False Money

Abbot Agency #5

by Veronica Heley

A promising young actress disappears. A trail of suspicious deaths. A deadly game of lottery . . .

Tomi, a beautiful, aspiring actress, is missing. Her worried friend Chris asks for Bea’s assistance to track her down.

Bea would like to help but she has problems of her own — mending her tempestuous relationship with her stubborn son, his irascible wife, and their already-fussy baby.

A few weeks later, Tomi’s body is found lying beside a country road. Her death is ruled an accidental overdose but Bea and Chris are not convinced. Tomi was known to be a law-abiding, conventional young woman. Would she really be taking drugs?

Days later, Tomi’s boyfriend is found dead, supposedly a suicide. Next to go is Tomi’s friend Nick — an unfortunate but fatal tumble down the stairs.

Can all these deaths really be accidental? Bea decides it’s a coincidence too far.

Bea’s investigation reveals the truth lies in a deadly game of lottery, and a killer who will become enormously rich should their evil plan work . . .

Can Bea uncover the mastermind behind the rapidly growing sum of bodies, or will she be the next to die . . .?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Cozy Mystery

297 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2011

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 4 out of 5]

Partway through this cozy, Veronica Heley’s fifth Abbott Agency novel, I was singularly piqued. I thought the novel was bearing a dissatisfactory resemblance to its immediate predecessor, False Pretences. I was all set to give it a two-star review sprinkled with spoiler alerts, decrying the rehashing of False Pretences with nary a change. I should have known better, having inhaled Heley’s previous novels, that she would never deliver a sub-par mystery novel. And she hasn’t.

For suddenly, the novel veers off into an entirely unforeseen direction. In False Pretences, a sociopath cuts a swath through the directors and ex-employees of a housing trust who she feels has slighted her; I thought that Claire Staughton was a refashioned Lady Honoria, yet another psychopath; reading too many plots like that grows really tiresome quickly. (Despite what one sees in film, in reality, when a body count mounts around someone, the police, however plodding, take notice.) Here the motive for murders is money, which, along with sex and revenge, are the three most common — in real life, as in fiction. Readers will realize who the murderer is long before even the perspicacious Bea Abbott, owner of the Abbott Agency, a domestic staffing agency; like the writers of the Colombo TV series of yore, Heley always divulges the perpetrator(s) early, and the fun consists of following the Abbott Agency’s steps in solving the crime. Once again, in False Money, readers will love seeing how Bea and her motley crew unearth the killer and find justice for the murdered Tomi.

In a separate storyline, Bea’s selfish son and daughter-in-law, new parents of baby “Pippin,” are so determined to follow the latest baby-raising fad that the poor infant fails to thrive; as usual, Nicole and Max, self-important and self-absorbed, give poor Bea a terrible time. Bea definitely has more patience than I! I would have given the whining, superficial Nicole a good telling-off long before now and then rounded on the conceited Max!

While False Money isn’t the very best in the series — that would have to be False Charity or False Picture — it was still pretty good.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have now read 6 of the twelve Abbott's Agency books. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series and reading g the Ellie Quicke series. This book dwells in lotto winnings. With mix motives a group of people decided to buy a lottery ticket each week for 6 months. They are sworn to secrecy if they tell they lose any winnings. They win big and suddenly members begin to die. Bea is brought into the affair when a friend goes missing. Chris wants Bea to find Toni, his star in his award-winning film. As usual, the villain's thought is included along with the story. I usually do not like this format but Veronica Heley does a superb job with the format. Meanwhile Bea's grandson is doing poorly. Max and Nicole have decided not to have a nanny. If course, when they finally hire one, they managed to hire the villain putting her grandson in danger. Will Bea and friends resolve the problem before there are more deaths? I highly recommend this book and series.

[Mona · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book could not catch me. I didn´t finish it.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bea Abbot runs a successful domestic agency which finds staff for people, often at short notice and also takes on problems which people might not want to take to the police. But she is adamant the agency doesn't deal with murder - but in spite of that she still finds herself rather too often involved with a murder case.

In this well written story Chris - the teenage son of her friend CJ - asks for her help in finding out what happened to Tomi, a Nigerian girl who has gone missing after starring in a short film he has just made.

Bea finds herself dragged into a strange web of murders which at first seem to have no connection to each other but as she digs deeper she starts to uncover some connections but is not helped by the apparent pact of secrecy the group share.

I found this an entertaining read and I thought the ending was very well done. All the series characters are here - Maggie and Oliver, Bea's adopted children; her ex-husband Piers and of course Winston the cat. This is a well written mystery series with something a but different from the norm. The book can be read as a standalone novel or as part of a series.

[essie johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great characters, Unusual plot

I was intrigued from the beginning. I could not imagine who was the murderer. Equally as intriguing is the way in which the author introduces new characters. If they are to return in future, she begins building a character for them, and adds depth in future publications. Piers, a character that I enjoyed tremendously, was introduced early on as Bea's ex. As he flitted in and out of scenes he became "real" as he was given emotion when he painted Hamilton, ego as he refused to be forced to paint outside his genre, and depth as he worked to strengthened his relationship with Max. These books uhh have a lot of characters! The auth I or has done an excellent job of keeping them straight for the reader as each is developed in turn for their strategic role. Though these are "cozy" I greatly admire the precision and care with which they are written. So far I've read six, and am looking forward to meeting characters and diving into plots in the rest of the impressively long series.

Heart to Heart

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first in the series that I read. It had a lot of potential. The mystery was okay if a little slow. What bothered me was the way in which the main character acted towards her son and his wife. I her issues there completely irritating simply because she seemed to think she just had to sit back and take it. It may be a cultural thing but this seemed to go beyond the pale--my other British mystery series characters wouldn't sit back and take what she does! I won't pick up another book in the series.

[Lynda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not as good as the Ellie Quicke books. Mrs. Abbott is not as endearing as Ellie but more abrasive. This episode finds her helping to solve the murder of a young actress with the help of her friends Oliver, Maggie and CJ. An interesting premise about a lottery winning sharedd by ten people who are being killed.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series always exhibits similar plots and identical style (the murderer's thoughts are in italics), but the main characters are engaging, with the exception of the protagonist's son and daughter-in-law who are too mean-spirited to be believed (or at least I hope so).

[Mary Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series is getting a little tedious.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Abbott Agency series books are light, busy with with characters and entertaining.
I just don't get the prayers interspersed throughout. They just seem silly.

[HAL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Mystery - no False Claim!

I really enjoyed the story and plot. The beginning of the book though I found to be just a bit too much useless chatter amount the several characters. Also, just my own reaction and nothing wrong with the story - this is a modern mystery (cell phones and computers) but the Brits still are snobbish about vocational school vs college and it just seemed odd such pettiness still exists.
I can recommend this clean mystery for older teens and adults. It is a very good plot and development towards a reveal. The characters are well defined and a few are likeable. (After all, someone has to be bad in a murder mystery!) I will read more from Heley and will keep this in my library but if it isn't kept on my kindle, it can't rate 5 stars. Still, A great read from Heley.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly the best in the series so far. The regular crew plus a return of Zander and Chris (an 18 year old male who giggles?). This book had a plot that kept me up until 3:30 am to see what was going to happen.

I knocked off a star because there were unanswered questions. (Page 65) what discrepancy did Bea spot on Maggie’s list? Why did Claire take all the mobile phones to the celebration party in her tacky handbag? She was supposed to dispose of them one by one before that big event (page 199). Did I miss something by reading past my bedtime?

I think this series definitely should be read in chronological order, so you know who all these zany characters are and how they fit into the storyline.

[Mrs J · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ‘Miss Marple-like’ mystery

Bea runs a domestic agency aided by her quirky assistant Maggie, her adopted tech savvy son Oliver and a couple of pensioners. Oliver’s best friend Chris persuades her into investigating the disappearance of a young girl and she is soon embroiled in the hunt for a murderer.
I did want to get to the end to find out if the murderer got their comeuppance although the reader knew who the murderer was halfway through. Most of the characters felt a bit caricature and some of the relationships seemed inexplicable. Points of conflict were tackled speedily and dismissed yet the buds in the garden were contemplated regularly. It was an easy entertaining read.

[Patricia Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing and Annoying

Interesting characters, engaging story but..annoying how our main detective, clever as she is , continuously enables her son and daughter in law to verbally abuse her and endanger her grandson through poor care and nutrition. She covers herself with formula religion but it takes the actual murderer to save the baby and there’s no improvement with her relations. Like laying down in traffic and praying to not be run over ! Hope this aspect of the series improves.

[Geraint Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good story with Bea

False Money is written in the style as the other books 📚 in the series.
The only problem I had with it was the ending, apart from that it was a good read. I won’t spoil it for others as to why I didn’t like the latter part of the book.
It was still definitely worth reading.

[sharon check · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four or maybe five stars

I enjoyed this story. There was always something new that kept me reading although some a bit far out. Bra was a great character and I liked her imperfections which she shared with her conversations with God. I recommend the book and would enjoy reading more from this author.

[Nik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot rate a book like this a "4" because that would lump it with really fine literature. But for its genre, it would be a 4. I like this series and its main character (not the typical strong women who is confident in her every decision.). Also unusual for mysteries, is that we know early on the "who" of the whodunit, but it is fun to see how Bea figures it out.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

Not the best. I have loved this series but I just couldn't believe the plot of this one . The characters are still the same but something just didn't work in this one for me . Still a good but just a bit off

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

entertaining

Same formula but entertaining nonetheless. I like the characters, Bea, Oliver and Maggie so enjoy visiting with them. The stories are cozy and easy reads and a break from heavier thrillers. If you’ve read one and like it you’ll like the net ones.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Bea Abbott mystery: A promising young actress disappears. A trail of suspicious deaths. A deadly game of lottery. Tomi’s body is found lying beside a country road. Her death is ruled an accidental overdose but Bea and Chris are not convinced.

[Gaye Renna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. It was cleverly written with many twists and turns.
Veronica Heley's characters are unforgettable. With each book in the series, you see the main
characters grow and mature. Ready for the next one!!

[Ervin G. Pegues · Rating 2 out of 5]

not that good.

I read a lot of mystery books and this book ranks at the bottom of the ones I’ve read. There is no mystery to this book the killer and the motive are identified early in the book. I do not recommend.

[Anne Herbison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A convoluted and not entirely convincing plot about a group of friends who win the lottery and begin to be killed off one by one. At this point I wondered if I would continue with the series, but I'm pleased to tell you that it does get better!

[Carol L. Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Mystery

This issue the second Mrs. Abbot mystery I've read. The plot is simple. The reader knows what is going on. But the character relationships are not so simple and make the story interesting.

[Ellen Dark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure about the ending in this one, but I enjoy Ms. Heley's books.

[Mrs L T Carver · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read

A book to keep you enthralled to the end a really good read and so many twists and turns good

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise. Enjoying this series and the main characters.

[Anna Adrien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read!

Couldn't wait to get to the
end! Read pages at every opportunity. Look forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Barbara Linton · Rating 4 out of 5]

They are getting better, although I do get tired of Bea always being tired, even if she is justified!

[Karin Tillotson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who killed Toni and the rest and why??? Money??? I enjoyed this story and recommended the book.