Cross Roads

by Val McDermid

Available in ebook for the first time ever, this duo of classic short stories by Sunday Times number one bestseller, Val McDermid - Driving a Hard Bargain, The Road & the Miles to Dundee - brings back the popular Kate Brannigan and shows a different side of her writing.

In Driving a Hard Bargain, PI Kate Brannigan investigates a car theft with a twist.

In The Road & the Miles to Dundee, a moving father-daughter relationship is remembered through Scottish songs.

Genres: Ebooks

20 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Val McDermid is a No. 1 bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold over eleven 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 and was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for 2010. In 2011 she received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award.

She writes full time and divides her time between Cheshire and Edinburgh.

Reviews

[David Highton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished a long McDermid novel and was in the m0od for a couple of her clever short stories

[margaret chalmers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Singing for your supper.

Another good little selection. A missing trophy car held to ransom, Kate Brannigan off to negotiate its return. Then a series of memories of a girl/woman and her dad linked by an old song. The last I identified with most. When I was a child I had to stand in the living room at parties and sing my party piece...at which point my immediate relatives hastily left the room. I can't sing. But there was also a much loved relative who would sing his party piece, and he could sing. Music and memories, remembered love coming to unexpectedly overwhelm us out of the blue. Oh, yes. I enjoyed these two stories.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit disappointed, but really only to be expected. Val McDermid is one of my favourite crime writers who has had nothing less than 4 stars until this. This is okay and worth 99p but I would have been better off spending the time on a new chapter of a novel that I wanted to read. I think short stories are not easy for all writers while some find it easier such as Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Maybe I need to find a crime writer who is writing great short crime stories today for when I want a quick book to read. Any comments or suggestions?

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although described as a collection, this title includes only two short stories. The first, Driving a Hard Bargain, features Manchester P.I. Kate Brannigan. I enjoyed reading of her exploits again, having enjoyed McDermid's series of short novels featuring Brannigan as the central character.
The other story, The Road and the Miles to Dundee, showcases a side to McDermid's writing that may be unfamiliar to readers who have only encountered her popular crime series.

[Kay Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two great short stories, one a Kate Brannigan short and the other an extremely heart-rending 'autobiography' tale, which I found very moving. These did appear in the book 'Stranded' and, if you haven't read them the book is well worth getting.

[Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a pleasure to encounter PI Kate Brannigan, while the second of the two stories is a moving tale of a father-daughter relationship.

[David Gilchrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointed, expected more from this excellent writer.