Murder with Mercy

by Veronica Heley

Overview

Ellie Quicke is surrounded by problems on all sides – will she sink or swim?

Ellie's friend on the police force asks her to enquire about some deaths which might or might not be suicide. Unbeknown to the police, an elderly lady with dementia has come across some drugs and is using them to ease people in pain out of their misery.

At the same time, the project to turn the quirky, turreted Pryce House into a hotel is dogged by problems and suspicion falls on the difficult twelve-year-old boy Mikey who Ellie has taken in.

Social Services threaten to remove him into care. And Ellie's pregnant daughter Diana has been juggling problems caused by the slow convalescence of her estate agent husband.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847517975
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	11/01/2017
Series:	Ellie Quicke Series , #14
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Veronica Heley is actively involved in her local church and community affairs. She lives in Ealing, West London. Veronica is the creator of the ever-popular Ellie Quicke mysteries, as well as the Abbot Agency series. For more information, or to sign up for the author’s monthly newsletter, please go to: www.veronicaheley.com

Read an Excerpt

Ellie’s daughter was after money – again.

‘Mother, I know you will want to support me¬–’

Ellie didn’t know anything of the kind. What she did know was that when her difficult, demanding daughter rang, it was either to ask for money, or to baby sit young Evan. This time it was money. ‘Sorry, Diana. I’m on my way to the dentist. Ring me later?’

Diana started to object but Ellie crashed the phone down. Now, had she got her keys and did she need a jacket? It had looked like a nice morning, but . . .

The phone rang again. Almost, she let it ring. But didn’t.

‘Ellie, do you have a minute?’ A tense, breathless voice.

‘Not really.’ It was her good friend from the police. ‘Lesley? What’s wrong?’

‘Will you be in this afternoon, about three? There’s someone I want you to meet.’ Controlled panic in her voice?

‘Is it serious?’ Ellie glanced at the clock. ‘I might. But—’

‘Yes, it’s murder.’

Editorial Reviews

"This is pleasant read that's part British cozy and part women's fiction, given its celebration of a woman who can do it all"

Booklist

"This is pleasant read that's part British cozy and part women's fiction, given its celebration of a woman who can do it all"

Booklist

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. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

“Heley’s 13th finds Ellie beleaguered but resolute as ever as she deals with the fallout from hell-bound good intentions”
Kirkus Reviews  on Murder with Mercy

“This is a pleasant read that’s part British cozy and part women’s fiction, given its celebration of a woman who can do it all.”
Booklist on Murder with Mercy

From the Publisher

2013-09-01
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.

Kirkus Reviews