Rating: 
Summary: a superb book in an excellent series
Review: A Death in the Family is an absolutely terrific book. It is beautifully written (as, indeed, one should expect in a novel whose chief protagonist is so particular about his use of language). Its plot is excellent and laden with suspense. Its characters are superbly drawn. What more could one need?One of the aspects of series detective stories that I enjoy most is getting to know the repeat characters better as the series continues. I also like to watch them develop. A Death in the Family is wonderful from both of these perspectives. The reader learns more about Lloyd, including his first name, and more about Judy Hill as well. Indeed, one of the most successful aspects of this highly successful novel is the evolution of Judy Hill's maternal feelings from terror to love. The mystery plot of A Death in the Family is riveting and, while sad and even tragic, does not leave the reader devastated (as some competing authors are wont to do). I cannot point out the moments of joy without giving away too much of the plot, but they are there! A magnificent book.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written British mystery
Review: A new entry in the series featuring Chief Detective Lloyd and Chief Detective Judy Hill transitions their relationship towards domestic harmony. Judy gives birth to their daughter early in the novel, and a wedding if finally a serious conversation. Running in parallel to the story line of Judy's & Lloyd's relationship is a kidnapping and a murder. The kidnapping is of a young infant that was born in the same hospital and at the same time as Judy & Lloyd's baby. McGown skillfully uses the kidnapping to explore Judy's feelings towards motherhood, work, and love for her new family. This is not to say that the crimes take second place through out the book. There is quite a cast of potential suspects, and motive and opportunity are explored for each. There are two points in the book where the characters and possibilities are so numerous that you need to read carefully. Although the final culprit is not a surprise, the role that coincidence plays in solving the crime adds tension to the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: not the volume for new readers to start with
Review: anyone not familiar with this series should choose another title from it to start with. i guessed the killer just from reading the endpapers, which was a great disappointment. usually, the plots in this series are wonderfully twisty and unpredictable, without being psychologically impossible. still, there was some interest in discovering how the crime was committed. as with many other series, the point of reading each volume is not just the plot, its also the development of the characters' history. although i wasn't thrilled with this installment, i will definitely read the next volume.
Rating:
Summary: superb British police procedural
Review: Detective Chief Inspector Judy Hill and her lover DCI "appalling first name" Lloyd had to cancel their wedding because their baby came four weeks early. Charlotte Frances is an adorable cherub and her father is totally besotted with her while Judy is constantly worrying whether she should go back to work or be a stay at home mom. While pondering her dilemma, an au pair girl cries out that her baby has been stolen. The crime hits Judy hard because the seventeen-year-old watcher was not only negligent but also because she knows the infant and the mother. At almost the same time across town, Lloyd is at the scene of a homicide identified as Leslie Newton and an accident victim. Leslie's lover Ian Waring undergoes surgery after he is stabilized. There are many suspects but Lloyd really does not know who committed the murder. If it were not for startling circumstances involving the kidnapped baby, the case would have been solved much sooner. Jill McGown writes some of the best British police procedurals on the market today and DEATH IN THE FAMILY is one of her better ones. The personal relationship between the two DCIs and their love for their daughter will appeal to fans that gain pleasure from a warm, well-written romantic police procedural. Readers will never guess who the killer is but they will be glad to see that an innocent person obtains the justice he deserves. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Not near up to her usual fine performance
Review: I was surprised and disappointed that this long-awaited story spends more time on the relationships among it's regular characters than on a mystery plot. More soap opera than suspense. Dear Miss McGown, get back to what you're good at and leave the personal backgrounds of your characters to a minimum. And as little of the baby as possible....please.
Rating:
Summary: Births, Deaths, and Marriages
Review: In the UK this book was published as Births, Deaths and Marriages, a title I happen to like better than the rather bland "A Death in the Family". The American title seems to place too much emphasis on the murder, whereas the British title suggests that it is the overall situation that should be examined. I have to agree that this is not the book for the rank newcomer to the Hill/Lloyd saga but for those of us who have been following the ups and downs of DCI Hill and Lloyd and Their bedeviled police force, this is a good read. While the mystery is not all that impenetrable, the characters are well drawn-- I always find myself jolted by the realization that the British aren't Americans with funny accents-- and the plot, while ultimately relying on concidence, turns on the issues raised by the above mentioned births, deaths and marriages. Easy to pick up, hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Births, Deaths, and Marriages
Review: In the UK this book was published as Births, Deaths and Marriages, a title I happen to like better than the rather bland "A Death in the Family". The American title seems to place too much emphasis on the murder, whereas the British title suggests that it is the overall situation that should be examined. I have to agree that this is not the book for the rank newcomer to the Hill/Lloyd saga but for those of us who have been following the ups and downs of DCI Hill and Lloyd and Their bedeviled police force, this is a good read. While the mystery is not all that impenetrable, the characters are well drawn-- I always find myself jolted by the realization that the British aren't Americans with funny accents-- and the plot, while ultimately relying on concidence, turns on the issues raised by the above mentioned births, deaths and marriages. Easy to pick up, hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Good British writing, but don't start with this segment...
Review: Ok, I read a little of the jacket...and no I didn't guess the culprit from the jacket, though by the time I was half-way through the book, I had a pretty good idea of who was the killer. The problem lay in the fact that this is a serial...and unlike some American serials I can think of which do a good short job of explaining the main characters who pop up in each segment of the serials, this particular writer, McGown, did not do that. So it took me a while to figure out who everyone was and whether they were good guys or bad guys. McGown needs to have a fast explanatory section of the beginning of each of her books or she is going to lose readers. Having said that this was a good read, especially for light summer reading. Once I got into the book and understood who the characters were, I enjoyed the book immensely. McGown's two protagonists are nice people, the woman a cop who has just had a baby. I totally understand her feelings of wondering who this kid is and how she got here, and who is coming to pick her up. I think all women go through that to some extent and it is probably worse for women who establish a career first, before having a baby. Judy Hill's significant other, Lloyd, does a great job playing down Hill's fears and I love the fact he doesn't mind changing diapers. Most men do, though I got lucky, and my husband doesn't (even the second time around with grandchildren). The story is another story about dysfunctional family with a few oddball twists and turns. It's not enough that children have families with no permanent ties to each other through marriage, but then to put an adopted child into the mix, and have fathers die or be kicked out by the mother...no wonder children have problems. A baby goes missing, a mother gets killed, other people get run over, and too many people have the blood of the victim on their clothes. A regular circus, with way too many possible suspects and actually too many different police units involved because the crimes are all related. I will most probably go back and read some of the earlier mysteries, now that I've found McGown. I enjoyed her writing. Not the best of British writing abilities, but certainly puts many American mystery writers to shame... Karen Sadler
Rating:
Summary: Smashing New Entry in a Solid Series
Review: One of the things that always amazes and delights me about Jill McGown's wonderful DCIs Hill and Lloyd British procedurals is their completely baffling, yet utterly flawless structure. Her intricate plots move at a breath-taking pace towards what seems like a wholly logical denouement and then suddenly your jaw drops because her solution to the crime in question...utterly reasonable once you put the right pieces together...is not at all what you (or, quite frequently, her characters) had anticipated. That is certainly the case with appropriately-titled "Death in the Family". Judy and Lloyd's wedding plans have been temporarily shelved due to the early arrival of their daughter, Charlotte Frances. However, while they are happily adjusting to their new status as a family, elsewhere in Stansfield, families are being shattered left and right with deadly consequences. Self-centered, well-to-do Lesley Newton has no particular qualms about breaking up Ian and Theresa Waring's marriage so that she and Ian can marry and emigrate to Australia, taking her adopted daughter from her first marriage...rebellious, troubled, thirteen-year-old Kayleigh Scott...with them. Her blithe disregard for anything but her own desires infuriates her former husband, Kayleigh's devoted stepfather, Phil Rodham, and also impels Kayleigh (since her mother has arbitrarily separated her from her best and only friend) into a sexual entanglement with petty criminal, Dean Fletcher, that leaves her pregnant and him arrested and jailed as a pedophile. All of which and more eventually add up to sufficient grounds for Lloyd to call it murder when Lesley's dead body is discovered at the Waring's country cottage shortly after Fletcher's release. As he pursues his investigation, Judy - still on maternity leave - inadvertently gets unofficially caught up in one of her own: while walking Charlotte in the park, she hears terrified screams. A teenage nanny has made a quick trip back to the car park leaving her charge alone, and the baby has disappeared. Inevitably, Judy's desparate need to find the kidnapper in time to save the baby becomes part and parcel of Lloyd's search for an elusive killer. The pieces start to come together...suspects are jailed...then Judy makes a startling discovery, and all bets are off. The real truth behind Lesley Newton's murder is a shocker. I understand that plotting is paramount in the mystery genre, but I especially love reading novels that not only weave a compelling story, but also allow room for me to get thoroughly involved with the every day lives of their protagonists. Judy Hill and hitherto nameless Lloyd are so lovingly-drawn that it's a rare and genuine pleasure to spend time with them. Jill McGown never disappoints me. I think "Death in the Family" is the strongest entry to date in this rock-solid series, and I found it almost impossible to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Quite a good psychological thriller!
Review: This book is a strong new entry in the Lloyd/Hill series. More than any of her previous books, this one enters the dark side in full force. There are many sinister undertones throughout the book, and it makes the reader rush to keep up to them. In this book, Judy and Lloyd have their new daughter in their life, and along with sleepless nights, it causes Judy a lot of angst as it gets closer to her time for returning to work. A murder and a baby kidnapping that occur during this time runs closely parallel to all of Judy's guilty mother feelings. While on the murder case without Judy, Lloyd is finding that his theories are not making sense, and he can't make head or tail of the little puzzles liberally sprinkled througout the investigation. He feels in his gut that he's arresting the wrong person for the murder, but he has no way of proving who actually did it. All the available suspects seem to have cast-iron alibies. But on the very doorstep of their wedding ceremeony, Lloyd and Hill unmask the murder. At the end of the book we see Lloyd and Judy actually getting married, and we actually discover Lloyd's hated first name. A stunner of a story!
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