Val McDermid at Tangled Web UK

Page Updated: 04/09/2007

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Val McDermid - Page 2

Paperback - Harpercollins (2003)

First British Edition Harpercollins (2002)

The Last Temptation
See Review by Cath Staincliffe - Author of the highly acclaimed Sal Kilkenny Mysteries set on the Mean Streets of Manchester
A white-knuckle ride through a world of corruption, cruelty and violence ...
Mapping the minds of murderers is what Dr Tony Hill does better than anyone. So when a twisted killer starts targeting psychologists across northern Europe, he’s the obvious choice to track the executioner’s mental and physical journey.
Except that Tony doesn’t want to do this any more.
But the case is about to come uncomfortably close to home. The next victim is a friend of his. And his former partner, DCI Carol Jordan, is herself in Germany, working undercover in a world where human life is cheaper than a drugs deal. She needs his help as much as the serial-killer hunters do.
Confronting the worst of contemporary crime and struggling to unravel roots that lie deep in the tormented past of Nazi atrocities and Stasi abuses, Tony and Carol are forced to battle for survival against overwhelming odds. In this morass of double-cross and double-dealing. they have no one to trust but each other.
Tony Hill is back. And this time, it’s personal.
'McDermid's capacity to enter the warped mind of a deviant criminal is shiveringly convincing' The Times
'Val McDermid's best yet… This is essential reading' Peter Gutteridge, Observer
'A masterful examination of evil' Maxim Jakubowski, Guardian
'A scary, disturbing, exciting and atmospheric white-knuckle read' The Times

First British Edition Harpercollins (2000)

Paperback - Harpercollins (2001)

Killing The Shadows
See Review by Cath Staincliffe - Author of the highly acclaimed Sal Kilkenny Mysteries set on the Mean Streets of Manchester
See Review by Andrew Taylor - author of the highly acclaimed Roth & Lydmouth Series
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 badly screwed up an investigation as a consequence. 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.
Which is just as well, because before too long the killer strikes again. And again. And Fiona is caught up in a race against time, not only to save a life, but to bring herself 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.
‘Good pace, enough blood to make us feel that murder is far from cold and clinical, and, best of all, characters you believe in’ Maeve Binchy, Mail on Sunday
‘Killing the Shadows exerts the dangerous pull of a rip tide, drawing us towards its unsettling resolution’ Andrew Taylor, Independent
‘A multi-layered novel, yet one which is as hauntingly strung together as a hangman’s noose. The plotting is impeccable, the atmosphere palpable, and I doubt that it will be surpassed all year’ Graham Caveney, Sunday Express

First British Edition Harpercollins (1999)

A Place of Execution
Winter 1963: two children have disappeared off the streets of Manchester; the murderous careers of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady have begun. On a freezing day in December, another child goes missing: thirteen-year-old Alison Carter vanishes from the isolated Derbyshire hamlet of Scardale, a self-contained, insular community that distrusts the outside world. For the young George Bennett, a newly promoted inspector, it is the beginning of his most difficult and harrowing case: a murder with no body, an investigation with more dead ends and closed faces than he'd have found in the anonymity of the inner city, an outcome which reverberates down the years.
Decades later he finally tells his story to journalist Catherine Heathcote, but just when the book is poised for publication, Bennett unaccountably tries to pull the plug. He has new information which he refuses to divulge, and which threatens the very foundations of his existence. Catherine is forced to reinvestigate the past, with results that turn the world upside down.
A Greek tragedy in modern England, A Place of Execution is a taut psychological suspense thriller that explores, exposes and explodes the border between reality and illusion in a multilayered narrative that turns expectations on their head and reminds us that what we know is what we do not know. A monstrous tale of deception, the technique of the telling is the greatest deception of all.
'Compelling and atmospheric... a tour de force' Minette Walters
'Val McDermid is a roaring Ferrari amid the crowded traffic on the crime-writing road... She is a strong enough writer to create her own distinctive world' Jane Jakeman, Independent
'Beautifully written... this book is not simply a puzzle; it is an archaeological delving into a multi-layered, enclosed society' Gerald Kaufman, Daily Telegraph
'A substantial book and an impressive one, possibly the best McDermid has written and it takes this most accomplished writer into higher territory' Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph
'A Place of Execution is a wake-up call to crime writers everywhere. A terrific and original novel, brilliantly executed' Paul Davies, Daily Mirror
'A gut-wrenching tale that spans two decades and brings the resonance of Greek tragedies to England. Psychological suspense that probes, prods and disturbs. A terrific achievement' Maxim Jakubowski, Time Out
A brilliantly written crime book' Marcel Berlins, The Times (Books Of The Year)

British Pbk Original - Women's Press (1999)

A Career in Crime
Inside information from leading women writers, including: Val McDermid, Marcia Muller, Sarah Dreher, Stella Duffy, Ellen Hart, Gillian Linscott and more
'Should I make my character like myself in background, lifestyle, appearance and spirit? Certainly not! At the time I had no recognisable skills, no prospects, a failing marriage, and was afraid of my own shadow.'
'If there is a rule about writing it is that there are no rules. But at the back of my mind, I keep a handful of yardsticks to measure my imaginary people against. Are their motivations clear? Are their reactions consistent? Are they acting out of character and is there a purpose in that? Do I like them or dislike them and is that the reaction I want the reader to have?'
In A Career in Crime, leading women crime writers describe their professional lives - their struggles to make time to write; strategies for maintaining concentration; and the blood, sweat and tears that go into each and every creation. They provide on intimate and personal view of their writing lives, plus clear and comprehensive advice for all prospective authors of crime fiction. This unique and fascinating book covers atmosphere and suspense; plot; character creation and development; how to get started; research; developing a sense of place and sustaining a series. It is essential reading for all crime writers in the making and for all with an interest in writers' lives.
A Career in Crime also provides clear and comprehensive advice for all women who are thinking of writing crime fiction. It covers how to get started, research, creating a sense of place, plot, characterisation and character development, atmosphere and suspense, developing a series and much more.

Paperback - Harpercollins (1999)

First British Edition Harpercollins (1998)

Star Struck
The new Kate Brannigan novel from the writer whose serial killer novels have made her 'Manchester's answer to Thomas Harris' (Guardian)
Bodyguarding had never made it to Manchester PI Kate Brannigan's wish list. But somebody's got to pay the bills at Brannigan & Co, and if the only earner on offer is playing nursemaid to a paranoid soap star, the fast-talking, computer loving white collar crime expert has to swallow her pride and slip into something more glam than her Thai boxing kit.
Soon, however, offstage dramas overshadow the fictional storylines, culminating in the unscripted murder of the selfstyled 'Seer to the Stars', and Kate finds herself with more questions than answers. What's more, her tame hacker has found virtual love, her process server keeps getting arrested, and the ever-reliable Dennis has had the temerity to get himself charged with murder.
Nobody told her there'd be days like these…
Star Struck, the sixth Kate Brannigan novel has been awarded France's prestigious Grand Prix des Romans d'Adventure
'Star Struck is Val McDermid at the top of the ratings' Ian Rankin
'McDermid combines her wit and exuberant writing with a careful and clever plot and oodles of perceptive social observation' Marcel Berlins, The Times
'Written with fluent ease, making use of Kate Brannigan's own distinctive voice, Star Struck is a clever novel as well as an entertaining one' Natasha Cooper, TLS
'Kate Brannigan has turned into the most interesting sleuthess around.' The Times
'Val McDermid gets better and better. Options
'Kate Brannigan should remain firmly at the top of the private investigator's league. Sunday Telegraph