Partway through this cozy, Veronica Heley’s fifth Abbott Agency novel, I was singularly piqued. I thought the novel was bearing a dissatisfactory resemblance to its immediate predecessor, False Pretences. I was all set to give it a two-star review sprinkled with spoiler alerts, decrying the rehashing of False Pretences with nary a change. I should have known better, having inhaled Heley’s previous novels, that she would never deliver a sub-par mystery novel. And she hasn’t.

For suddenly, the novel veers off into an entirely unforeseen direction. In False Pretences, a sociopath cuts a swath through the directors and ex-employees of a housing trust who she feels has slighted her; I thought that Claire Staughton was a refashioned Lady Honoria, yet another psychopath; reading too many plots that grows really tiresome quickly. (Despite what one sees in film, in reality, when a body count mounts around someone, the police, however plodding, take notice.) Here the motive for murders is money, which, along with sex and revenge, are the three most common — in real life, as in fiction. Readers will realize who the murderer is long before even the perspicacious Bea Abbott, owner of the Abbott Agency, a domestic staffing agency; the writers of the Colombo TV series of yore, Heley always divulges the perpetrator(s) early, and the fun consists of following the Abbott Agency’s steps in solving the crime. Once again, in False Money, readers will love seeing how Bea and her motley crew unearth the killer and find justice for the murdered Tomi.

In a separate storyline, Bea’s selfish son and daughter-in-law, new parents of baby “Pippin,” are so determined to follow the latest baby-raising fad that the poor infant fails to thrive; as usual, Nicole and Max, self-important and self-absorbed, give poor Bea a terrible time. Bea definitely has more patience than I! I would have given the whining, superficial Nicole a good telling-off long before now and then rounded on the conceited Max!

While False Money isn’t the very best in the series — that would have to be False Charity or False Picture — it was still pretty good. 7 s Betty2,006 58

I have now read 6 of the twelve Abbott's Agency books. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series and reading g the Ellie Quicke series. This book dwells in lotto winnings. With mix motives a group of people decided to buy a lottery ticket each week for 6 months. They are sworn to secrecy if they tell they lose any winnings. They win big and suddenly members begin to die. Bea is brought into the affair when a friend goes missing. Chris wants Bea to find Toni, his star in his award-winning film. As usual, the villain's thought is included along with the story. I usually do not this format but Veronica Heley does a superb job with the format. Meanwhile Bea's grandson is doing poorly. Max and Nicole have decided not to have a nanny. If course, when they finally hire one, they managed to hire the villain putting her grandson in danger. Will Bea and friends resolve the problem before there are more deaths? I highly recommend this book and series.



6 s Mona13

This book could not catch me. I didn´t finish it.3 s Damaskcat1,782 4

Bea Abbot runs a successful domestic agency which finds staff for people, often at short notice and also takes on problems which people might not want to take to the police. But she is adamant the agency doesn't deal with murder - but in spite of that she still finds herself rather too often involved with a murder case.

In this well written story Chris - the teenage son of her friend CJ - asks for her help in finding out what happened to Tomi, a Nigerian girl who has gone missing after starring in a short film he has just made.

Bea finds herself dragged into a strange web of murders which at first seem to have no connection to each other but as she digs deeper she starts to uncover some connections but is not helped by the apparent pact of secrecy the group share.

I found this an entertaining read and I thought the ending was very well done. All the series characters are here - Maggie and Oliver, Bea's adopted children; her ex-husband Piers and of course Winston the cat. This is a well written mystery series with something a but different from the norm. The book can be read as a standalone novel or as part of a series.2 s Mary Kay967

This series is getting a little tedious.2 s essie johnson14

Great characters, Unusual plot

I was intrigued from the beginning. I could not imagine who was the murderer. Equally as intriguing is the way in which the author introduces new characters. If they are to return in future, she begins building a character for them, and adds depth in future publications. Piers, a character that I enjoyed tremendously, was introduced early on as Bea's ex. As he flitted in and out of scenes he became "real" as he was given emotion when he painted Hamilton, ego as he refused to be forced to paint outside his genre, and depth as he worked to strengthened his relationship with Max. These books uhh have a lot of characters! The auth I or has done an excellent job of keeping them straight for the reader as each is developed in turn for their strategic role. Though these are "cozy" I greatly admire the precision and care with which they are written. So far I've read six, and am looking forward to meeting characters and diving into plots in the rest of the impressively long series.

Heart to Heart1 BonnieAuthor 88 books14

This was the first in the series that I read. It had a lot of potential. The mystery was okay if a little slow. What bothered me was the way in which the main character acted towards her son and his wife. I her issues there completely irritating simply because she seemed to think she just had to sit back and take it. It may be a cultural thing but this seemed to go beyond the pale--my other British mystery series characters wouldn't sit back and take what she does! I won't pick up another book in the series.1 Lynda756 1 follower

This was not as good as the Ellie Quicke books. Mrs. Abbott is not as endearing as Ellie but more abrasive. This episode finds her helping to solve the murder of a young actress with the help of her friends Oliver, Maggie and CJ. An interesting premise about a lottery winning sharedd by ten people who are being killed.1 Peggy683

This series always exhibits similar plots and identical style (the murderer's thoughts are in italics), but the main characters are engaging, with the exception of the protagonist's son and daughter-in-law who are too mean-spirited to be believed (or at least I hope so).mystery-england1 Anne950 9

The Abbott Agency series books are light, busy with with characters and entertaining.
I just don't get the prayers interspersed throughout. They just seem silly.1 Holly231 2

Great Mystery - no False Claim!

I really enjoyed the story and plot. The beginning of the book though I found to be just a bit too much useless chatter amount the several characters. Also, just my own reaction and nothing wrong with the story - this is a modern mystery (cell phones and computers) but the Brits still are snobbish about vocational school vs college and it just seemed odd such pettiness still exists.
I can recommend this clean mystery for older teens and adults. It is a very good plot and development towards a reveal. The characters are well defined and a few are able. (After all, someone has to be bad in a murder mystery!) I will read more from Heley and will keep this in my library but if it isn't kept on my kindle, it can't rate 5 stars. Still, A great read from Heley. Barbara Nutting2,996 137

Certainly the best in the series so far. The regular crew plus a return of Zander and Chris (an 18 year old male who giggles?). This book had a plot that kept me up until 3:30 am to see what was going to happen.

I knocked off a star because there were unanswered questions. (Page 65) what discrepancy did Bea spot on Maggie’s list? Why did Claire take all the mobile phones to the celebration party in her tacky handbag? She was supposed to dispose of them one by one before that big event (page 199). Did I miss something by reading past my bedtime?

I think this series definitely should be read in chronological order, so you know who all these zany characters are and how they fit into the storyline. Mrs J216

A ‘Miss Marple-’ mystery

Bea runs a domestic agency aided by her quirky assistant Maggie, her adopted tech savvy son Oliver and a couple of pensioners. Oliver’s best friend Chris persuades her into investigating the disappearance of a young girl and she is soon embroiled in the hunt for a murderer.
I did want to get to the end to find out if the murderer got their comeuppance although the reader knew who the murderer was halfway through. Most of the characters felt a bit caricature and some of the relationships seemed inexplicable. Points of conflict were tackled speedily and dismissed yet the buds in the garden were contemplated regularly. It was an easy entertaining read. Patricia Larsen2

Intriguing and Annoying

Interesting characters, engaging story but..annoying how our main detective, clever as she is , continuously enables her son and daughter in law to verbally abuse her and endanger her grandson through poor care and nutrition. She covers herself with formula religion but it takes the actual murderer to save the baby and there’s no improvement with her relations. laying down in traffic and praying to not be run over ! Hope this aspect of the series improves. Geraint Wiggins52 1 follower

Another good story with Bea

False Money is written in the style as the other books
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