The Murders of Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Beale

Lloyd & Hill #4

by Jill McGown

Newly promoted Detective Inspector Judy Hill and Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd investigate the complicated romantic lives of Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Beale, two women who were recently murdered. Reprint. K.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Procedural, British Literature, Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery Thriller

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Jill 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.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series and would advise anyone picking up one of these books to start at Book 1. You will otherwise be a little lost as to the nature of the relationship between Lloyd and Judy Hill otherwise. This is a solid murder mystery and if you pay attention, there are enough clues in the plot to give you a chance to solve the mystery yourself. Mrs. Beale and Mrs. Austin are murdered on the same night, so are there two killers involved and two separate motives, or, is this a pure coincidence and there are actually two separate killers? Judy Hill is now working at Malworth, having being promoted to DCI, and while Lloyd misses Judy as his work partner and is not too happy with her replacement, he soon realizes that Judy may actually overtake him in the promotion stakes and he is unsettled by this. One of the victims is a friend of Judys and one of the murders is actually on her patch, so they both end up working on the cases, side by side. Another great plot from Jill McGown and a must read series for crime mystery lovers.

[Adam Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of the Inspector Lloyd and Hill books in the series I’ve read so far. Two women murdered at the same time while on the phone to each other.

Cleverly done, gradually building, clues carefully placed with a nice twisty ending. This is well done, with some great characters and development.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Pair of Grisly Murders Was a Puzzle

"Both victims were dishy; both had rich husbands. Otherwise, Leonora Austin, struggling artist, and Rosemary Beale, ex-call girl, had nothing in common. Until the night they were both found brutally murdered, with an open phone line between their homes.

"It's a disturbing case, not only for newly promoted Detective Inspector Judy Hill, but also for her boy-friend, Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd. But when investigating the complicated romantic lives of Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Beale, including their husbands' past and present lovers, Hill and Lloyd uncover cold-hearted greed and calculated ambition -- and a killer (or killers?) waiting to cut both their lines dead ..."
~~back cover

This series is getting better with every book. Another complicated, solved only by the tiniest of details so the reader better pay close attention style of plots for which Ms. McGown seems to be enamored, and quite good at. This one held my interest because of the complicated relationships between all the characters -- made it fun to theorize along with Lloyd and Hill

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leonora Austin is found murdered in the flat she shares with her husband, parliamentary candidate Jonathan Austin. On the same evening in a flat above the studio where Leonora works, Rosemary Beale, married to a known criminal is also found murdered. Is there a connection between the two women? One complication of the case is that newly promoted DI Judy Hill knew one of the murdered women and had received a phone call from her husband just before the body is discovered.

This is a complex case with several strands to it and suspicion shifts between the suspects as more evidence is uncovered. I like the characters of DCI Lloyd and Judy Hill and I like the way the author portrays their long standing and somewhat acrimonious relationship.

The book is part of a series but can be read as a standalone novel. If you like your police procedural crime novels with little on the page violence, believable characters and well written dialogue then this may be the series for you.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this enough so that if another Jill McGown crosses my path cheaply I will read it, though not enough that I MUST read them all. The story itself (ie the murders) was quite well plotted. Some of the twists I saw and some I didn't but that is all part of the fun...I thought the author trod the line between red herrings and genuine foreshadowing fairly well on the whole.

I am not keen on so many POV changes or so much psychologising about the police officers' motivations, love-lives etc but I have to admit it was all adroitly done and mostly added something to the plot (mostly). We are meant, I think to like the relationship between Lloyd and Hill, but to me he was irritating with the "he knows everything" aspect which was laboured and I got a bit sick of hearing that every single male character thought she was attractive too. Need she be so damn attractive just because she is female? And then her friend the unusually attractive femme fatale was painted as being in contrast to her ordinariness. That just seemed silly.

I didn't enjoy much that was patronising in Lloyd's relationship to Hill, the fact she accepted that he was a "chauvinist" quite so happily and would have given up her promotion hopes if that was what she needed to do to keep him. There were other relationships that troubled me in the book but they were murder suspects and it sort of worked. The two murders (and too separate detectives) were entwined well. The half-hearted misogyny and diluted homophobia could almost be seen as transparent enough to be possibly put there to be brought into question (but then the hero of the day is the traditionally masculine Lloyd of course).

Anyway the pace and plot were good, there were few irrelevancies and the correct number of twists. Mostly characters had cards dealt to them that the reader could live with. Despite the few snorts of exasperation I enjoyed my way through this relaxing and pleasant read and I genuinely wanted to know where it was all going.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two women, both with rich husbands but very different otherwise, die on the same evening, victims of murder. But were their deaths related?

As Lloyd and Hill delve into the cases, it is not clear whether they are connected. Leonora Austin was a struggling artist, married to up and coming politician, Jonathan Austin, a director in the growing Pearce engineering firm. But several of her friends and acquaintances are not what her husband would see as members of the right class. Rosemary Beale, a party girl married to a man who seems to skate close to criminality, was a member of a engineering firm's board and the one pushing for the elimination of the firm's founder Gordon Pearce. Jonathan Austin brought that elimination move to a head when he met with Pearce, only to see the man melt down, blaming the action on Leonora and Rosemary. Could he be involved? Could the women's husbands? Or could be someone else?

The case gets more complicated as the two Scotland Yard detectives, who find themselves once again working together. But these are two smart protagonists that can banter, question and propose very different scenarios for these murders. And together, they come up with the goods on one multilayered and complex mystery. It is very good reading.

[Nicky Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to reading Jill McGown books having had a bit of a splurge on eBay recently.
This is book #4 in her Lloyd & Hill series.
A double murder mystery where it transpired that the phone line was open between the 2 homes where the victims were found.
One investigation is Lloyd's & having recently transferred to a neighbouring area the other investigation is Judy Hill's.
Keeps you guessing as ever, I kind of got there on one just before the reveal but was totally stumped on the other & enjoyed the twist in the tail

[Armelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two nearly simultaneous murders, a marriage of convenience, a budding political career, unrequited/misplaced love, a hint of drugs, women’s lib and more make for a convoluted, twisty police procedural - and the detectives are in a slightly twisty relationship of their own.

I found it a little tough to follow. It was a tad convoluted, but I think the problem was that I just didn’t care enough about any of them to stop and figure it out.

[Deb Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in reader love with this series, so not sure I can be totally objective. Lloyd and Hill have their work cut out for them with trying to unravel the murders of two women on the same night. Author McGown puts the clues in plain sight, but I dare you to put them togethr yourself before the last pages of the story.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sort of a routine entry in this series. Not a lot happens with Judy and Lloyd, and there is a surprise murderer at the end. I read it this time knowing who done it and am not sure the author wasn't leading us astray the whole book. Still, it's a good series. On to number 5.

[Jan Whitmarsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant Double murder !

Jill once again delights in keeping us guessing... This time with two murders, lots of potential attackers and no witnesses. Marvellous twists and turns until the very end !! Enjoy !

[Kathryn Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a plot !

This is the third novel I have read by Jill Mc Gown. All have been enthralling. She writes so well. The characters all ring true. The dialogue between Lloyd and Hill is believable. It is so fun to try to puzzle out who is the murderer.

[Roshni · Rating 4 out of 5]

An expertly woven mystery where everyone is lying and you don't really know anything until the end.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complex, nice twists, expertly done.

[Cfdimmyaol.Com · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best in the series in my opinion. I was confused from the start by the 3 couples' names and movements and never really caught up. I did like the ending though.

[Ann Repetto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this on a recommended list. Had never heard of the author. It was a well put together procedural. Easy read. Kept me interested. I'd recommend it.

[Sarah Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Ron Kerrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A satisfying entry in the series, although I remember enjoying the earlier ones more. Surprise ending helped, but it took a long time getting there.

[Maggie Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know those books that it doesn't hurt reading twice or thrice because they are that good. This is one of them. Absolutely loved it

[Squeak2017 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good twist at the end

[Jill Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jill McGown's mystery "The Murders of Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Beale" is said on the cover graphics to resemble the stories by Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. Personally, they triggered recollections of Inspectors Linley and Morse, with perhaps a dash of Miss Marple. The sleuths on the case are Welsh Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd and his girlfriend Judy Hill, who has recently been promoted from Sergeant to Detective Inspector and wonders if her career holds even more in store. Lloyd only goes by his last name--even Judy isn't privy to his first name. This provides grist for their relationship, as does Judy's career climb. But their relationship also plays a role when Judy is personally acquainted with their latest murder victim, beautiful artist Leonora Austin. Mrs. Austin is quite literally tied to another murdered woman in a different location; it is discovered that they were on the telephone to each other when Rosemary Beale, a stunning ex-call girl married to a respectable, affluent husband, is murdered by strangling with the phone cord around her neck.

Jonathan Austin is stiff, starchy, possibly bisexual, and as different from Leonora as imaginable. They have struggled to make a go of their marriage, even though Lennie has many boyfriends in her past including creative businessman Gordon Pearce, himself married to Pauline. Austin and Pearce are business partners, but both report to the absurdly wealthy Mr. Frank Beale, the business brains behind their company despite their names on the door. Pearce has just been told by Beale that he is to take a back seat--a far-removed back seat--from the company he founded. Beale makes it clear to Pearce that he has broad vision including overseas markets for the company Pearce considers his first child. Pearce struggles with thoughts of murder while wanting to keep life quiet and calm for his nervous, pregnant wife Pauline. Jonathan Austin and Leonora are partially responsible for Pearce's involvment with Beale and their firm in the first place. It is, indeed, a tangled web of three couples whose lives, businesses, pasts, loves, desires, ambitions, and properties overlap and intertwine.

Steve Tasker, just out of prision with a past involving Leonora, runs into her again and wants to take up where they left off. He is another complication, as is Mickey Drake, a young policeman who also has a promising future as long as he doesn't make bad observations during stakeouts and can keep his stomach in its place when viewing the dramatically deceased. Observations in unlit pub parking areas, persons seen walking along roadsides, the smell of burning, and lights left on in Leonora's studio must be examined, confirmed, and cross-matched on a complicated time line. The surviving characters are sure Lloyd and Hill are on to them, adding an atmosphere of paranoia to the plot. The character twists and turns are complicated (perhaps a little too much so), and, although the business end of the motivation becomes reasonably obvious, the identity of the murderer is carefully and skillfully hidden until the last pages.

I'll admit to having had to do some checking back through the pages to keep the characters in order; but I read this story on a dark, rainy, dreadful day and must say it was the perfect companion. I'll look forward to reading more of Jill McGown's brilliant writing and detailed craftsmanship. She could easily become a favourite author.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I must say that when the "who" in the "whodunit" presented itself I was thrown for a loop! Bravo! It is extremely rare that I'm surprised any more at the resolution of a mystery novel, but this one got me. It was an "aha" moment if ever there was one! Obviously, this makes for good solid mystery reading and I can only hope the other books by this author are as good (because I have more on the shelf!). Highly recommended. This is book 4 in the series, and unlike my normal pattern, I have not yet read the books which precede it. So I don't know if I can say you should read them in order or no, but this one was quite good.

basic plot
The police are called out to investigate a missing woman and end up investigating her murder. While they were working the crime scene, one of the officers is asked to make a call. I guess this was before the days of cell phones, because he goes to use the dead woman's telephone. He finds that there is no dial tone so the BT is contacted. It turns out that the victim was on the line to another woman at the time. Officers are sent there only to find that woman murdered as well. Detective Inspector Lloyd is put in charge of the original murder; his girlfriend, DI Judy Hill, is put in charge of the other. With a finite list of suspects, certainly they should be able to figure out what's going on, but everyone seems to have an alibi.

Very well written, and an awesome plot twist! Anyone who likes a well-written, well-constructed and well-plotted mystery will like this one; it is also a good British mystery fan read.

[Rog Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth book in the author's police procedural series (13 books) featuring Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd and Detective Inspector Hill. I first came across this series in the early 1990s and have read them all at least once.

This is the third time I have read this and it is even better than I remembered. It is over twenty six years since I last read it but I did remember who murdered Mrs Austin even though I remembered little else about the story. Following her promotion to Inspector Hill is now working in a different police district to Lloyd. Lloyd is dealing with the murder of Mrs Austin (who had been a friend of Hill) and Hill is dealing with the murder of Mrs Beale but the connection is that the two victims had been on the phone to each other when they were killed so the two investigations overlap.

Lloyd and Hill are great characters who come across as real people and an enjoyable part of this series is reading about their personal relationship.

A very clever plot with better writing than most of the books I have read this year (2025).

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize that this was part of quite an extensive series when I picked it up. So I was a little lost in the first chapter when I read about a series of characters and I wasn't sure about all the relationships. I actually read it while I was out somewhere and then put it down for a week. I got back to it, and it quickly got much better. Think if Agatha Christie wrote from the perspective of thoughtful police procedural rather than Miss Marple. The mystery is good, intelligent, and well plotted. The two main detective inspectors are in a relationship, and they have an interesting conversation in the car during a thunderstorm when she gets a temporary promotion and outranks him. In short, I'll be back to read more of the series.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love Jill McGown! So sad to hear that she died last year because I was selfish enough to hope that there were more books coming. I don't think she was very well known in the US (She was British), but if you like British mysteries that are police procedurals that have a cozy edge to them (not to mention and ongoing romantic backstory revolving around the two main characters), then you will love this series of books. "Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Beale" was my first introduction to Ms. McGown and I was pulled in by her craft. What I liked about her mysteries was that they were never easy to solve as a reader--she made you work for it!

[Mrsgaskell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant British mystery featuring Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd and Detective Inspector Judy Hill who are romantically involved. I haven’t previously read any books by this author. The ending came as a surprise.

[Karen (Living Unabridged) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisty but plays fair with the reader. I love a mystery when, at the end and the reveal, you're thinking, yes, that's exactly how it should end.

Recommended for: fans of British who-dunnit mysteries.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first in the Lloyd and Hill series by Jill McGown. Two women are murdered nearly simultaneously. Did the same person kill both?

[Kirsty Darbyshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun episode in this series; consistent with what's gone before and enjoyable. Some of the plot seemed a bit pedestrian but there's a good twist lurking in the tail of the story.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Jill McGown book that I have read. Will definitely read more of her books.