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Lloyd & Hill #1
A Perfect Match
A young woman is found murdered in a small English town, while the main suspect has spent the night drinking, and denies any involvement. It looks like an easily solved case for Detective Inspector Lloyd and Sergeant Judy Hill, but it soon proves more complex than they originally thought.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
15 people are currently reading
2192 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 64 reviews
February 14, 2013
This is a relatively short book (189 pages) and I read it in a few hours. However, it was a good one, nicely written, good characters for a series and even though I sussed out who the killer was eventually, I was still left with a surprise in the "how". The main characters here are D.I. Lloyd ( no christian name mentioned, because he likes it that way) and D.S. Judy Hill. These two have a history of sorts and worked together many years before. Judy Hill moved away for a time and is now working with Lloyd again in Stansfield. He is divorced and she is married, when they initially worked together, he was married and she was single. Ships passing in the night when it comes to their attraction towards each other. Her marriage is not going well however and so, they seemed destined to be drawn together. The murder of Julia Mitchell is under investigation here and the obvious suspect has done a runner, but all may not be as it seems. This is a police procedural story at it's best. I really liked it and will now continue with the series. I was saddened to discover that the author has since passed away, but she left 13 books in this series which will leave her remembered as a great writer.
February 4, 2014
"I didn't mean to!"
That's all Chris, who stumbled into his friends' house drunk and disheveled, would say. "I didn't mean to!"
Didn't mean to what? That question becomes more than curiosity to Helen and Donald Mitchell when the police come calling to report a woman was murdered the night before after quarreling with Donald and leaving with Chris.
This first of Jill McGown's Lloyd and Hill mysteries was published in 1983. It has a clever twist, but I figured out who did the murder and how it was done fairly early on. The detectives go about solving the murder in a leisurely fashion and there is little violence or suspense (both negatives for me) to detract from the intellectual puzzle.
What makes A Perfect Match different is the beauty of the language. McGown writes lyrically.She ends each chapter from the point of view of the wildlife who have seen things but of course aren't talking about it.
I plan to request the next book in the series on ILL when I go to the library tomorrow.
That's all Chris, who stumbled into his friends' house drunk and disheveled, would say. "I didn't mean to!"
Didn't mean to what? That question becomes more than curiosity to Helen and Donald Mitchell when the police come calling to report a woman was murdered the night before after quarreling with Donald and leaving with Chris.
This first of Jill McGown's Lloyd and Hill mysteries was published in 1983. It has a clever twist, but I figured out who did the murder and how it was done fairly early on. The detectives go about solving the murder in a leisurely fashion and there is little violence or suspense (both negatives for me) to detract from the intellectual puzzle.
What makes A Perfect Match different is the beauty of the language. McGown writes lyrically.She ends each chapter from the point of view of the wildlife who have seen things but of course aren't talking about it.
I plan to request the next book in the series on ILL when I go to the library tomorrow.
April 29, 2024
When a woman is found dead in the boathouse café in the woods, the police quickly have a chief suspect. A witness saw a man and woman drive into the woods and half-an-hour later the man drove out alone. The witness is able to give the number of the car, and so suspicion falls on the driver, Chris Wade. The woman was Julia Mitchell, recently widowed and visiting her brother-in-law, Donald and his wife, Helen. Chris claimed he had simply offered Julia a lift back to Donald’s from his sister’s house, and it was she who asked to be taken to the boathouse café instead. When he left her there, he claims she was alive and well. But all the evidence points to him and he hasn’t helped his case by running off and hiding for a couple of days before coming forward. Inspector Lloyd and his partner, Sergeant Judy Hill, see little alternative but to charge him, but somehow Judy can’t help finding him believable…
Published in 1983, this is the first in what became a 13-book series before the author’s untimely death in 2007, aged just 59. It has the standard format of a police procedural with two likeable leads in Lloyd (he keeps his first name secret) and Judy Hill. Their professional partnership is spilling over into a romantic one, and I assume that will be explored further in later books. They work well together and their interactions are enjoyable – both are relatively angst-free, they seem to like their jobs and, so far at least, office politics are kept to a minimum. They’re just allowed to get on with the business of detection. This is back in the days before mobiles and the internet ruined police procedurals as a genre, even if they helped the police in real life. So Lloyd and Hill do their detection in the old-fashioned (and much more enjoyable) way of talking to suspects and witnesses, and trying to find discrepancies in their stories.
This one is quite short at just under two hundred pages, but that’s about the right length for the story. The suspect pool is very small – we really only meet Chris, Donald, Helen and a couple of others – so it could have got quite tedious if it had been stretched to full novel length. It’s definitely more substantial than a novella, though, and the plot is twisty and tricky enough to keep the reader on her toes, even if the small number of suspects makes it reasonably easy to work out who must have done the deed. What is much more tricky, and very well done, is how the deed was done. If Chris didn’t do it, why is all the evidence pointing in his direction? Even Chris can’t be 100% sure of his innocence – he has had a drinking problem since his wife was killed in a car accident a few years earlier, and that night he got blindly drunk so his memories are vague. But if he did do it, why? He’d never met Julia before that evening, or so he says.
Donald and Helen are the two other major characters. Their long marriage has quietly ground towards its end, mainly because Donald is a serial adulterer. Having stayed together for the children, they’re now both about ready to call it quits – all passion is long spent. Or is it? Helen suspects Julia of being Donald’s most recent lover – could she have killed Julia in a fit of jealousy? On Julia’s death, Donald inherits the property his brother had left in trust for her lifetime, so did he kill her for the money? Lloyd and Judy are convinced both of them are lying about something, but what and why?
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The standard format, the old-fashioned methods and, most of all, the relentless focus on the crime rather than on the angst of the detectives reminded me why I used to love police procedurals. There’s just enough of the personal in Lloyd and Hill’s relationship to make them human, but not enough to overwhelm the story. Having abandoned many series recently because the tortured sex life of the ’tec seems to be more important to the author than the crime element, I appreciated this greatly, and can only hope McGown manages to maintain this perfect balance in the rest of the series, which I’m looking forward to reading.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Published in 1983, this is the first in what became a 13-book series before the author’s untimely death in 2007, aged just 59. It has the standard format of a police procedural with two likeable leads in Lloyd (he keeps his first name secret) and Judy Hill. Their professional partnership is spilling over into a romantic one, and I assume that will be explored further in later books. They work well together and their interactions are enjoyable – both are relatively angst-free, they seem to like their jobs and, so far at least, office politics are kept to a minimum. They’re just allowed to get on with the business of detection. This is back in the days before mobiles and the internet ruined police procedurals as a genre, even if they helped the police in real life. So Lloyd and Hill do their detection in the old-fashioned (and much more enjoyable) way of talking to suspects and witnesses, and trying to find discrepancies in their stories.
This one is quite short at just under two hundred pages, but that’s about the right length for the story. The suspect pool is very small – we really only meet Chris, Donald, Helen and a couple of others – so it could have got quite tedious if it had been stretched to full novel length. It’s definitely more substantial than a novella, though, and the plot is twisty and tricky enough to keep the reader on her toes, even if the small number of suspects makes it reasonably easy to work out who must have done the deed. What is much more tricky, and very well done, is how the deed was done. If Chris didn’t do it, why is all the evidence pointing in his direction? Even Chris can’t be 100% sure of his innocence – he has had a drinking problem since his wife was killed in a car accident a few years earlier, and that night he got blindly drunk so his memories are vague. But if he did do it, why? He’d never met Julia before that evening, or so he says.
Donald and Helen are the two other major characters. Their long marriage has quietly ground towards its end, mainly because Donald is a serial adulterer. Having stayed together for the children, they’re now both about ready to call it quits – all passion is long spent. Or is it? Helen suspects Julia of being Donald’s most recent lover – could she have killed Julia in a fit of jealousy? On Julia’s death, Donald inherits the property his brother had left in trust for her lifetime, so did he kill her for the money? Lloyd and Judy are convinced both of them are lying about something, but what and why?
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The standard format, the old-fashioned methods and, most of all, the relentless focus on the crime rather than on the angst of the detectives reminded me why I used to love police procedurals. There’s just enough of the personal in Lloyd and Hill’s relationship to make them human, but not enough to overwhelm the story. Having abandoned many series recently because the tortured sex life of the ’tec seems to be more important to the author than the crime element, I appreciated this greatly, and can only hope McGown manages to maintain this perfect balance in the rest of the series, which I’m looking forward to reading.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
July 21, 2018
*blows whistle*
"We have a flag on the play: illegal addition of a murder suspect twenty pages from the end, who proves to be instrumental in whodunnit." *crosses arms, points*
"Goodwill box penalty, never again." *gestures vaguely thrift store-wards*
"We have a flag on the play: illegal addition of a murder suspect twenty pages from the end, who proves to be instrumental in whodunnit." *crosses arms, points*
"Goodwill box penalty, never again." *gestures vaguely thrift store-wards*
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2020
Good early McGown. She got better in later years.
January 7, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick easy read that had me guessing right up to the last chapter. I also liked the characters. They were well rounded with all their little faults and foibles. Likeable, that's what they were.
The author also gave us an atmosphere of a simpler time, quiet walking paths, peaceful villages, where the police just had to keep chipping away at the puzzle in order to solve it. No DNA or computer simulations. Just simple, hard work on behalf of two police officers.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series to see how the main characters have developed.
The author also gave us an atmosphere of a simpler time, quiet walking paths, peaceful villages, where the police just had to keep chipping away at the puzzle in order to solve it. No DNA or computer simulations. Just simple, hard work on behalf of two police officers.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series to see how the main characters have developed.
March 3, 2016
I very much enjoyed this, the first in the series of DI Lloyd and DS Judy Hill mysteries. It's my favorite kind of police procedural where the official procedure is secondary to an intriguing puzzle element which is brought to a satisfying conclusion. Characters were well-developed and the book read smoothly. The setting—Stansfield, Suffolk in eastern England—described as Constable country, reminded me of Midsomer Murders. I'm happy to have at least 6 subsequent titles in this series to read.
Read
January 13, 2019Wish I could add a book as 'couldn't finish due to unforeseen circumstances.' I do intend to finish this book, as it was pretty good, but it made me sick. Yep, and I looked it up. The book smelled of must and mildew, so I'm going to pursue getting another copy through a diff. library system. (Or talk to the librarians about finding me a newer, non-musty copy.)
Every time I picked the book up I went through a sneezing fit then felt like c r a p. (That's a word in my family which just meant awful or rotten.) I even did a test of smelling the book and not opening it. Same result.
So, sorry, Ms. McGown (deceased), I will get back to your book. For now it's a dnf.
No rating.
March 21, 2021
Due stelle e mezza. La valutazione di un libro giallo non può prescindere dall’intreccio. Scopo del gioco è sorprendere il lettore con una rivelazione finale che spieghi tutto.
Bene, alla seconda apparizione di un personaggio mi è scattato il campanello di allarme e a pagina 100 avevo capito tutto, ma proprio tutto!
Non tutti avrebbero potuto capire ma certo tutti quelli che hanno letto i libri di Agatha Christie almeno due volte. È sicuro: chi sembra recitare allora lo sta facendo.
Comunque un libro brillante, una bella opera prima che mi ha divertita e che spicca per la buona scrittura; ad effetto poi l’idea di chiudere i capitoli con impressioni e pensieri degli animaletti del bosco intorno al lago, loro si, i veri testimoni oculari.
Bene, alla seconda apparizione di un personaggio mi è scattato il campanello di allarme e a pagina 100 avevo capito tutto, ma proprio tutto!
Non tutti avrebbero potuto capire ma certo tutti quelli che hanno letto i libri di Agatha Christie almeno due volte. È sicuro: chi sembra recitare allora lo sta facendo.
Comunque un libro brillante, una bella opera prima che mi ha divertita e che spicca per la buona scrittura; ad effetto poi l’idea di chiudere i capitoli con impressioni e pensieri degli animaletti del bosco intorno al lago, loro si, i veri testimoni oculari.
May 16, 2010
I read a Lloyd and Hill mystery previously and liked it. It is a good thing I did not read this one first or else I would have probably not read another. One of my biggest complaints with mysteries is when the author lets you get inside the head of the murder but you - the reader - don't know it. It seems to me when that happens the author is using a cheap trick to confuse the reader. Give me the facts. Tell me the story and if I guess who did it, well then dear author you did not do you job. Or maybe you did if that was your intent, the point is when I get a glimps inside the private thoughts of characters I don't want to see surprise and questions and impulse reactions when the person is the murderer and knows very well what happened and WHY. Bothers me. Up until the moment I realized I had been deceived I liked it okay. I may have given it two stars. Maybe. One other thing I don't like is when animals narrate. The duck should have been interviewed? or was it a bunny? She finished almost every chapter with trees or animals or something 'thinking' if only the police would interview me or something. I thought it was distracting. I still may read another Lloyd and Hill because I did like the other one I read and perhaps it just gets better, it couldn't get worse.
February 2, 2016
I read this first Lloyd and Hill mystery because a friend has recommended the series and have a curious double reaction to it. I thought the mystery aspect of the story was pretty well executed but there were odd things about how the story was told. For one thing, the romance brewing between the two detectives isn't sold very well, and I have the feeling that although this is supposed to be the first book in the series, there may be a couple of books that have led up to this one. Although a lot of great mystery series contain some romantic element between the leads, usually the reader is brought into it a little before it culminates in something. We are never really sold on the necessity of this one. Although I can be a little skeptical of the whole, "Show, don't tell," maxim, in this case, I think it could have been better applied.
It's contradictory, then, to say that I can see this being made into a great television series, because the actors could possibly lend the leads their charisma. Like many first novels in a series, it may prove to be the weakest one, and so I expect to try later volumes at some point to see if McGown has hit her stride in them.
It's contradictory, then, to say that I can see this being made into a great television series, because the actors could possibly lend the leads their charisma. Like many first novels in a series, it may prove to be the weakest one, and so I expect to try later volumes at some point to see if McGown has hit her stride in them.
May 23, 2019
I've marked this down primarily because at the end of most chapters there was a little coda giving a view of proceedings from various members of the local wildlife - which was cloying to begin with and extremely annoying by the end.
This kindle version was poorly edited - in one case two sentences are run together into a single paragraph when there was actually a change of scene if not chapter between them.
Incidentally it's a re-issue - I've just checked and the original was published around 1983 apparently. That's not obvious from the story - except that you do notice no-one has a mobile phone.
It's very readable.
This kindle version was poorly edited - in one case two sentences are run together into a single paragraph when there was actually a change of scene if not chapter between them.
Incidentally it's a re-issue - I've just checked and the original was published around 1983 apparently. That's not obvious from the story - except that you do notice no-one has a mobile phone.
It's very readable.
August 8, 2017
I read Jill McGown's Lloyd and Hill books in order as they came out - except for this, the first book in the series. I really like the series overall and recommend it to lovers of British police procedurals, but I was a bit disappointed in A Perfect Match. Not one of the best, and I'm not sure it would have convinced me to read book two if I'd read it first.
A Perfect Match got better as it moved toward the end. It's been so long since I read the rest of the books, now I am tempted to keep going. (I own the whole series, which is very unusual for me.)
A Perfect Match got better as it moved toward the end. It's been so long since I read the rest of the books, now I am tempted to keep going. (I own the whole series, which is very unusual for me.)
June 17, 2019
This was really bad. Narration is such a mess, it not only skips constantly from one character POV to another, without much clear indication or any kind of smoothness in these narration changes, but it also jumps to random animal POVs??? That just felt idiotic. And the book was a dull mess even before moth, rabbit, cat, duck, owl etc all having their say. I can't.
June 12, 2008
Good first book in the series. Looking forward to reading more of them.
November 5, 2023
I read this as I came across the second in the series, 'Murder at the Old Vicarage,' and, having thought it would be a nice Christmas read, went back to read the first in the series first. This is something of an odd start to a series, as it soon becomes obvious that Chief Inspector Lloyd (first name never revealed by him) and Sergeant Judy Hill share something of a past and a previous attraction. Lloyd is now divorced, but Judy still married, although not very happily.
A wealthy woman is found dead in a boating lake and a man who dropped her off there has gone missing and is the obvious suspect for her murder. Helen and Donald Mitchell are related to the victim, as she was married to Donald's brother, who also died fairly recently. There are a lot of unhappy marriages, tangled relationships and a possible killer who cannot remember what happened on the night of the murder. Lloyd and Hill have to untangle events while also untangling their feelings for each other.
I am pleased I read the first in the series. It has the feel of a series that could develop and I look forward to the Christmas mystery I promised myself.
A wealthy woman is found dead in a boating lake and a man who dropped her off there has gone missing and is the obvious suspect for her murder. Helen and Donald Mitchell are related to the victim, as she was married to Donald's brother, who also died fairly recently. There are a lot of unhappy marriages, tangled relationships and a possible killer who cannot remember what happened on the night of the murder. Lloyd and Hill have to untangle events while also untangling their feelings for each other.
I am pleased I read the first in the series. It has the feel of a series that could develop and I look forward to the Christmas mystery I promised myself.
July 23, 2018
"After twenty-six years of marriage, Donald and Helen make no pretense of being passionately in love. Happily independent of each other, they get their pleasures elsewhere.
"But things get a bit too cozy when Donald's mistress, a rich widow, turns up murdered in a boating park, and the person known to have driven her is Helen's young lover -- who has since vanished. The connection is especially puzzling since, until the night of the murder, the two had never met.
"This brilliantly intricate case presents a challenge that Detective Lloyd and his charming young detective sergeant Judy Hill meet head on. It's the perfect crime ... except for one very small detail.."
~~back cover
I'm glad this wasn't a big fat book because I wouldn't have finished it. As it's a relatively slim volume, I persevered. It all made sense in the end, but I was lost for the first 99%. I suppose that makes it a good book, but I dislike being lost. I'm intending to read the whole series -- I hope they get less intricate!
"But things get a bit too cozy when Donald's mistress, a rich widow, turns up murdered in a boating park, and the person known to have driven her is Helen's young lover -- who has since vanished. The connection is especially puzzling since, until the night of the murder, the two had never met.
"This brilliantly intricate case presents a challenge that Detective Lloyd and his charming young detective sergeant Judy Hill meet head on. It's the perfect crime ... except for one very small detail.."
~~back cover
I'm glad this wasn't a big fat book because I wouldn't have finished it. As it's a relatively slim volume, I persevered. It all made sense in the end, but I was lost for the first 99%. I suppose that makes it a good book, but I dislike being lost. I'm intending to read the whole series -- I hope they get less intricate!
October 26, 2025
This is a very old book (1983) and so there is no new technology to assist with the investigation.
It is slow to start and confusing. Point of view changes happen mid page. One of the main witnesses has blacked out and only recovers parts of his memory over the course of the whole story. Not only does the initial investigation produce lies to the police, none of the married couples even like each other and everyone is playing around on their spouses. All the suspects have secrets to hide.
However, this is a great plot. Detective Inspector Lloyd and Detective Sergeant Hill use facts and intuition to solve the murder. Fingerprints are key and the pathologist's time of death help guide the investigation to the truth.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
It is slow to start and confusing. Point of view changes happen mid page. One of the main witnesses has blacked out and only recovers parts of his memory over the course of the whole story. Not only does the initial investigation produce lies to the police, none of the married couples even like each other and everyone is playing around on their spouses. All the suspects have secrets to hide.
However, this is a great plot. Detective Inspector Lloyd and Detective Sergeant Hill use facts and intuition to solve the murder. Fingerprints are key and the pathologist's time of death help guide the investigation to the truth.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
October 27, 2017
For a first book, I thought it was great. It had several interesting twists and turns. This is one of those quick books you can read in an afternoon, because it moves along quickly and the characters are interesting.
Inspector Lloyd is a bit bossy at times and perhaps a bit of an old school copper, as Judy Hill seemed to get all the dirty work.
I am giving this 4 out of 5 stars and plan to read the next book in the series.
Inspector Lloyd is a bit bossy at times and perhaps a bit of an old school copper, as Judy Hill seemed to get all the dirty work.
I am giving this 4 out of 5 stars and plan to read the next book in the series.
June 9, 2018
I was interested in reading this series in order after seeing a 2003 British tv movie and reading the book that the TV movie was based on, Shred of Evidence. I found A Perfect Match to be engrossing, a good old fashioned but modern day puzzler and very entertaining. I intend to continue to work through the series in order and expect more enjoyable reads! One thing, I could not find a copy of A Perfect Match in my library at all so I had to buy a used copy on Amazon.
October 25, 2018
2.5 I have already read all of the Lloyd & Hill books, but probably 25 years ago. I did like the series a lot at the time. This does feel like a first novel. The mystery is okay, but lacking in scope, however this book is very short so it had to be. (I don't want to complain about something being too brief after i just complained about Tana French droning on for 450 pages.) We don't learn much about the lead characters here, but they do develop over the course of the series.
January 14, 2018
Detective Sargeant Judy Hill and Inspector Lloyd -- first name undetermined and a mystery all of its own -- are an effective team on the job and an interesting pair in their private lives. A Perfect Match begins simply enough with the death of a woman few people seem to like, but the obvious suspect becomes less so as the story proceeds. A thoroughly enjoyable read to the last page.
November 12, 2019
An enjoyable, solid police procedural where a crime is solved by actual police work rather than bizarre plot twists and ridiculous reveals. A big plus is that information pertinent to the solution is not withheld from the reader.
I'm not sure about Lloyd & Judy yet but will certainly read the next in the series.
I'm not sure about Lloyd & Judy yet but will certainly read the next in the series.
February 20, 2022
I’ve read a couple of Jill McGown’s later books in the last few months so thought I’d go back and read the first in her Lloyd and Hill series written in the 80s.
It’s a pretty impressive debut novel. A good mix of clever plot and engaging characters. It’s a very well written whodunnit, and keeps you guessing right to the end.
It’s a pretty impressive debut novel. A good mix of clever plot and engaging characters. It’s a very well written whodunnit, and keeps you guessing right to the end.
January 1, 2019
Wonderful story!
This is writing at its best....for ever keeping you guessing. Jill manages to keep the actual nudes secondary to the story itself...the details, the plots sidelines, they are all wonderfully written. Delve in and enjoy the journey.
This is writing at its best....for ever keeping you guessing. Jill manages to keep the actual nudes secondary to the story itself...the details, the plots sidelines, they are all wonderfully written. Delve in and enjoy the journey.
Read
April 20, 2019“The September dawn crept over the sky like water on blotting paper, spreading a fine thin light to supplement the yellow glow of the street lighting.” That’s the opening line. Nope.
There are several other novels with this title.
There are several other novels with this title.
February 27, 2020
Enjoyable detective story with two interesting lead detectives. Good first book in what looks like it could be a series worth reading. Downside of very poor formatting for kindle making it difficult to follow in parts.
July 24, 2021
Uninteresting side characters/suspects, flat main characters, predictable twists, weird paragraphs from the forest animals’ POV ending each chapter. Underdeveloped even for a series introduction and dull even for a cozy.
January 18, 2025
I found the animal POV metaphors rather forced and first novelish. The mystery was enjoyable and the author played fair with the clues. I thought as the first in the series there would be more backstory for the characters but as the series continues, no doubt more will be filled in.
January 10, 2019
Very entertaining and easy to read. I love a good British mystery and this is one!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews