Product Description

The couple argue next door, the boy next door seems to know more than he is saying and the murder victim's mother is missing. This first in a series of mysteries is based in a church setting, and features Ellie Quicke, a recently widowed woman who finds herself to be something of a sleuth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #309876 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
From 'Publishers Weekly', 23/10/00: Returning to adult crime after many years, Heley introduces loveable widow Ellie Quicke in the first of what one can only hope will be a long series... Heley's keen observations and insights into her characters create a rich atmosphere of the social life in an English town... Combining sparkling wit and humor, quirky acts of fate and a dramatic ending, Heley provides all one needs for a satisfying read, except perhaps a cozy chair, a cup of tea and some chocolate biscuits.

About the Author
Veronica Heley is the author of numerous books, and has published with Corgi and Frances Lincoln, amongst others. This is the first time in many years she has turned her pen to adult crime.

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
Whilst Ellie Quicke is a very homely character and her emergence from the grief of her husband's recent death is well described, as are her domineering daughter and dreadful aunt by marriage, other parts of the plot are less convincing.

I found the story too thinly written and felt I needed to know more that I was being told. The 'errand boy' was particularly irritating. Detail was sketchy at times, and I wanted to get to the end of the mystery before Ellie took me there.

I'm really not sure that I will read the second book in the series but then she can only get better.

An enjoyable, satisfying read combining wit and humour.
Veronica Heley is the author of numerous novels, here, unusually she has turned her pen to adult crime. The engaging central character is Ellie Quicke, a lady struggling to re-establish her life after her husband`s death. Meanwhile a brutal murder takes place in the church opposite. The police suspect a neighbour.Ellie is not sure that she saw anything that night and she is anyway enveloped in her own troubles. A key theme is the way Ellie learns to become more astute and capable. A great strength of the book is the way the author draws out the personality and inner life of the main character. The various strands of the plot are well handled, the tension and suspense maintained to the end. Heley writes simply but with descriptive talent and a measure of humour. An enjoyable read.