Awards

• Long-listed for Highland Book Prize 2019 (UK)
• Long-listed for McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime 2019 (UK)
• Long-listed for Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2019 (UK)

Overview

"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"

Full Product Details

9780751568257

Table of Contents

Reviews

Her trademark combination of macabre suspense and a light touch keep you reading gratefully * Sunday Express * McDermid's deceptively languid style, sly black humour and metronomic sense of pacing delivers a compulsively readable tale * Irish Times * The masterly handling of the pace and plot, blended with brilliant characterisation, show why best-selling writer Val McDermid retains her title of new Queen of Crime * People * 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 *

Val McDermid, known as the queen of psychological thrillers, surpasses herself here, delivering one of the most surprising twists you'll read this year. Outstanding. * Irish Independent on INSIDIOUS INTENT * Here is another gripping crime novel by Val McDermid . . . an exciting book by one of today's most accomplished crime writers * Literary Review on INSIDIOUS INTENT * There aren't many to touch her for insight into the minds of hunter and hunted * Susan Hill * It's a treat to watch DCI Pirie once again as she pursues a tantalising forensic trail through a brilliantly realised Scottish setting . . . the back-and-forths with her pusillanimous boss, as she deflates his attempts to undermine her, are a particular joy * Scotland on Sunday on OUT OF BOUNDS * What superlatives are there left to describe the phenomenon that is the multi award-winning McDermid? . . . Told with McDermid's legendary verve and eye for detail, it grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go * Daily Mail on OUT OF BOUNDS * An incredibly suspenseful thriller, elegantly plotted with smartly drawn characters and fascinating detail * Sunday Mirror on OUT OF BOUNDS *

Author Information

Val McDermid is a number one bestseller whose novels have been translated into forty languages, and have sold over nineteen 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 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and in 2017 received the DIVA Literary Prize for Crime, and was elected a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Val has served as a judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Man Booker Prize, and was Chair of the Wellcome Book Prize in 2017. She is the recipient of seven honorary doctorates, is an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford and a Professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand. She writes full time and divides her time between Edinburgh and East Neuk of Fife.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available