Murder with Mercy

July 29, 2013
Det. Constable Lesley Milburn calls on Ellie Quicke for help in looking into some suspicious suicides in Heley’s hectic 14th mystery featuring the veteran amateur sleuth (after 2012’s Murder in Mind). Exasperated Ellie winds up contending with distraught relatives of the victims who show up at her suburban London home for consolation. Meanwhile, practically everyone in Ellie’s household is down with the flu, and the conversion of Pryce House into a hotel that she oversees has slowed because of expensive mishaps on the site that someone is trying to blame on her 12-year-old ward, Mikey Pryce. No sooner does Social Services make a house call than work-averse, spendthrift Edwina Pryce, heiress to the estate, accuses sensible Ellie of being behind the sabotage. With her usual flair, Ellie strives to accommodate all distressed parties, solve the mysterious deaths, and keep Mikey and the Pryce mansion under her guardianship in this rewarding cozy.

Starred review from June 14, 2010
Ellie Quicke, who rescued waifish Mia Prior from her abusive criminal stepfamily in Murder in House (2009), plans on hosting a wedding reception for Mia's best friend, Ursula Belton, in British author Heley's entertaining 11th mystery to feature the stubborn amateur sleuth. Against her better judgment, Ellie is also planning the splashy, ill-advised nuptials of her oh-so-demanding daughter, Diana, to Denis "the Menace," a shady businessman (who might still be married). The week before the weddings, to be held on the same day, a speeding car kills a young mother and narrowly misses Ellie and Mia while they're out shopping. Further problems develop after Mia begins receiving threatening messages and flowers suggesting she's still in danger. Avoiding wedding day catastrophe and more, intrepid Ellie injects this high-octane cozy with endearing humor and enduring style. Adding to the fun is Ellie's impulse to pray for help from higher powers at critical moments.

September 1, 2013
Ellie Quicke has her hands full with daughter Diana's pregnancy, a spot of sabotage in her latest renovation project, a bout of flu in her household and, of course, murder. The project of turning rambling Pryce House, left to Ellie in old Mrs. Pryce's will (Murder in Mind, 2012, etc.), into a hotel has been moving along apace until Hugh, the project manager, shows up at Ellie's door complaining that Mikey has been breaking into the construction site and turning on faucets, unscrewing fittings and generally making a mess. That's the same Mikey who's been living with his mother, Vera, in an attic apartment at Ellie's since shortly after the death of Vera's husband, Edgar, Mrs. Pryce's son. When Ellie goes upstairs to ask Vera to have a word with Mikey, she finds the single mom weak and feverish. Soon, the flu has hit not only Vera, but Ellie's husband, Thomas. Ellie's time tending her own sick is shortened, however, by her daughter's pleas that she look after Diana's invalid husband, Evan, while Diana--expecting her second child any day--tries to keep their real estate firm afloat. Meanwhile, DC Lesley Milburn asks Ellie to probe the deaths of several elderly and infirm ladies who may have had some help on their final journeys. Given the threats from social services to take Mikey into care and from Edwina Pryce to break Mrs. Pryce's will, it's not clear whether Ellie will be able to fulfill DC Milburn's request before another soul is sent heavenward. Heley's 13th finds Ellie beleaguered but resolute as ever as she deals with the fallout from hell-bound good intentions.

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