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Val McDermid ListingsIf you cannot find what you want on this page, then please use our search feature to search all our listings. Click on Title to view full description
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Val McDermid A Place of Execution
St. Martin's Minotaur 2000 0312266324 / 9780312266325 Bookclub Edition Fine near fine
0312266324 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches Amazon.com Penzler Pick, August 2000: Val McDermid, better known in England than in the U.S., is a well respected writer of crime fiction. Her three ongoing mystery series feature red-haired PI Kate Brannigan; Lindsay Gordon, a lesbian socialist journalist, and Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, clinical psychologist and detective inspector respectively. A Place of Execution is McDermid's first stand-alone mystery, and with it, she redefines the term "village mystery." It is 1963, the Beatles are becoming wildly popular in England, and the Swinging Sixties are about to change the post-war Western world. But in the village of Scardale in the Peaks District of Derbyshire, a desolate area beloved of hikers and climbers, nothing has changed for hundreds of years. The village has remained small and insular--most villagers are related, and the most common second names are Carter and Lomas. When Alison Carter, aged 13, disappears while walking her dog, the case is given to a young detective inspector named George Bennett. As Bennett gets to know the families in the village and their concerns, he realizes that this case is not as simple as it first seems. The villagers seem to be closing ranks, and Bennett suspects they may be protecting one of their own. Central to his investigation are Alison's mother and her husband. When Ruth Carter remarried, she chose Philip Hawkin, an outsider who is now the current squire of the village. As Alison's stepfather, he raises all kinds of red flags for Bennett. But so does Alison's close relationship with her cousin Charlie who, too conveniently, it seems, finds a vital clue. All this is complicated by the fact that the police and the villagers cannot find Alison's body; there are also other disappearances in the area which may or may not be connected. To reveal more about this riveting mystery would be to give too much away. McDermid takes the reader through a maze of conflicting facts and theories, and when Bennett, with the help of local police, solves the case, the real story is only just beginning--especially for Bennett, who will question not only his own part in solving this case, but ultimately the profession he has chosen. --Otto Penzler From Publishers Weekly This superb novel should make Gold Dagger-nominee McDermid's reputation and bring her new readers in droves. It's December 1963 and teenage girls all over Britain are swooning to the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand." In the tiny, remote village of Scardale, Derbyshire, 13-year-old Alison Carter is envied by her peers because her stepfather buys her all the latest records. When Alison goes missing one dark night, Dist. Insp. George Bennett takes control of the case, despite being new to the job and the district. Other children have gone missing recently from towns and cities in the north, but somehow Alison's case is different. Although the police feverishly track down clues and organize searches over the moors, any hope that they'll find the girl fades as the days go by. Obsessed by the case, George is tormented by his lack of success and by the suffering of Alison's mother. Little more can be said without giving away key plot points, but McDermid spins a haunting tale whose complexity never masks her adroitness at creating memorable characters and scenes. Her narrative spell is such that the reader is immersed immediately in the rural Britain of the early '60s. She clearly did extensive research on how police work was done at the time, and it has paid off beautifully. The format of the novel is unusual, with much of it purporting to be a true crime book, but McDermid keeps the suspense taut, and her pacing never flags. This is an extraordinary achievement, and it's sure to be on many lists of the best mysteries of the year. 10-city author tour. (Sept. 20) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Price:
2.25 USD
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Val McDermid Killing the Shadows (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries)
St. Martin's Paperbacks 2002 0312983387 / 9780312983383 Mass Market Paperback
0312983387 From Our Editors The Barnes & Noble Review Val McDermid has earned the attention of discriminating mystery fans on both sides of the Atlantic as a powerfully gifted author best known for her Edgar-nominated A Place of Execution. Killing the Shadows is her intelligent, highly original reflection on a social -- and literary -- phenomenon: the serial killer. McDermid's heroine, Fiona Cameron, is a criminal psychologist haunted by the memory of her sister's unsolved murder. Fiona works as both a teacher and a freelance police consultant specializing in "geographical profiles" and establishing "linkages" between supposedly independent acts of violence. As Killing the Shadows opens, she finds herself caught up in three ongoing investigations. The first involves the hunt for a serial murderer in Toledo, Spain. The second centers on a controversial unsolved sex crime that took place in London's Hampstead Heath. The third concerns a series of "literary" murders in which several bestselling thriller writers have been singled out as victims and have been murdered in ways that replicate the content of their own most popular novels. Since Fiona's lover, Kit Martin, is one of Britain's most prominent thriller writers, she finds herself personally involved in a bizarre, unprecedented series of crimes. By the time three well-known novelists have met their grisly ends, she becomes convinced that Kit could be the next logical target. Her desperate attempts to identify the killer and preserve her lover's life form the central elements of this colorful, convoluted narrative. Occasionally, Killing the Shadows strains credibility in ways that A Place of Execution never does. There is simply too much going on in this book, and the ultimate rationale behind the central series of murders fails, somewhat, to convince. Even so, McDermid writes with vigor and assurance, and her easy familiarity with a number of arcane subjects -- such as recent technological advances in criminal profiling, and the social dynamics of Britain's insular crime-writing community -- is engaging and thoroughly believable. The result is an uneven, occasionally brilliant book by a talented writer whose novels -- even the lesser ones -- are well worth reading. (Bill Sheehan) Bill Sheehan reviews horror, suspense, and science fiction for Cemetery Dance, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and other publications. His book-length critical study of the fiction of Peter Straub, At the Foot of the Story Tree, won the International Horror Guild's award for best nonfiction book of 2000. From the Publisher A killer is on the loose, blurring the line between fact and fiction. His prey - the writers of crime novels who have turned psychological profilers into the heroes of the nineties. But this killer is like no other. His bloodlust shatters all the conventional wisdom surrounding the motives and mechanics of how serial killers operate. And for one woman, the desperate hunt to uncover his identity becomes a matter of life and death. Professor Fiona Cameron is an academic psychologist who uses computer technology to help police forces track serial offenders. She used to help the Met, but vowed never to work for them again when they went against her advice and subsequently botched an investigation. Still smarting from the experience, she's working a case in Toledo when her lover, thriller writer Kit Martin, tells her a fellow crime novelist has been murdered. It's not her case, but Fiona can't help taking an interest. When the killer strikes again Fiona finds herself caught in a race against time - not only to save a life but also to find redemption, both personal and professional. Rich in atmosphere, Killing the Shadows uses the backdrops of city and country to create an air of threatening menace, culminating in a tense confrontation between hunter and hunted, a confrontation that can have only one outcome. From The Critics New York Times Book Review There is no one in contemporary crime fiction who has managed to combine the visceral and the humane as well..
Price:
2.00 USD
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Val McDermid The Mermaids Singing (Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mysteries)
St. Martin's Minotaur 2002 0312983603 / 9780312983604 Mass Market Paperbound Very Good
0312983603 684x424x108 43 Publisher Comments: Val McDermid stunned readers and critics alike with the publication of her brilliant thriller A PLACE OF EXECUTION, which won the Anthony, McCavity, and the Los Angeles Times awards. Now in THE MERMAIDS SINGING, she continues her trademark ingenuity for suspense, and introduces criminal profiler Tony Hill who has spent years exploring the psyches of madmen. But now he's become one of the hunted... 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... Synopsis: When the mutilated bodies of four men are found in a small English town, criminal psychologist Tony Hill is enlisted to investigate. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. Hill can profile the psychopath, for his own past makes him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives--but it also makes him the perfect victim. (June)
Price:
2.49 USD
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