False Impression

January 5, 2015
In Heley’s satisfying ninth Abbot Agency mystery (after 2013’s False Diamond), Bea Abbot, a practicing Christian who runs a “successful domestic agency from her house in an upmarket London suburb,” faces a host of problems. First, successful businessman Leon Holland, a good friend who often escorts her to social functions, fears for his life. A van nearly ran him down in the road recently. Bea agrees to help him go into temporary hiding at a hotel. Meanwhile, the agency’s computer system has a virus, and Bea’s lodger, Leon’s niece, takes in a man who needs a place to stay, Orlando. Later, Bea learns that text messages lured Leon and Orland to a car park. The two found the bodies of a man and a woman in their respective cars, and now the police have a murder case to solve. Heley evokes the upper-middle-class world to which the Abbot Agency caters with subtlety and restraint. The frenetic pace of the early chapters gradually slows to a surprising conclusion.

March 1, 2015
Bea Abbot's domestic-services agency is ticking along nicely, and she's feeling content with life, even though her house seems to be a haven for a succession of adult waifs and strays. One such is Dilys Holland, the daughter of wealthy businessman Briscoe Holland. Coincidentally, Briscoe's brother, Leon, is Bea's old friend and would-be lover. When Leon shows up, dreadfully worried about something he won't share with Bea, she finds herself drawn into a case that will have life-changing implications. At first, a deadly computer virus, a deluge of hate mail, two dead bodies, a nasty practical joke, and an assault on Bea's beloved home don't seem related, but Bea soon starts to see connections. Bea's friend, Detective Inspector Durrell, initially pooh-poohs Bea's ideas, but as the drama increases and the bodies pile up, even he sees that she could be right. All it takes is one final mind-boggling revelation to uncover the entire ugly, tragic, greed-driven story. Solid writing, larger-than-life characters, plenty of twists, and a lovable, Miss Marplelike heroine make for an entertaining and satisfying read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)