Murder... Now and Then: Jill McGown

Victor Holyoak is a wealthy industrialist who got his start in criminal activities in London. When the police began to catch up with him in the early 80s he moved to Holland and aimed at becoming a legitimate businessman. Now he has returned to the UK to take over a firm in Stansfield. When he is murdered following an event to celebrate the change in ownership, DCI Lloyd and DI Judy Hill must find the murderer. The investigation involves his stepdaughter, her husband who is the new General Manager, Holyoak's PR manager who is also rumored to be his lover, and various residents of Stansfield.

One of the characteristics of the Lloyd and Hill series is that the books do not follow a formula; the ongoing relationship of the two protagonists is a constant, but each book has a unique structure. In this case, the story goes back and forth between the past (beginning 15 years earlier) and the present, showing the relationships building and key events leading up to Holyoak's death.

The relationship of Lloyd (whose first name is never specified) and Judy Hill is a large part of this series and is even more prominent in this book. In some books they are working together as partners, in others they are working on the same cases but not as partners. This is the sixth book in the series, and at this point their relationship is serious but they are not living together. Because this plot goes back and forth between the past and present, the author has a chance to fill in some of their backstory in more detail, and the reader can see the progression of their relationship. This makes it sound like that element is primary in the story but there is a good balance and the mystery plot always comes first.

I discovered the Lloyd and Hill mysteries in 2007, and read all 13 books in the series in that year. Thus this was a re-read for me. I remembered nothing about the plot as I was reading it. Although I did guess what was going on by the end, I never did remember who the culprit was.

The books in this series are all very strong in both characterization and plot. Many of the characters involved in the crime as possible suspects are not very pleasant people, but nevertheless McGown fleshes out their characters and the relationships. The plots are structured beautifully. This may sound like a cozyish police procedural but there is a good amount violence in the story, although not dwelled upon. So, not cozy at all.

Jill McGown (1947 - 2007) is one of my favorite authors. She was born in Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland, but by the age of 10 had moved to a town in Britain, Corby, where she lived the rest of her life. She is best known for the Lloyd and Hill series, but she also wrote five stand-alone mysteries (which I have not sampled).

In my opinion, the series is best read in order, because the Lloyd / Hill relationship evolves over time, but the author has stated (in this post at Mystery*File which includes some excerpts from an interview) that each book is written to stand alone and contains enough backstory to explain the relationships where needed.

I have done previous posts on other books in this series: Plots and Errors and Murder at the Old Vicarage. Murder... Now and Then has been reviewed by Moira at Clothes in Books.
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Publisher:  Fawcett, 1995. Orig. pub. 1993.
Length:     346 pages
Format:     Paperback
Series:      Lloyd and Hill, #6
Setting:     UK
Genre:       Police Procedural
Source:     I purchased my copy.