From Goodreads
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.
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There are actually two unsolved murder cases and one suspicious death case happening in this tightly plotted novel by Val McDermid. Past and present collide for Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie, head of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit, as she attempts to solve the puzzle of how the DNA of a 17 year old teenage boy involved in a car crash could be connected to a 22 year old unsolved murder. Sound intriguing? It certainly had my attention.
That case alone was enough to pique my interest but then Karen also finds herself being pulled into another mystery- the supposed suicide of Gabriel Abbott. Karen finds herself wondering about his death which occurred 20 years after his mother and 3 others were murdered by what was believed to be a terrorist bombing of their small jet plane. Could the deaths somehow be connected although they’re separated by a 20 year time gap? No one else seems to question Gabriel’s death as it’s been ruled a suicide. Karen, however, is not one to turn her head away when there’s the possibility of several suspicious deaths being somehow connected.
This is my first Val McDermid novel…I know where have I been?….and I have to talk about Karen Pirie for a minute. This character has quickly become one of my favorites in crime fiction. Stepping into this series at this point (this is book 4) I didn’t know anything about Karen or her life before but Val McDermid has done an outstanding job weaving Karen’s previous life into this story, so for those of us new to the series, I still felt like I understood her and had a handle on what led her to her current state of being. You see, Karen is still grieving the loss of Phil, her partner on the force and the love of her life and I felt for her, especially as she wondered the streets at night in an attempt to make herself tired. I felt her sadness as well as her strength and determination to keep going. I liked her banter with Jason, who wasn’t the sharpest tack in the toolbox, but was fiercely loyal and devoted to her. I liked her witty nickname for her boss. And I liked the compassion she showed to the Syrian refuges she befriended on her nightly excursions in the dark. This in itself was an interesting subplot. Not only did Karen feel real to me, I also felt like other characters – Jason, Jimmy, River, Giorsal, even the swarmy Alan Noble – were real people and that is because of the superb characterization and writing on the part of the author. For me, one of the best compliments I can give is to say the characters felt like real people. That, and the fact that I couldn’t figure out this intricately plotted puzzle!
This story moved at light-speed for me until about the last 20 percent at which point I felt it started to drag somewhat. I’m not sure if it was the tying up of all the threads and loose ends, the details, etc but I felt different about the last part. Not to say I wasn’t happy with how it all came to pass, I was, I just felt that it got somewhat bogged down at the end. As I said, I didn’t have it figured out so that was a surefire plus in my book. I will most definitely be picking up the next Karen Pirie book as she is a character I’m happy to keep following wherever she goes! If you enjoy crime fiction with realistic characters this is one you’ll want to grab tomorrow when it’s released. Even if you’re new to the series this is one in which you can jump right in and feel rest assured you won’t be lost.
4/5 Stars
**Many thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me this copy in exchange for an honest review.**
I hold my hands up & confess I have never read a Val McDermid book. For some reason I’ve never got around to her books but after reading your review I’m very tempted to give one ago x
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Yay, join the club!!I’m glad it wasn’t just me because I felt like everyone has read her and why wasn’t I?!! I really liked this book and I’m very partial to a strong female detective with a personality so that was a real plus. You can jump right in with this one Lorraine:)
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Can I join in on confession, I haven’t ever read a Val McDermid book either. This one does sound exciting and it’s good that you could jump in at book 4 and not feel lost 👍
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It’s the I haven’t read Val McDermid confession group!:) Who Knew? We need to add Amy from Novel Gossip to it as well. I’m so happy I’m not the odd woman out. I think you all would like this one!
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Glad you enjoyed this one! I’ve been a fan of McDermid for longer than I care to mention (!), but I do think Karen Pirie is perhaps her best detective. I liked the way she handled the Syrian refugee sub-plot in this one too. You only have 29 more of her books to read… 😉
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Well…I may only make it back to the first Karen Pirie book and maybe A Place of Execution because I hear that’s one of her best. Thanks for stopping by and commenting:)
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I like the sound of this and the characterization does sound great. I got this book over the weekend based on your FF post. I can’t wait to read it soon. Great review!
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Oh good so glad you got it!! I really did enjoy it and I may go back and read the earlier Karen Pirie books as I liked her so much:) I’ll be looking forward to your thoughts on it
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Love the premise, you had me at two unsolved crimes 😀 I read a Val McDermid book a couple years ago and while I liked it, I thought it was a bit predictable!
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You might really like this one as you get to put your detective hat on for 3 crimes:) I just really enjoyed the way she wrote Karen’s character as well. Let me know if you try it
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Good to hear that you enjoyed this book (and Karen Pirie) as much as I did. Like you I started at book 4 and the book worked really well despite the lack of background. I particularly liked the scenes with the Syrian refugees too.
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Yes it’s so nice to be able to jump into a series and enjoy it without feeling like you have to go back to beginning:)
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Wonderful review- this sounds great. I always love books more when the characters feel real.
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Thanks and I agree, memorable characters are such an added bonus of a great setting
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