Shoplift

Detective Lizzie Marsh #0.5

by Claire Sheehy

A short story introducing Detective Lizzie Marsh, Lancashire's most tenacious copper.

Hunting a murderer in the seething mass of people shopping in the North West's biggest shopping centre, Lizzie finds herself trapped in a glass lift with four other people when it suddenly stops between floors.

A young girl looking ready to give birth at any moment begins to panic, an old man tries to take charge whilst the other captives in the lift, an engaged couple whose relationship worries Lizzie, are desperate to get out.

The lights go out, the shopping centre is evacuated. Lizzie has to rely on her wits to keep everyone calm and get the lift down to safety without alerting the murderer that she's onto them.

Genres: Short Stories, Crime

31 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 13, 2020

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shoplift is a short story prequel in the Detective Lizzie Marsh series by British author, Claire Sheehy. Detective Lizzie Marsh doesn’t like people. She doesn’t like lifts. But she likes stairs even less than lifts so, while her partner Detective Charlie Hobbs takes the stairs, Lizzie is in the glass lift at a Manchester shopping centre with four other people when it gets stuck between floors.

Lizzie’s there on a tip-off that her target, Derek Durant is taking his girlfriend shopping, but she only has a grainy image of the man, and facial recognition of the centre’s CCTV was no help. Lizzie tries to calm down a somewhat distressed and heavily pregnant young woman, whose grandad seizes control of the intercom while smartly dressed, middle-aged strutting rooster and his dowdy fiancée look on.

Casual conversation with the girl centres on another lift episode and the events that surround it: a tale of possible murder that annoys the grandad, irritates the rooster and apparently interests fiancée more than her man would like…

This short introductory dose of Lizzie Marsh employs some excellent misdirection that evolves into a nice twist. More of this protagonist is definitely welcome.

[Rachel Sargeant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A police officer on a stakeout gets stuck in a lift in a shopping centre with four very shifty people. This is a fun crime short story (and currently free to download in Kindle!). Well-written and worth reading to find out why the title is so perfect.

[BookJunkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hunting a murderer in the seething mass of people shopping in the North West's biggest shopping centre, Lizzie finds herself trapped in a glass lift with four other people when it suddenly stops between floors.

A young girl looking ready to give birth at any moment begins to panic, an old man tries to take charge whilst the other captives in the lift, an engaged couple whose relationship worries Lizzie, are desperate to get out.

The lights go out, the shopping centre is evacuated. Lizzie has to rely on her wits to keep everyone calm and get the lift down to safety without alerting the murderer that she's onto them.

[Moona · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Shoplift" by Claire Sheehy is a thrilling short story that introduces Detective Lizzie Marsh, a determined and resourceful investigator from Lancashire. While tracking a murderer in a bustling shopping center, Lizzie finds herself trapped in a glass lift with four strangers: a pregnant young woman, an old man, and a seemingly troubled engaged couple. As the lights go out and the center is evacuated, Lizzie must keep everyone calm and figure out how to safely get them out without tipping off the murderer. Sheehy's taut narrative and suspenseful plot make this a gripping read, perfect for crime and short story enthusiasts.

[Emma Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be short but its very satisfying. You learn lots about Lizzie in this tense and dramatic short story. Very entertaining.

[Janet Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the outset I liked Detective Lizzie Marsh. She’s uptight and doesn’t care who knows it. Maybe it’s because she hates shopping with a vengeance almost equal to my own. And, at the end of her tether she still wonders, as I do every time I watch one of those wonderful 50’s noir movies, “Frankie the Fish – Where do these small-time gangsters get their names?”

And you can’t help empathizing when you learn Lizzie Marsh admits “sensitivity wasn’t one of her strong points”.

Then, as Claire Sheehy takes us with Lizzie into an elevator that gets stuck along the way, she distracts you with her detective’s personal concerns as ever so slowly she unfolds a murder story.

It’s clever, it’s well written - and it’s fun. Give it a try.