Val McDermid

Draws on interviews with some of the top-level professionals, ground-breaking research, and McDermid's own original interviews and firsthand experience on scene with top forensic scientists.

What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us about Crime

Forensics

A modern retelling of Jane Austen's classic novel finds bookish minister's daughter Cat Morland joining her well-to-do friends in Edinburgh and falling for an up-and-coming lawyer who may harbor unsettling secrets.

Northanger Abbey

This was the summer he discovered what he wanted--at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling. The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim. A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage--or the power--to stop it... The Mermaids Singing is a chilling and taut psychological mystery from Val McDermid.

The Mermaids Singing

Bestselling, award-winning author Val McDermid delivers her most stunning story yet in The Distant Echo---an intricate, thought-provoking tale of murder and revenge It was a winter morning in 1978, that the body of a young barmaid was discovered in the snow banks of a Scottish cemetery. The only suspects in her brutal murder were the four young men who found her: Alex Gilbey and his three best friends. With no evidence but her blood on their hands, no one was ever charged. Twenty five years later, the Cold Case file on Rosie Duff has been reopened. For Alex and his friends, the investigation has also opened old wounds, haunting memories-and new fears. For a stranger has emerged from the shadows with his own ideas about justice. And revenge. When two of Alex's friends die under suspicious circumstances, Alex knows that he and his innocent family are the next targets. And there's only way to save them: return to the cold-blooded past and uncover the startling truth about the murder. For there lies the identity of an avenging killer...

The Distant Echo

Across the country, dozens of teenage girls have vanished. Authorities are convinced they're runaways with just the bad luck of the draw to connect them. It's the job of criminal profilers Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan to look for a pattern. They've spent years exploring the psyches of madmen. But sane men kill, too. And when they hide in plain sight, they can be difficult to find... He's handsome and talented, rich and famous--a notorious charmer with the power to seduce...and the will to destroy. No one can believe what he's capable of. No one can imagine what he's already done. And no one can fathom what he's about to do next. Until one of Hill's students is murdered--the first move in a sick and violent game for three players. Now, of all the killers Hill and Jordan have hunted, none has been so ruthless, so terrifyingly clever, and so brilliantly elusive as the killer who's hunting them...

The Wire in the Blood

Police Inspector George Bennet, who investigated the never-solved disappearance of thirteen-year-old Alison Carter from her cloistered village decades ago, finds shattering new evidence, leading writer Catherine Heathcote to investigate further. Reprint.

A Place of Execution

"McDermid excels in putting the reader at the center of the action . . . A tightly paced mystery . . . My bones tell me we haven’t seen the last of Inspector Pirie--or at least I hope not.” --Janet Napolitano, Los Angeles Times on The Skeleton Road Internationally bestselling author Val McDermid is one of our finest crime writers, whose gripping, impeccably plotted novels have garnered millions of readers worldwide. In her latest, Out of Bounds, she delivers a riveting cold case novel featuring detective Karen Pirie. When a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car and ends up in a coma, a routine DNA test reveals a connection to an unsolved murder from twenty-two years before. Finding the answer to the cold case should be straightforward. But it’s as twisted as the DNA helix itself. Meanwhile, Karen finds herself irresistibly drawn to another mystery that she has no business investigating, a mystery that has its roots in a terrorist bombing two decades ago. And again, she finds that nothing is as it seems. An enthralling, twisty read, Out of Bounds reaffirms Val McDermid’s place as one of the most dependable professionals in the mystery and thriller business. "McDermid melds the political thriller with the police procedural for an intense novel that . . . feels both intensely personal and global . . . Karen . . . once again proves herself a formidable character worthy of her own series.”--Associated Press on The Skeleton Road

Out of Bounds

THE FIRST IN A THRILLING NEW SERIES FROM THE QUEEN OF CRIME, AND AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'McDermid is at her considerable best' GUARDIAN The shadows hide a deadly story . . . 1979. It is the winter of discontent, and reporter Allie Burns is chasing her first big scoop. There are few women in the newsroom and she needs something explosive for the boys' club to take her seriously. Soon Allie and fellow journalist Danny Sullivan are exposing the criminal underbelly of respectable Scotland. They risk making powerful enemies - and Allie won't stop there. When she discovers a home-grown terrorist threat, Allie comes up with a plan to infiltrate the group and make her name. But she's a woman in a man's world . . . and putting a foot wrong could be fatal. __________ 'A brilliant novel by a supremo of the genre at the height of her powers. A cast of engaging new characters promise to make this an unmissable new series' PETER JAMES 'Remarkable and compelling . . . the Queen of Crime has delivered another masterpiece' DAVID BALDACCI 'Val McDermid is the absolute QUEEN. Allie is a fabulous character, I'll go wherever she takes me and I'm dying to see what she does next' MARIAN KEYES 'Packed full of Val McDermid's trademark brilliance, 1979 is a thrilling snapshot of a fascinating era' JANE HARPER 'Unrivalled. Unmissable. Unforgettable. 1979 is Val McDermid at her nail-biting, heart-rending best' CHRIS WHITAKER 'McDermid was a newshound at the time and it shows . . . Her best book in years' THE TIMES, BOOK OF THE MONTH 'Allie Burns is off to a flying start, and well worth following down the decades' THE SCOTSMAN 'A brilliant thriller, as well as a perfect snapshot of the social and political issues of the time' LINWOOD BARCLAY 'A new series from Val McDermid promises to be an event - and 1979 delivers. Full of wit, thrills and incisive social observation and features a marvellous new character to follow through the years to come' MICK HERRON 'Absolutely fantastic. I have been reading Val McDermid for twenty-five years, so I am really saying something when I tell you I enjoyed this novel the most' CHRIS BROOKMYRE 'The good news is that this excellent novel marks the start of a new series' GUARDIAN 'Brilliant characters, masterful plotting and a pitch-perfect evocation of the heyday of newspapers. I loved it' CHRIS HAMMER 'McDermid can do edge-of-seat suspense better than most novelists . . . An excellent opener to what promises to be an outstanding series' SPECTATOR 'A gratifyingly multi-faceted character' FINANCIAL TIMES 'The work of a writer at the peak of her powers' HERALD 'The fast-paced storytelling flows irresistibly' IRISH TIMES 'Riveting' DAILY EXPRESS 'A sensational novel. A surefire bestseller from one of Britain's most accomplished writers' SUNDAY EXPRESS

The unmissable first thriller in an electrifying, brand-new series from the Queen of Crime

1979

Stunning serial killer chiller from Britain_s most exciting author of psychological thrillers the award-winning Val McDermid _ _a roaring Ferrari amid the crowded traffic on the crime-writing road_ Independent

Killing the Shadows

This stunning hardback collection is the perfect gift for crime readers during the festive season. Curl up with award-winning, number one-bestselling Queen of Crime Val McDermid and immerse yourself in these dark, atmospheric short stories. Featuring classic tales and brand-new material. Praise for Val McDermid: 'Brilliant . . . Sensational . . . Unforgettable' - Guardian 'No one can plot or tell a story like she can' - Daily Express 'Compulsively readable' - Irish Times 'One of today's most accomplished crime writers' - Literary Review 'As good a psychological thriller as it is possible to get' - Sunday Express 'It grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go' - Daily Mail.

Christmas Is Murder and Other Stories

Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan turns to clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill to help solve the grotesque murder of a prostitute, a crime that bears a striking resemblance to an earlier series of solved crimes.

A Novel

The Torment of Others

Number one bestseller and queen of crime Val McDermid returns with her most breathtakingly atmospheric and exhilarating novel yet '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 . . . 'Another stellar read from McDermid, and further evidence that her "Queen of Crime" status will not be challenged' Scotsman 'There is nothing more gratifying than watching a master craftswoman at work, and she is on fine form here' Observer 'A compulsively readable tale' Irish Times

Broken Ground

When remains are found in the pinnacle of a Victorian Gothic building in Edinburgh, Karen Pirie stumbles into a cold case linked to the Balkan Wars.

The Skeleton Road

Val McDermid, creator of TV's Wire in the Blood, mixes fact with fiction, dealing with one of the most important and symbolic moments in recent history. Twenty-five years ago, the daughter of the richest man in Scotland and her baby son were kidnapped and held to ransom. But 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. He was presumed to have broken ranks and fled south with other 'scabs'... but Karen finds that the reported events of that night don't add up. Where did he really go? And is there a link to the Grant mystery? The truth is stranger - and far darker - than fiction.

A Darker Domain

The discovery of a strangely tattooed body in a bog gives rise to rumors regarding William Wordsworth's ties to the infamous Fletcher Christian, as Wordsworth specialist Jane Gresham searches for a manuscript that could hold the key to the historical myst

The Grave Tattoo

In Britain, a cellist is garrotted with string from her instrument at a fund-raising concert in a school for girls. Lesbian PI Lindsay Gordon investigates.

Report for Murder

Alyssa Cole

Lucy Foley

Natalie Haynes

Ruth Ware

Leigh Bardugo

Jean Kwok

Kate Mosse

Karen M. McManus

Naomi Alderman

Elly Griffiths

Dreda Say Mitchell

Agatha Christie

Marple: Twelve New Stories

When a dying reality television star's child is snatched at a bustling international airport, ghost writer and guardian Stephanie Harker assists the FBI's search while investigating the family's past to discover a motive for the abduction. By the internationally best-selling author of the Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan mysteries.

The Vanishing Point

Tony Hill, criminal profiler and hero of 'Wire in the Blood', is back in a terrifying psychological thriller from bestselling author Val McDermid.

Beneath the Bleeding

"Is it violence if it's virtual? The outspoken women targeted by the increasingly cruel Internet trolls and bullies would probably say so. For some of them, the torrents of bile and vicious threats prove too much. They begin to silence themselves in a series of high-profile suicides. Or do they? Tony Hill isn't convinced. But he's the only one. Former cop Carol Jordan is too busy messing up her life to care. Until she gets an unexpected second chance. Now it's game on, and the stakes have never been higher" --

Val McDermid

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