The superb new psychological thriller from bestselling author Val McDermid mixes fiction with one of the most symbolic and exceptional moments in recent history - the national miners' strike 1984, Fife: Heiress Catriona Maclennan Grant and her baby son are kidnapped. The ransom payoff goes horribly wrong. She is killed while her son disappears without trace. 2008, Tuscany: A jogger stumbles upon dramatic new evidence that re-opens the cold case. For Detective Sergeant Karen Pirie, it's an opportunity to make her mark. But it's an opportunity that comes with a high risk price tag. 1984, Fife: At the height of the politically charged national miners' strike, Mick Prentice abandons his family to join the strike-breakers down south. Labelled a blackleg scab, he might as well be dead as far as his friends and relatives are concerned. 2008, Fife: A young woman walks into a police station to report Mick Prentice missing. And since Karen Pirie's already immersed in 1984, another inquiry with a cold trail ends up on her desk. Past and present intertwine in a dark novel of psychological suspense that explores the intersection of desire and greed. Key title / Val McDermid is one of the hottest writers of standalone psychological thrillers and her books are consistently Top Ten bestsellers / 2008 sees a massive increase in TV and radio exposure for Val McDermid: A new ITV 3-part adaptation of 'Wire in the Blood' starring Robson Green; an ITV 3-part adaptation of A Place of Execution starring Juliet Stevenson and Greg Wise; personal appearances on ITV's Crime Trails and Richard & Judy; and on Radio 4, presenting From Ban to Booker / Val McDermid's books have now sold 10 million copies worldwide and been published in 30 countries / Her last standalone thriller, The Grave Tattoo was a Top Ten bestseller and has sold over 250,000 copies / Beneath the Bleeding, her most recent thriller, was in the Top Ten Paperback Bestseller List for three weeks and has already sold 225,000 copies / Superb nationwide review and features coverage guaranteed / Competition: Ruth Rendell, Minette Walters, Thomas Harris
Val McDermid is a No.1 bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold more than sixteen million copies. She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009, was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2010 and received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award in 2011. In 2016, Val received the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. In 2017, she received the DIVA Literary Prize for Crime and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She is also the patron of the Scottish Book Trust. Val writes full time and lives in Edinburgh and the East Neuk of Fife.
When Michelle Gibson reports her father, Mick Prentice, missing at the start of McDermid's intricate but underwhelming stand-alone psychological thriller, Det. Insp. Karen Pirie, head of the Fife police Cold Case Review Team, isn't interested until Michelle reveals that Mick disappeared during the 1984 miners' strike. At the time, everyone believed Mick went "scabbing" in Nottingham. Later, Karen is summoned to the home of wealthy Sir Broderick Maclennan Grant, whose daughter, Catriona, and baby grandson, Adam, were abducted in 1985. A botched ransom hand-off left Catriona dead and Adam nowhere to be found. New evidence linked to the kidnapping has surfaced, and now Karen has two missing people to locate. McDermid tries to pack too much story into one book, and the connection she draws between the cases feels forced. Fans of the Scottish author may be better off waiting for the next outing of McDermid's series to feature psychologist Tony Hill (The Mermaid Singing, etc.). Author tour. (Feb.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Praise for Val McDermid's psychological thrillers: 'Absorbing modern mystery! McDermid's mix of historical and literary clues with modern detection is handled with panache' The Times 'One of the world's leading mystery writers!Thomas Harris crossed with Agatha Christie, if you will! a great read' Observer 'A cleverly plotted thriller. It should gain her a crowd of new fans' Guardian 'One of her best' Literary Review 'A real page-turner and another McDermid triumph' Observer 'McDermid's plot is a classic, and she pulls out all the stops to achieve a sense of mounting anguish, as her hero juggles multiple red herrings, mixed loyalties, differing police agendas and complicated family ties. Impeccable' Guardian 'Reminiscent of one of Ruth Rendell's Barbara Vine thrillers -- a few more sly, old-fashioned whodunits like this and she'll join the sturdy ranks of the queens of crime, on course to become Dame Val or Baroness McDermid' Sunday Times
Set in Fife, Scotland, McDermid's (The Grave Tattoo) 25th psychological thriller features Detective Inspector Karen Pirie, who must handle two cold cases almost simultaneously. On behalf of a mother desperate to save her dying son through a bone-marrow transplant, Pirie seeks the woman's father, who disappeared 23 years ago during a miners' strike. In the other case, a journalist vacationing in Italy has uncovered new evidence regarding the kidnapping of the daughter of Sir Broderick Maclennan Grant, the richest man in Scotland. However, Sir Grant has the reporter, Bel Richmond, investigating the new evidence, and vital information is not always shared with the police. Pirie's superior officer pressures her to solve the Grant case to everyone's satisfaction, but Pirie's own interest is held by the missing grandfather case. The plot weaves between the past and the present, the two cold cases, and the two women investigating them until it reaches a startling conclusion. This is McDermid's storytelling at its best, and DI Pirie, with her blend of humor and tenaciousness, is both likable and believable. A great read; highly recommended for fans of the genre.-Lisa Hanson O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnipeg Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
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