Lloyd and Hill 3

Lloyd and Hill are two members of the police force who also have a private relationship, so the series not only focuses on their work, but also (although to less extent) on their private lives. I had enjoyed the first two books of this series a lot and was really looking forward to the third one, but was quite disappointed overall.
The case sounded very solid to me: The wife of the deputy headmaster of a public boy's school is raped and murdered in the night of the sesquicentennial ball. Naturally, there are many suspects, and the fact that most of them wore very similar clothes does not make things easier. Lloyd and Hill arrive on the scene, they recently visited the school anyway because of a series of thefts that might or might not be connected to the murder.
What really disturbed me about this novel was that there was too much sex in it. It went so far as to depict verbal abuse, catcalling, victim blaming, discussions about the "thin lines" between rape or no rape... Not only by the culprits or suspects, but by the policemen as well. I don't know if this novel is just showing its age, but I was appalled.
My husband was reading his own novel next to me and it's safe to say that he had a hard time reading because of my angry outbursts while I read chapter after chapter.
While it is made clear that Judy Hill, the female part of "Lloyd and Hill", does not agree with what is happening, she is the only one to stand up, is affected by sexism herself, and time and again finds herself in awkward positions when defending the victim.
In the end the message comes through that too many women are affected by sexual violence and that more should be done about it, but to me this message is depicted in a way that is not appropriate. The novel contains too many harmful positions and statements that are not contradicted or even discussed, and it lacks a strong character supporting Judy Hill in her battle. Maybe the idea was not so bad, but the execution is misleading.
Apart from all of that, the case was interesting and the story became more gripping in the second half when it did not exclusively focus on the sex lives of the characters but on the solving of the case. I enjoyed the sleuthing part of the plot as well as the school setting and was surprised by the actual solution.
I did enjoy the first two books and will continue with this series because I hope that the other books are better and deal with other subjects. ( )

Lloyd and Hill are a police couple with both similarities and differences to Deborah Crombie's Kincaid and James. They are not based in London, for one thing. This fine series sadly came to an end with McGown's death a few years ago. In this book, Lloyd and Hill investigate the rape and murder of a teacher's wife. ( )

Chief Inspector Lloyd and Sergeant Judy Hill come together to solve the rape and murder of the deputy head master's wife at a second-rate English public school during a ball. What happens when there is a long list of suspects and the murder weapon from years ago turns up missing? I have to say that I have trouble following police procedurals sometimes; although it was well-written and I did like it.

This is the third book of Scottish author Jill McGown's Lloyd and Hill Series. Also known as Death of a Dancer. I give it an A+! Ms. McGown passed away in 2007. ( )