Guest Review: Past Lying By Val McDermid

Edinburgh, haunted by the ghosts of its many writers, is also the cold case beat of DCI Karen Pirie. So she shouldn't be surprised when an author's manuscript appears to be a blueprint for an actual crime.

Karen can't ignore the plot's chilling similarities to the unsolved case of an Edinburgh University student who vanished from her own doorstep. The manuscript seems to be the key to unlocking what happened to Lara Hardie, but there's a problem: the author died before he finished it.

As Karen digs deeper, she uncovers a spiralling game of betrayal and revenge, where lies are indistinguishable from the truth and with more than one unexpected twist . . .

Review: This is the seventh, and latest, book in the Karen Pirie crime thriller series. It follows on chronologically from the previous books, so I would recommend reading the series in order. Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Karen Pirie is head of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit (HCU) based in Edinburgh. The story is set mainly in April 2020, with Scotland, and the rest of the United Kingdom, in lockdown as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. During this time, people had to stay indoors, mixing only with people in their own “bubble”, and only being allowed outside for one hour’s exercise per day. Karen’s assistant, Detective Constable (DC) Jason Murray, is staying in his flat with his fiancée. Karen is joined in a separate “bubble” by a newcomer to the HCU, Detective Sergeant (DS) Daisy Mortimer.

With the country in lockdown there is little work for the Unit to do except going through some old files, until Jason receives a telephone call from a librarian on furlough from the National Library of Scotland. She explains that, prior to lockdown, she had been cataloguing the papers of a crime writer who had passed away suddenly. Amongst the papers was an unfinished manuscript detailing the abduction, murder and concealment of the body of a young woman by a writer in such a way that the finger of suspicion points at a fellow writer. The librarian believes that there are some uncanny similarities to the unsolved disappearance of an Edinburgh University student the previous year, especially due to the unusual medical condition suffered by the victim in the manuscript and the missing student. On receiving the report of this conversation, Karen Pirie decides that this should be investigated by the HCU. The book then follows the investigation as it grapples with the restrictions of lockdown and the ever pervading menace of Covid to try and bring answers to the missing student’s family.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the actress Lauren Lyle who played Karen Pirie in the television adaptation of the first book in the series. I found it to be as exciting as previous books in the series, although of necessity slower paced as Karen and her team journeyed through the eerily quiet streets of Edinburgh. There were plenty of twists in the plot, and the author wove skilfully the reality of the Covid pandemic and its effects on people’s lives into the story. As another absorbing entry into the Karen Pirie crime series, I would recommend this book.

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Guest Review: Broken Ground By Val McDermid

'Somebody has been here before us. And he's still here . . .'

When a body is discovered in the remote depths of the Highlands, DCI Karen Pirie finds herself in the right place at the right time. Unearthed with someone's long-buried inheritance, the victim seems to belong to the distant past - until new evidence suggests otherwise, and Karen is called in to unravel a case where nothing is as it seems.

It's not long before an overheard conversation draws Karen into the heart of a different case, however - a shocking crime she thought she'd already prevented. As she inches closer to the twisted truths at the centre of these murders, it becomes clear that she's dealing with a version of justice terrifyingly different to her own . . .

Review: This is the fifth book in the Karen Pirie crime thriller series. It can be read as a standalone, but it does follow on from events in the previous books, so I would recommend reading the series in order. Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Karen Pirie is head of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit based in Edinburgh. In this book, she and her assistant, Detective Constable (DC) Jason Murray, are joined by a newcomer to the unit, Detective Sergeant (DS) Gerry McCartney.

There are three strands to the book. At the outset, in 2018, Karen and her team are trying to track down the owner of a Rover car that they believe was involved in a series of unsolved rapes. Also at this time, whilst having a break in a café, Karen overhears a conversation between two women that she fears could lead to domestic violence. However, the main strand of the book relates to the recovery of a pair of motorcycles that were “liberated” towards the end of the Second World War by two soldiers who were involved in training agents for clandestine operations behind enemy lines at a training centre in the Scottish Highlands. Since the motorcycles were surplus to the Army’s requirements, the soldiers were ordered to destroy them but, instead, decided to bury them in a peat bog and come back to recover them after the end of the War. Circumstances prevented them from returning to the burial site and, 74 years later, the granddaughter of one of the men located the site in Wester Ross and started to dig up the bikes. To her surprise and shock, buried alongside the bikes was a well-preserved male body with gunshot wounds and wearing clothing that clearly did not date from 1944, but more probably from the 1990s. The book follows Karen and her team’s efforts to solve the murder of the body in the peat bog, as well as their attempts to track down the driver of the Rover linked to the historic sexual assaults.

As in Val McDermid’s previous books, I found this to be fast-paced. It is set mainly in Edinburgh and the North West of Scotland. The locations are very well described, such that the reader or listener (I listened to the audiobook) can picture themselves in the middle of the action. The famous pies from the shop in Lochinver are even described, and having eaten several of them, I can recommend these also. I liked the way the chapters of the book jumped between the different time periods and places, which helped to move the story along at a good pace. There is more detail about DCI Pirie’s personal life and we also discover the office politics of Police Scotland. There is a lot of strong language in the book, so caution should be exercised. I did find that the book ended quite suddenly, and would have liked to have found out more about how the loose ends were tidied up. Overall, however, I found this to be another exciting addition to the Karen Pirie series and would recommend it to all crime fiction lovers.

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Guest Review: Out of Bounds By Val McDermid

'There are lots of things that ran in families, but murder wasn't one of them . . .'

When a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car and ends up in a coma, a routine DNA test could be the key to unlocking the mystery of a twenty-year-old murder inquiry. Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is an expert at solving the unsolvable. With each cold case closed, justice is served. So, finding the answer should be straightforward, but it's as twisted as the DNA helix itself.

Meanwhile Karen finds herself irresistibly drawn to another case, one that she has no business investigating. And as she pieces together decades-old evidence, Karen discovers the most dangerous kinds of secrets. Secrets that someone is willing to kill for . . .

Review: This is the fourth book, published in 2016, in the Karen Pirie crime thriller series. It can be read as a standalone, but it does follow on from the third book, so I would recommend reading the series in order. Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Karen Pirie, head of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit based in Edinburgh, is recovering from a tragic event. The story begins in 2016, when the results of analysis of a blood sample from the teenage driver of a vehicle involved in a serious accident shows what forensic scientists refer to as a familial match to a sample from an undetected rape and murder of a young woman in Glasgow 20 years earlier. This means that the person from whom the material originated was an older, close relative of the driver. This new lead in the cold case gives Karen Pirie and her assistant, Detective Constable (DC) Jason Murray, an opportunity to revisit the original investigation. At around the same time as the road traffic accident, a man is found dead from a gunshot wound in Kinross. It is unclear whether this was a suicide, or something more suspicious. However, when Karen discovers that the man’s mother was among a group of victims murdered by an explosive device 22 years earlier, she takes it upon herself to investigate these two incidents. At the time, in 1994, the explosion was thought to be the work of an Irish terrorist group. However, nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, no arrests were made and the case remained officially undetected. Karen argues that this means that investigation of the explosion falls within her remit, and also that the death of the woman’s son is somehow linked.

The book follows Karen and Jason as they try to unravel the two historic crimes, while also attempting to delve further into the current potential crime. I found it to be fast-paced, with many twists. It is set mainly in Scotland, in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Kinross, and also in London. As in her previous books, I found that the forensic science aspects of the plot were well researched. In addition, Val McDermid is adept at describing locations, and having actually eaten in one of the cafes mentioned in the book, I could picture myself in some of the locations. It was also interesting to discover some of the nuances of the Scottish legal system. In this book, we discover a more vulnerable side to DCI Pirie, but this does not detract from the usual determined manner in which she pursues her investigations. I should add a care warning that there is a lot of strong language in the book. I listened to the audiobook version and, again, thought that the narrator, Cathleen McCarron, brought it to life with her varied voice characterisations.

I enjoyed following the thrilling story as the detectives tried to unravel the various lines of investigation. However, I do have one minor quibble. At the end of the book, it is implied that Karen Pirie has solved the 1996 Glasgow murder case. Indeed, she discusses with an advocate the means of obtaining the evidence that will provide the final piece in the jigsaw. However, I do not believe that the book states explicitly that this has been achieved. Notwithstanding this minor glitch, this book should appeal to anyone interested in crime fiction, and is another excellent addition to the Karen Pirie series.

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Guest Review: The Distant Echo By Val McDermid

The first novel in the bestselling Karen Pirie series

The award-winning Number One bestseller and Queen of crime fiction Val McDermid carves out a stunning psychological thriller. The past is behind them, but what’s still to come will tear them apart…

Some things just won’t let go.

The past, for instance.

That night in the cemetery.

The girl’s body in the snow.

On a freezing Fife morning four drunken students stumble upon the body of a woman in the snow. Rosie has been raped, stabbed and left for dead in an ancient Pictish cemetery. And the only suspects are the four young men now stained with her blood.

Twenty-five years later the police mount a ‘cold case’ review of Rosie’s unsolved murder and the four are still suspects. But when two of them die in suspicious circumstances, it seems that someone is pursuing their own brand of justice. For the remaining two there is only one way to avoid becoming the next victim – find out who really killed Rosie all those years ago…

Review: This is the first book in the Karen Pirie crime thriller series, although she doesn’t appear in the story until well into the book. Detective Constable (DC) Karen Pirie works in Fife Constabulary’s cold case revue team based in Glenrothes (the story is set prior to the merger of Scotland’s eight regional forces to form Police Scotland). Much of the book is set in the town of St Andrews, home to Scotland’s oldest university, but some of the action occurs in the USA.

The story begins in December 1978 when four St Andrews University students, on their way back to their hall of residence in the small hours of the morning after a night on the town, stumble across a young woman lying in the snow dying from a stab wound. Unable to save the woman, the four young men find that the finger of suspicion points at them as the suspects in her murder. With very little physical evidence to go on, no arrests are made and the police enquiry is eventually wound down. However, 25 years later, Fife Constabulary announces that a cold case review will take place, and it is allocated to Karen Pirie. The hope is that advances in forensic science during the intervening period will allow tests with more discriminatory power to be carried out on old material from the case.

The narrative concentrates mainly on the four students and their later careers. At the time, they felt that they were treated as suspects, rather than witnesses, and this affected their lives. The story moves at a fast pace and there are many twists to the plot. I particularly enjoyed the forensic aspects of the book, which I thought were well researched. Val McDermid is adept at describing locations, and being familiar with several of them, I was able to place myself in the middle of the action. I listened to the audiobook version and thought that the narrator did a good job voicing the different characters and their accents.

I found this to be an exciting crime thriller with many twists and turns to keep the listener, or reader, guessing. Although Karen Pirie does not feature prominently in this book and her character is not developed strongly, it lays the foundation for further books in the series. I should add a care warning that there is a lot of strong language and descriptions of violence in the book. In addition, although the books in this series can be read as stand-alones, I would strongly recommend that you read this one before the second one in the series “A Darker Domain”, since the second book gives away the outcome of the first.

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Guest Review: The Skeleton Road By Val McDermid

When a skeleton is discovered hidden at the top of a crumbling, gothic building in Edinburgh, Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is faced with the unenviable task of identifying the bones. As Karen's investigation gathers momentum, she is drawn deeper into a dark world of intrigue and betrayal.

Meanwhile, someone is taking the law into their own hands in the name of justice and revenge -- but when present resentment collides with secrets of the past, the truth is more shocking than anyone could have imagined . . .

An atmospheric, chilling mystery from the number one bestseller.

Review: This is the third book in the Karen Pirie crime thriller series by the author, but it can be read as a standalone. Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Karen Pirie is head of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit based in Edinburgh. The story begins in 2014 when a human skeleton is discovered hidden on the roof of a derelict building in Edinburgh. Given the age of the remains, and the suspicious circumstances, Karen Pirie and her assistant, Detective Constable (DC) Jason Murray, are called in to investigate. There is a second strand to the book that relates to the aftermath of the conflicts in the Balkans during the 1990s following the breakup of Yugoslavia. Two officials from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia are attempting to find out who is systematically assassinating suspected war criminals from the region before they can be brought to justice.

The book is set mainly in Scotland, Oxford and Croatia. I found the story to be fast-paced, with several twists. It was also interesting to hear about the history of the different republics of the former Yugoslavia as they sought independence as separate countries in their own right. Val McDermid is very good at describing locations, and having visited some of those mentioned in the book myself, I could feel that I was actually present. I like the down to earth character of DCI Pirie and admire the determined manner in which she pursues her investigations. I should add a care warning that there is a lot of strong language in the book and some descriptions of graphic violence. I listened to the audiobook version and enjoyed the varied accents employed by the narrator, although she struggled with some of the more esoteric ones.

I enjoyed listening to this thrilling story as the detectives pursued their investigations doggedly, building up to the climax. It should appeal to anyone interested in crime fiction, and is another excellent addition to the Karen Pirie series.

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Guest Review: A Darker Domain By Val McDermid

Twenty-five years ago, a woman and her baby son were kidnapped and held to ransom. Catriona Grant ended up dead and little Adam's fate has remained a mystery ever since.

When a new clue is discovered in a deserted Tuscan villa – along with grisly evidence of a recent murder – cold case expert DI Karen Pirie is assigned to follow the trail.

She's already working a case from the same year. During the Miners' Strike of 1984, pit worker Mick Prentice vanished. Where did he really go? And is there a link to the Grant mystery?

The truth is stranger – and far darker – than fiction.

Review: This is the second book in the Karen Pirie crime thriller series, but it can be read as a standalone. Detective Inspector Pirie is head of Fife Constabulary’s cold case revue team (the story is set prior to the merger of Scotland’s eight regional forces to form Police Scotland). Much of the book is set in Fife, Scotland, but some of the action occurs in Tuscany in Italy.

The story begins in 2007, when a woman walks into Karen Pirie’s office to report that her father, a coal miner, went missing twenty-two and a half years earlier in 1984. This was during the year-long national miners’ strike of 1984-1985, and it was believed he had joined a small group of miners who had gone south to work as “scabs” in the Nottinghamshire coalfield. She is keen to contact her father since she now has a child of her own who needs a bone marrow transplant and has exhausted all other close family members as potential donors. Given the elapse of such a long period of time, Karen decides to take on this case unofficially. Shortly afterwards, her superior allocates her another case. At around the same time that the miner went missing, Catriona Grant, the daughter of a rich businessman, and her baby son were kidnapped. A ransom was arranged, but the handover was botched and in the ensuing confusion, Catriona was fatally shot. The baby was never found but, years later, an investigative journalist stumbled across a possible clue to the kidnapping in a deserted villa in Tuscany. She brought this to Catriona’s father’s attention, who then contacted the police with a request that they try to track down the missing boy.

The story follows Karen and her team as they investigate these two cases. The narrative jumps between different locations, between the two time periods and between the two different strands. At first, it took me a while to get used to this, but once I had settled into the story, I found that this style helped things move along at a fast pace, and it helped that when a character was explaining something in 2007, the narrative jumped back to the 1980s to describe the events as they happened. Val McDermid is very good at describing locations such that I was able to picture myself in some of the Fife towns and villages in which the book is set. She is also not shy about giving voice to her political views, and it was interesting to hear about the Scottish perspective of the miners’ strike and the resulting conflicts and hardship within the mining communities. I also enjoyed the forensic aspects of the book, which are key to the plot and which I thought were well researched. I listened to the audiobook version and found one or two strange pronunciations of place and people’s names. If you have a keen ear for accents, you may wish that the narrator, a Scottish actress, had more of a Fife accent to give greater authenticity to the story.

Overall, I found this to be a thrilling and exciting book, with many twists and turns to keep the listener, or reader, guessing. I managed to spot some, but not all of the clues that were drip fed as the story developed and I found DI Pirie to be a very interesting character.

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