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Lloyd & Hill #5
The Other Woman
Before Melissa Whitworth started interviewing for her article on the other woman she had never met her husband's secretary, Sharon Smith. Nor had it occured to her that her husband might be having an affair. But when Sharon is found strangled, Detective Chief Inspector Judy Hill investigates.
222 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 7, 2015
I had no clue who was responsible. Really well structured mystery. Love this author.
September 1, 2018
"Holyoak's favorite tactic was to kick people when they were down, then pick them up and kick them again. Now the great man himself was down -- brutally stabbed to death in his pent-house apartment.
"Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd felt a creepy sense of deja vu. For though certain he'd never seen Holyoak's scarred and bearded face before, he remembered one very like it -- somewhere in the past. Hunting for answers drew Lloyd and his lover, Inspector Judy Hill, deep into the lives of those in the dead man's dangerous orbit: his terrified stepdaughter, her playboy husband, a broken cop, an ambitious hooker, all desperate souls with plausible motives. Yet in the end, Lloyd and Hill would solve two baffling mysteries -- one now, one then, both deadly ...
~~back cover
Another intricately plotted, double and triple bluff games, and multiple bodies plot liberally laced with a good deal of tension. As always, the submotif is the "are they or aren't they? or one step forward, one step back" Lloyd & Hill relationship. This one was so intricate, master-minded by the killer, that it was hard to know who's on first, or any other base for that matter. And also as always, beautifully written.
"Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd felt a creepy sense of deja vu. For though certain he'd never seen Holyoak's scarred and bearded face before, he remembered one very like it -- somewhere in the past. Hunting for answers drew Lloyd and his lover, Inspector Judy Hill, deep into the lives of those in the dead man's dangerous orbit: his terrified stepdaughter, her playboy husband, a broken cop, an ambitious hooker, all desperate souls with plausible motives. Yet in the end, Lloyd and Hill would solve two baffling mysteries -- one now, one then, both deadly ...
~~back cover
Another intricately plotted, double and triple bluff games, and multiple bodies plot liberally laced with a good deal of tension. As always, the submotif is the "are they or aren't they? or one step forward, one step back" Lloyd & Hill relationship. This one was so intricate, master-minded by the killer, that it was hard to know who's on first, or any other base for that matter. And also as always, beautifully written.
October 28, 2015
A local property developer, Jake Parker, is hosting a reception at a football match to show off his new sports complex which is partially completed. A fight breaks out and he spends a few hours at the police station.
Later that night a young woman is found murdered in the car park on the site. Melissa Fletcher is researching a newspaper feature about what it feels like to be 'the other woman'. A particularly vicious rapist is operating in the area and DCI Lloyd and DI Judy Hill are involved in trying to track him down.
Several apparently random events which seem to be completely unconnected are woven into a satisfying plot which certainly kept me guessing. I thought I had worked out very early on who the rapist was but I got it completely wrong about the murderer. This is a well plotted police procedural crime novel with interesting characters.
This is book five in the Lloyd and Hill series but it could be read as a standalone novel as there is enough background information about the main characters to keep the reader informed. If you like crime novels without graphic violence and bad language then try this series.
Later that night a young woman is found murdered in the car park on the site. Melissa Fletcher is researching a newspaper feature about what it feels like to be 'the other woman'. A particularly vicious rapist is operating in the area and DCI Lloyd and DI Judy Hill are involved in trying to track him down.
Several apparently random events which seem to be completely unconnected are woven into a satisfying plot which certainly kept me guessing. I thought I had worked out very early on who the rapist was but I got it completely wrong about the murderer. This is a well plotted police procedural crime novel with interesting characters.
This is book five in the Lloyd and Hill series but it could be read as a standalone novel as there is enough background information about the main characters to keep the reader informed. If you like crime novels without graphic violence and bad language then try this series.
July 28, 2022
I always find I'm really guessing who the murderer is in Jill McGowns books and this was no exception. She really deserves to be better remembered because the describes the intricacies of human relations so well.
This book is based right at the start of the 90s at the beginning of the era of forensic analysis. It's well written, cleverly plotted and adds a lot to the Lloyd and Hill charterer development in the series.
This book is based right at the start of the 90s at the beginning of the era of forensic analysis. It's well written, cleverly plotted and adds a lot to the Lloyd and Hill charterer development in the series.
July 16, 2025
A young journalist gets more than she wanted when she proposes an article about and begins to collect interviews regarding the question, "Are you the other woman?"
Because one of the responses comes from her own husband's mistress — and shortly afterwards the mistress is discovered murdered.
The woman's death by strangulation is only the beginning of a deadly chain of events that Lloyd and Judy Hill must tackle, including another in a series of rapes, blackmail, fraud and police brutality. And its doubly difficult as they both work under new bosses.
This is a smart, ingenious plot that shows just how challenging it is to find clues, particularly if witnesses lie and victims deny to the police. Both Lloyd and Judy Hill are called on to be on their toes as they conduct investigations, challenge the truth or falseness of statements and gather, then discard suspects. It is a wonderful story as these professionals maintain their work lives, as well as their private as a secret couple in the force.
I like the characters, I like the story and, as I have found from reading many of these tales, find myself once again glued to the pages as I wonder just how they will come up with a solution. It means hunkering down until the last page and read — and loving every minute.
Because one of the responses comes from her own husband's mistress — and shortly afterwards the mistress is discovered murdered.
The woman's death by strangulation is only the beginning of a deadly chain of events that Lloyd and Judy Hill must tackle, including another in a series of rapes, blackmail, fraud and police brutality. And its doubly difficult as they both work under new bosses.
This is a smart, ingenious plot that shows just how challenging it is to find clues, particularly if witnesses lie and victims deny to the police. Both Lloyd and Judy Hill are called on to be on their toes as they conduct investigations, challenge the truth or falseness of statements and gather, then discard suspects. It is a wonderful story as these professionals maintain their work lives, as well as their private as a secret couple in the force.
I like the characters, I like the story and, as I have found from reading many of these tales, find myself once again glued to the pages as I wonder just how they will come up with a solution. It means hunkering down until the last page and read — and loving every minute.
July 29, 2023
This is the first book by McGown I’ve read, and it’s bones were good. The surprising twist was unexpected and credible. I did find the plot got bogged down by a lot of rehashing of time lines, which were very hard to follow. It would benefit from a Christie-like literal time line inserted somewhere in the story as the findings of the detective. I also was confused by the two male characters whose names both started with an L. I always think it’s good to make primary and secondary characters’ names distinctly different to help the reader. I will read more if McGown’s works.
January 14, 2019
An excellent book. One you really have to pay attention to, not just read along. Wonderful dry humor as well.
Good enough that I was eagerly looking forward to ordering a number of her other books through library interloans.
None were available. Perhaps because the books are so "old," 25 years or so?
Libraries suffering budget cuts is possibly a factor.
Anyway I will be on the lookout for more books by this author.
Good enough that I was eagerly looking forward to ordering a number of her other books through library interloans.
None were available. Perhaps because the books are so "old," 25 years or so?
Libraries suffering budget cuts is possibly a factor.
Anyway I will be on the lookout for more books by this author.
October 4, 2017
Best in the series so far. McGown has settled in to the relationship between Lloyd and Hill and their characters, and the solving of the mystery was good, lots of detail on the thought processes of the officers.
June 23, 2020
Another absorbing story from Jill McGown.
Book #5 in the Lloyd & Hill series this is the story of a double murder, one at the start of the book & one towards the end, with the introduction of a serial rapist terrorizing the neighbourhood thrown in
Book #5 in the Lloyd & Hill series this is the story of a double murder, one at the start of the book & one towards the end, with the introduction of a serial rapist terrorizing the neighbourhood thrown in
February 9, 2021
Love this reread.
April 4, 2023
Had not read this author before, and didn't realise it was based on a true story. Very cleverly written by both woman and a horrifying story for those who believe in magic of love.
March 20, 2025
A lot of the characterisations didn't work for me.
July 6, 2025
This is the fifth book in the author's police procedural series (13 books) featuring Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd and Detective Inspector Hill. I first came across this series in the early 1990s and have read them all at least once.
This is the third time I have read this but I did not remember the story at all as it is over twenty six years since I last read it. Lloyd is investigating the murder of a young woman and manages to get Hill transferred back to his district to assist in the investigation. There is also a rapist at large. The story has a really clever plot and an exciting climax.
Lloyd and Hill are great characters who come across as real people and an enjoyable part of this series is reading about their personal relationship.
The writing is better than the writing in most of the books I have read this year (2025) and I am really glad that I decided to re-read this series.
This is the third time I have read this but I did not remember the story at all as it is over twenty six years since I last read it. Lloyd is investigating the murder of a young woman and manages to get Hill transferred back to his district to assist in the investigation. There is also a rapist at large. The story has a really clever plot and an exciting climax.
Lloyd and Hill are great characters who come across as real people and an enjoyable part of this series is reading about their personal relationship.
The writing is better than the writing in most of the books I have read this year (2025) and I am really glad that I decided to re-read this series.
February 25, 2015
I found this book in the series rather difficult to read. It was dull, took forever for a body to happen and had so many indistinguishable characters that I was well and truly lost through most of it. Made me feel a bit like a simpleton. There was little consistency in the usage of first names and last was what made it difficult to follow. In one sentence he was Jake, in the next he was Evans. But I was never sure if it was the same person or they'd switched characters again.
When a second body was found I was excited. But the story just became more convoluted. The theories of the murderer and the reasonings never made much sense. All in all, I don't think I'd attempt any others in this series. Unless I felt the need to read half a book, then throw it at the wall in disgust or in sheer boredom.
When a second body was found I was excited. But the story just became more convoluted. The theories of the murderer and the reasonings never made much sense. All in all, I don't think I'd attempt any others in this series. Unless I felt the need to read half a book, then throw it at the wall in disgust or in sheer boredom.
June 16, 2011
Another episode of Lloyd and Hill which set aside some of my worries about the continuing series. It had seemed that the professional connection between the two detectives was going to get ever more tenuous with each book but the author wisely brings them back to working together in this story. It looks like one of the story lines in this book carries on into a future book from the trailer at the end of the book but it's not the next book in the series. I'm interested to see what happens. Good stuff in general, everytime I have a bit of a believability problem with this series the author seems to be a step ahead of me, which is pretty cool.
February 12, 2015
Since the author passed away in 2007, critiquing her writing style has no point other than alerting future readers. I thought there were too many characters in this story, many who were unnecessary and could have been easily eliminated. The author is also in the habit of referring to characters sometimes by their first names and other times by their last names. That and her occasional use of ambiguous pronouns makes this book confusing.
February 12, 2014
This was a nice little mystery. Both the plot and the characters were interesting, the various subplots worked well together and the writing was solid. I did not care much for the resolution. I thought the villain acted way out of character so that good could prevail and the loose ends could be tied up.
February 12, 2009
Oddly, uses a similar plot device to one in her first book. But for me, the interest in Lloyd and Hill's relationship makes up for any plot deficiency.
February 2, 2015
Not too crazy about Lloyd but I did like her writing.
December 6, 2015
A case of mistaken identity!
Want to Read
February 25, 2019Just starting this book on Kindle having read the first four and have the full series ready to go - great for holiday reading anyway but really like the characters.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews