been released by Pan as part of their Christmas series under the title Murder at the Old Vicarage.
Redemption is set in the Christmas period with snow on the ground, which was credible in 1988 when this book was first published, and in the Vicar’s home. George Wheeler, said Vicar, has a lack of faith which surely is a pre-requisite of the job, is ably supported with the lack of faith firmly disguised and ignored by his wife, Marian. They are both understandably distressed when their young daughter (a mere twenty-one) is visited by her husband in the small village outside Stansfield. Joanne, has been previously been beaten by Graham Elstow and returned to the bosom of her family after a particularly serious incident, and then on Christmas Eve night, he is found beaten to death in bed at the Vicarage. Acting Chief Inspector Lloyd (it seems Jill McGown went with her former Latin teacher, Colin Dexter’s naming preference for the chief protagonist and declined to give him a first name until much later in the series) and Sergeant Judy Hill are hopeful that this is going to be a case they can swiftly solve, after all surely young Joanne has retaliated with the handy murder weapon of a poker? It’s not to be, because it isn’t long before the alibis for the entire household come rolling in and the occupants insist that he must have been attacked by an intruder.
It was the skilful misdirection employed throughout this novel that really had me gripped. There are some convoluted relationships to dazzle the reader, including that of the young playgroup attendee Eleanor Langton who lives in the castle grounds as a single mother while working as an archivist. She has caught the Vicar’s eye and he is having very unholy thoughts about her. For Lloyd and Hill things are no less complex as there are some confessions, time lines which simply don’t fit with the time of death and locked doors that are usually left open, as I presume was the habit in a small village in the 1980s. Fortunately the reader doesn’t need to spare any sympathy for the wife-beating victim all of which ensures this book falls into the gentler half of crime fiction but far away from the cosy variety. I will grant you that we don’t get too far beneath the surface of the characters in the way more modern crime fiction tends to, but what is lacking here is made up for with a story with a puzzle that is told in a mere 246 pages.
Of course Christmas is a great setting for a murder mystery because you have all the angst and families, which often amount to one and the same thing, competing with the forced merriment. Jill McGown uses this aspect to breathe a contemporary feel into her mystery which has tendrils reaching back to the Golden Era. Lloyd and Hill are having an affair the beginnings of which stretch back through time but with Judy Hill moving back to the area, it has reignited, and we all know with those families hanging around that for those involved, Christmas is a tricky time to conduct any secret assignations. There have been strenuous efforts made by the author to remove the sordidness from this relationship with Judy’s marriage (almost) being one of convenience and the way both professionals keep their two worlds separate, meaning that the investigation isn’t sullied by bedroom antics.
All of this made for a very satisfying read, my first of the Mount TBR challenge which may not be succeeding in actually reducing the TBR as I now want the next book in the series which fortunately for me have been republished by Bello. Redemption has since been released by Pan as part of their Christmas series under the title Murder at the Old Vicarage.
February 4, 2022
Es tut mir fast ein bißchen leid, dass es nur zwei Sterne geworden sind. Ich habe auch mit dem Dritten gerungen. Aber... letztlich war "Mord im Alten Pfarrhaus" einfach keine Geschichte, zu der ich auf 314 Seiten Zugang gefunden hätte. Zum ersten: Es ist einfach kein echter Krimi. Auf wenn es einen Toten gibt und die Polizei ermittelt etc. Aber es wurden auf deutlich mehr Seiten die Partnerschaftsprobleme der Protagonisten beleuchtet als das man nach dem/der Täter*in gesucht hätte. Leider fängt die Story auch damit an. Der Tote und seine Frau haben (wirklich heftige!) Eheprobleme, die Eltern der Frau (in deren Pfarrhaus sich das Ganze abspielt) haben Probleme UND die beiden ermittelnden Beamten haben eine Affäre miteinander (und natürlich hat zumindest der weibliche Teil des Duos auch Eheprobleme. Der männliche Teil nur deswegen nicht, weil er schon geschieden ist). Sorry... aber das war mir für einen Krimi einfach zu viel geballte Eheproblematik.
Ein weiteres Problem beim Lesen war die unglückliche Neigung der Autorin, alle (ALLE) Protagonisten nahezu ausschließlich mit Vornamen zu benennen. Also verhört nicht Detective Sergeant Hill die Verdächtige Mrs. Elstow, sondern Judy verhört Joanna. Das geht soweit, dass sich die beiden ermittelnden Kriminalbeamten über die Toten unterhalten und von 'Graham' sprechen, als wenn es ein gemeinsamer Bekannter wäre. Dass die Autorin eine starke Vorliebe für bestimmte Anfangsbuchstaben bei Vornamen hat, macht die Sache nicht besser. Da toben dann Jill, Joanna und Judy durch die Szenen. Das mag sich nach Erbsenzählerei anhören, aber man muss es dem Leser doch nicht schwerer machen als nötig. Die englische Sprache kennt durchaus genug Vornamen selbst für Romane mit mehr Personen ;) Der Spannungsbogen ist so steil wie ein Berg in Schleswig-Holstein. Was die Glaubwürdigkeit der Personen und ihrer Handlungen angeht, darf man zumindest geteilter Meinung sein.
Ein weiteres Problem beim Lesen war die unglückliche Neigung der Autorin, alle (ALLE) Protagonisten nahezu ausschließlich mit Vornamen zu benennen. Also verhört nicht Detective Sergeant Hill die Verdächtige Mrs. Elstow, sondern Judy verhört Joanna. Das geht soweit, dass sich die beiden ermittelnden Kriminalbeamten über die Toten unterhalten und von 'Graham' sprechen, als wenn es ein gemeinsamer Bekannter wäre. Dass die Autorin eine starke Vorliebe für bestimmte Anfangsbuchstaben bei Vornamen hat, macht die Sache nicht besser. Da toben dann Jill, Joanna und Judy durch die Szenen. Das mag sich nach Erbsenzählerei anhören, aber man muss es dem Leser doch nicht schwerer machen als nötig. Die englische Sprache kennt durchaus genug Vornamen selbst für Romane mit mehr Personen ;) Der Spannungsbogen ist so steil wie ein Berg in Schleswig-Holstein. Was die Glaubwürdigkeit der Personen und ihrer Handlungen angeht, darf man zumindest geteilter Meinung sein.
December 22, 2017
Intriguingly, the presentation of this novel is both accurate and misleading at the same time - it's a quantum superposition of crime. On the one hand, the murder takes place in a vicarage (tick) at Christmas (tick) with lots of snow (tick). And there's no doubt that the title is a homage to Agatha Christie - in fact, the last line of the book is 'Murder at the Vicarage, he thought as he got into the car. He must read it again some time.' However, the setting apart, this is a modern murder mystery with mostly modern characters (I'll mention a couple of exceptions) and a thoroughly up-to-date Britain.
Jill McGown skilfully pulls together a plot in which every one of the possible suspects really could have done it - I've not read her books before, but I'll certainly be back for more. Her detectives, as is common these days, have domestic issues, not helped by them having previously had a relationship, but one is now married to someone else.
The characters are largely well drawn. Those two exceptions who come from the stock characters cupboard are an old lady who appears a little out of it, but is really a very sharp observer (who does that remind us of? Okay, I'm sure it's intentional) and the vicar, who harks back to the 70s when all vicars in fiction had to have lost their faith.
I didn't see the ending coming and found the book an engaging read. If I have one criticism of the plotting: almost everyone seemed at some point to be lying to cover up for another person who they thought had done it, but who hadn't. They never seem to bother to talk to each other and check.
The modern setting means this book doesn't quite score as well as it could for a traditional Christmas murder mystery... but it is well written and keeps the reader guessing, so it has turned out to be one of my favourites for this year.
Jill McGown skilfully pulls together a plot in which every one of the possible suspects really could have done it - I've not read her books before, but I'll certainly be back for more. Her detectives, as is common these days, have domestic issues, not helped by them having previously had a relationship, but one is now married to someone else.
The characters are largely well drawn. Those two exceptions who come from the stock characters cupboard are an old lady who appears a little out of it, but is really a very sharp observer (who does that remind us of? Okay, I'm sure it's intentional) and the vicar, who harks back to the 70s when all vicars in fiction had to have lost their faith.
I didn't see the ending coming and found the book an engaging read. If I have one criticism of the plotting: almost everyone seemed at some point to be lying to cover up for another person who they thought had done it, but who hadn't. They never seem to bother to talk to each other and check.
The modern setting means this book doesn't quite score as well as it could for a traditional Christmas murder mystery... but it is well written and keeps the reader guessing, so it has turned out to be one of my favourites for this year.
November 14, 2021
Spannender Krimi in weihnachtlicher Atmosphäre in einem verschneiten Dorf in England
Rezension folgt...
Rezension folgt...
May 22, 2016
So many irritating characters.
December 26, 2019
Murder at the Old Vicarage was our Christmas book club this year. One of our lovely members read the whole book while the rest of us read until just before the murderer was revealed. At our meeting we had to guess who the murderer was!
Set in the 1980s in a tiny snowy village, a man is found murdered in the vicarage. The suspects are his in-laws (the vicar and his wife), his pregnant wife or the mysterious newcomer to the village (whom the vicar quite fancies). No one is saddened by his death but the police soon realise all the suspects have motive to want him dead.
Chief Inspector Lloyd and his Sergeant Hill work together to solve the mystery while also trying to keep control of their feelings for each other.
I really enjoyed this mystery...well paced and written almost as well as the great Agatha Christie, this was a great Christmas read!
Set in the 1980s in a tiny snowy village, a man is found murdered in the vicarage. The suspects are his in-laws (the vicar and his wife), his pregnant wife or the mysterious newcomer to the village (whom the vicar quite fancies). No one is saddened by his death but the police soon realise all the suspects have motive to want him dead.
Chief Inspector Lloyd and his Sergeant Hill work together to solve the mystery while also trying to keep control of their feelings for each other.
I really enjoyed this mystery...well paced and written almost as well as the great Agatha Christie, this was a great Christmas read!
January 12, 2016
I really enjoyed this little murder mystery. Not my usual type of book, but it was a wee page turner. Simple plot, or so it would seem. Set in an isolated village with a close knit community. Murder takes place at the vicarage at Christmas, and the victim is the vicar's son-in-law. Good characters and writing. It is down to CI Lloyd and Sergeant Hill to solve this modern day version of twists and turns. Whose head will the crime finally fall upon....well that would be telling.....!!
I'm sure Agatha Christie would have approved this version. I might try more of Jill McGown.
I'm sure Agatha Christie would have approved this version. I might try more of Jill McGown.
July 16, 2023
I really enjoyed this book. From the very beginning you know who dunnit, all the way through the book, till you don't. I like when a book can keep me guessing and then surprise me at the end. The atmosphere was very well done, incorporating Christmas into the story without it being in the way of the rest of the story. I love the "British-ness" of the environment, the characters and their customs. The characters are fleshed out and interwoven seamlessly.
I highly recommend this book and the preceding book as well.
5 stars!
I highly recommend this book and the preceding book as well.
5 stars!
June 10, 2023
I didn't guess the killer, but it won't take any guesses to know I won't be reading the sequel. The boring dynamic between the two lead detectives and the lack of characters in the story make this an unmemorable read.
April 19, 2019
Didn’t like it. Didn’t much like any of the characters. Less than a week from finishing it and I can’t remember the ending. Might be where my head’s at: I need light.
December 13, 2021
A murder at the vicarage on a snowy Christmas Eve. Written and set in the late 80s, aside from referencing it, this book bears absolutely no similarity to the Christie Classic.
This was my first Jil McGown book, and I have to say I really rather enjoyed it. It feels very much like a precursor to Susan Hill’s Simon Serrellier series. Modern policing, lots about the police detectives and their relationships and human fallibility as well as a (more subtle than Hill) undercurrent of darkness.
It’s well written, clever and I was guessing about the murderer, who you knew was one of four people, right until the very end. The characters were well drawn, with the story entirely about family dynamics and the snowy Christmas setting added to the atmosphere.
My only criticism is some of the dismissive handling of domestic violence. It’s easy to say this is a product of the time, but it’s shocking to think it only 30 years ago.
That aside, I will definitely be seeking out more Jil McGown books.
This was my first Jil McGown book, and I have to say I really rather enjoyed it. It feels very much like a precursor to Susan Hill’s Simon Serrellier series. Modern policing, lots about the police detectives and their relationships and human fallibility as well as a (more subtle than Hill) undercurrent of darkness.
It’s well written, clever and I was guessing about the murderer, who you knew was one of four people, right until the very end. The characters were well drawn, with the story entirely about family dynamics and the snowy Christmas setting added to the atmosphere.
My only criticism is some of the dismissive handling of domestic violence. It’s easy to say this is a product of the time, but it’s shocking to think it only 30 years ago.
That aside, I will definitely be seeking out more Jil McGown books.
November 25, 2023
Darum geht’s:
Im beschaulichen Byford wird die winterlich-weihnachtliche Gemütlichkeit gestört, denn ein Toter liegt im Gästezimmer des Pfarrhauses. Es ist der Ehemann der Pfarrerstochter. Das Pfarrersehepaar und die Ehefrau des Toten waren nicht sehr gut auf ihn zu sprechen. Oder war doch ein Einbrecher unterwegs, der den Mann im nie verschlossenen Pfarrhaus erschlagen hat? Die Ermittler Lloyd und Hill versuchen, hinter die Geheimnisse des Pfarrhauses zu schauen, während sie auch mit ihrer Beziehung zueinander beschäftigt sind.
Meine Meinung dazu gibt’s hier
Im beschaulichen Byford wird die winterlich-weihnachtliche Gemütlichkeit gestört, denn ein Toter liegt im Gästezimmer des Pfarrhauses. Es ist der Ehemann der Pfarrerstochter. Das Pfarrersehepaar und die Ehefrau des Toten waren nicht sehr gut auf ihn zu sprechen. Oder war doch ein Einbrecher unterwegs, der den Mann im nie verschlossenen Pfarrhaus erschlagen hat? Die Ermittler Lloyd und Hill versuchen, hinter die Geheimnisse des Pfarrhauses zu schauen, während sie auch mit ihrer Beziehung zueinander beschäftigt sind.
Meine Meinung dazu gibt’s hier
March 22, 2025
To me this was the perfect book! I love a good murder mystery, thus book was just the right length and I couldn’t put it down! I’ve finished it in less than a week, the quicker I’ve ever read a book! Would highly recommend if you love a witty, funny, Death In Paradise style of story
September 4, 2020
An underrated crime writer...
March 12, 2017
I got completely engrossed in this book. The characters were intriguing, multi-faceted and believable and the mystery kept me guessing. The sub-plot relating to Lloyd and Judy Hill’s relationship was also tantalising. Great stuff!
January 3, 2017
I was looking for a Christmas mystery but even though someone is killed on Christmas eve this one didn't really do it for me. It was fine…short and forgettable.
December 24, 2017
Marketed as "A Christmas mystery" and "a classic homage to Agatha Christie" - both of which are a tad misleading. Yes, the victim is murdered on a snowy Christmas Eve (even when the book was written, that was pretty unrealistic!) and there's a couple of mentions of carol singing - but neither the weather or the festive season is particularly relevant to the story. There's also a feisty, observant old lady who makes a cameo appearance but is scarcely Miss Marple! Instead this is a straightforward crime story about two police officers, who happen to be having an affair working out where they want their relationship to head whilst, at the same time, working through some convoluted evidence to work out who is lying about what and which of a limited cast of four could have killed the vicar's wife beating son in law on Christmas Eve. Apparently the original title of this book was "Redemption" - quite whose I couldn't quite decide! It all ends predictably and suddenly - rather like a Midsomer Murder mystery would, in fact. Entertaining, but the kind of read that will have left little impression on this reader.
August 11, 2016
Murder at the Old Vicarage is the second book in the Chief Inspector Lloyd and Detective Sergeant Judy Hill series. There were 13 books written. It is Christmas time and murder occurs at the vicarage. It was a tightly woven and intricate mystery. There were just a few obvious suspects but I didn't know who had committed the crime until the author disclosed the who and the why.
As for the characters, there is the vicar who feels as if he has been a fraud all these the years in his faith. There is his wife who loves and cares for her husband and daughter. The daughter who has been in a violent relationship with her husband who she still loves. A recent widow who reads people really well and has moved to the town recently. Lloyd and Judy are a team whose relationship is still evolving but not fast enough for Lloyd. It was a very good police procedural and I look forward to reading Death Of A Dancer.
As for the characters, there is the vicar who feels as if he has been a fraud all these the years in his faith. There is his wife who loves and cares for her husband and daughter. The daughter who has been in a violent relationship with her husband who she still loves. A recent widow who reads people really well and has moved to the town recently. Lloyd and Judy are a team whose relationship is still evolving but not fast enough for Lloyd. It was a very good police procedural and I look forward to reading Death Of A Dancer.
Read
December 7, 2010I really enjoyed this and thought it was much better crafted than the first in the series but I think the author wrote several other books in between. There's a very short list of suspects for the murder but the misdirection is very cleverly done and I didn't feel at all cheated by the resolution, really very clever. It's a very old fashioned kind of setup: a small village that's practically snowbound at Christmas and the body turns up at the vicarage. But it's definitely a modern non-cosy mystery, it just plays with the golden age kind of setting whilst having many elements that are up to date.
It's looking good for a series with the main police protagonists getting their private lives all in a mess too, complicated situations making for much better ongoing stories than simple ones as horrid as it sounds to say it!
December 31, 2016
3.5 STARS | I very much like what I've read of this series. I particularly like the character of DS Judy Hill who continuously takes notes because she has trouble remembering, something I can identify with. There was an extremely short list of suspects, however suspicion changes over the course of the story back and forth. I tagged a completely different culprit and motive until the very end. The writing is intelligent and the mystery well-done with plenty of red herrings. My only quibble was that the timeline got confusing with all the deceit of the suspects, so the solution unfolding seemed a little convoluted and hard to follow at times. I look forward to reading the rest in the series.
July 14, 2022
Well written but I just didn't enjoy this book or its protagonists and have no desire to carry on with this series. It felt like a short story dragged out to a full novel; I was waiting for something interesting to happen and it never did. Also, despite the description stating that the viliage had been isolated from the world because of deep snow, that didn't really come across as the protagonists and viliage occupants managed to travel around quite freely I thought.
December 8, 2019
This was around 200 pages which made it a very quick few read and an enjoyable one at that! I've never read an Agatha Christie book but I imagine it'd be similar to this, something a bit different for me.
February 12, 2016
I regret every second I spent reading this book.
July 30, 2018
"A killing blow on the head took the life of Graham Elstow, and the vicar and his wife were more relieved than grieved. Elstow had beaten their beloved daughter so severely that she had landed in the hospital, and he had struck her again on the day he died. But murder they deployed, especially in their own home on Christmas Eve.
"Arriving on the scene are the canny police duo of Inspector Lloyd and Detective Sergeant Hill -- perfectly matched as they investigate Yuletide malice most undomestic.
~~back cover
I like this second book in the series more than the first book. Characters are better delineated, and the plot was excellent: it had to be either the vicar, his wife, or the daughter but each of them had a perfectly good alibi -- was it really an unknown intruder?
"Arriving on the scene are the canny police duo of Inspector Lloyd and Detective Sergeant Hill -- perfectly matched as they investigate Yuletide malice most undomestic.
~~back cover
I like this second book in the series more than the first book. Characters are better delineated, and the plot was excellent: it had to be either the vicar, his wife, or the daughter but each of them had a perfectly good alibi -- was it really an unknown intruder?
February 11, 2023
Really about a 3. 7. I liked it but was a bit surprised at how much was taken up with the detectives' private lives. Not necessarily a bad thing and it was a nifty mystery but things certainly got complicated very quickly with the relationship between the two. I did like all the Agatha Christie references and I liked how well developed the characters were. If I'm in the mood for a relationship heavy solid mystery, this will be a good choice.
December 1, 2023
Hatte mich, dem verheißungsvollen Titel entsprechend, auf einen britischen Weihnachtskrimi gefreut, doch traf ich weder auf britischen noch auf besonders festlichen Flair.
Ebenso langatmig und öde wie die komplette Handlung waren die endlosen Gesprächszenen und das Liebesgeplenkel zwischen Lloyd und Hill.
Ebenso langatmig und öde wie die komplette Handlung waren die endlosen Gesprächszenen und das Liebesgeplenkel zwischen Lloyd und Hill.
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