‘Plots And Errors’ by Jill McGowan

Published by Soundings Audio Books.

ISBN 978-0-84559-636-1. (12 Cassettes)

Read by Gordon Griffin

Plots and Errors is the tenth in the Lloyd and Hill series set in Northamptonshire. The series comprises thirteen in all and I'm unsure whether there will be a fourteenth as Jill McGown died earlier this year (2007). From the two I'd previously read, it seemed to me that the author's speciality was making her detectives break the seemingly invincible alibis of the actual murderers, and this one is no different.

A former police officer turned private detective and her husband appeared to have committed suicide in their garage but Lloyd's instincts say otherwise. Especially when their shopping has been put away incorrectly. The next body is that of Angela Esterbrook, matriarch of the wealthy Esterbrook family at Little Emley, who has been shot. Her family fall under suspicion, especially her son Paul and soon there is another death. The story then jumps back a few months and is told from the viewpoint of the Esterbrook family members, including Paul, his half-brother Josh and his wife Sandy, leading up to the present again, which is when the investigation is detailed.

In this way the listener knows more than the police or thinks they do. They do know when the main characters are lying, most of the time, but key facts are still missing and really are as much in the dark as the police as to who is behind the murders.

Plots and Errors is extraordinarily complicated with the police suspecting one family member then another as more information is uncovered and lies revealed. The combination of intuition and logic from Lloyd and Hill finally gets to the bottom of the crimes however the personal relationship between them is very much in the background in this book, even though Hill is newly pregnant. Plots and Errors is fourteen hours long and I'd recommend listening to it in as shorter time as possible so as not to lose the plot (as it were!).

Gordon Griffin provides an excellent narration as usual, including many accents. As the book is set out with five acts and many scenes I did feel a bit sorry for him having to say Scene X, date, time and place every few minutes or less.

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Karen Meek