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Inspector Karen Pirie #4
Out of Bounds
There were a lot of things that ran in families, but murder wasn't one of them...
When a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car, a routine DNA test could be the key to unlocking the mystery of a twenty year old murder inquiry Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is an expert at solving the unsolvable. With each cold case closed, justice is served. So, finding the answer should be straightforward, but it's as twisted as the DNA helix itself.
Meanwhile, Karen finds herself irresistibly drawn to another case, one that she has no business investigating. And as she pieces together decades-old evidence, Karen discovers the most dangerous kind of secrets. Secrets that someone is willing to kill for...
When a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car, a routine DNA test could be the key to unlocking the mystery of a twenty year old murder inquiry Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is an expert at solving the unsolvable. With each cold case closed, justice is served. So, finding the answer should be straightforward, but it's as twisted as the DNA helix itself.
Meanwhile, Karen finds herself irresistibly drawn to another case, one that she has no business investigating. And as she pieces together decades-old evidence, Karen discovers the most dangerous kind of secrets. Secrets that someone is willing to kill for...
421 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 2016
1757 people are currently reading
4440 people want to read
About the author
Val McDermid
314 books5,401 followersVal 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 981 reviews
January 1, 2017
My first review of the new year, though I did finish reading this a few days back. What I love about this author is her tightly constructed plots, her great writing, identifiable characters and her consistent pacing. She has never let me down, and still hasn't.
Karen Pirie, Police Scotland, cold case division, has suffered a tragic loss and is still trying to find an even keel. When the police get a hit of familial DNA , after a car accident that leaves two dead, one in hospital, it connects back to a twenty year old unsolved murder and rape. Karen's area of expertise and she and her partner are off, pulling records, making connections, as always hindered by those above her who are jealous of her successes. Eventually, a young man's supposed suicide will find her involved in a second case, with dangerous implications.
It is easy for me to like this character, she is real, her actions and reactions not always spot on, but she cares, greatly and will do what she can to right a wrong. Not afraid to stick her neck out. Her support network is interesting too, how she puts things together, who she reached out too and the connections she makes. A very good series, not edge of your seat exciting but solid police work.
ARC from Netgalley.
Karen Pirie, Police Scotland, cold case division, has suffered a tragic loss and is still trying to find an even keel. When the police get a hit of familial DNA , after a car accident that leaves two dead, one in hospital, it connects back to a twenty year old unsolved murder and rape. Karen's area of expertise and she and her partner are off, pulling records, making connections, as always hindered by those above her who are jealous of her successes. Eventually, a young man's supposed suicide will find her involved in a second case, with dangerous implications.
It is easy for me to like this character, she is real, her actions and reactions not always spot on, but she cares, greatly and will do what she can to right a wrong. Not afraid to stick her neck out. Her support network is interesting too, how she puts things together, who she reached out too and the connections she makes. A very good series, not edge of your seat exciting but solid police work.
ARC from Netgalley.
December 2, 2016
Out of Bounds is a topnotch police procedural led by a Scottish cold case detective who uses her innate intelligence to resolve crimes. While the mysteries behind these crimes play a substantive role, DCI Karen Pirie is the star of this book.
Karen is struggling to stay afloat. With the death of Phil, her former partner and boyfriend, she is doing her best to keep it together. She throws herself into her work in order to cope. In Out of Bounds, there are several different sub-plots that are linked to various cold cases, and Karen is the one to weave together subtle clues to finally solve these crimes.
Karen’s character is the reason to read this series- there’s just something about her that seems so real. She is intelligent, strong, and complex with a bit of snark mixed in, and I especially love her relationship with Jason (aka “The Mint”).
Although this is the fourth book of the series, Out of Bounds can be read as a standalone.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Karen is struggling to stay afloat. With the death of Phil, her former partner and boyfriend, she is doing her best to keep it together. She throws herself into her work in order to cope. In Out of Bounds, there are several different sub-plots that are linked to various cold cases, and Karen is the one to weave together subtle clues to finally solve these crimes.
Karen’s character is the reason to read this series- there’s just something about her that seems so real. She is intelligent, strong, and complex with a bit of snark mixed in, and I especially love her relationship with Jason (aka “The Mint”).
Although this is the fourth book of the series, Out of Bounds can be read as a standalone.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
May 29, 2023
Karen Pirie, book 4: When a suicide is quickly written-up by another (lazy) detective, and Karen Pirie discovers further suspicious deaths in the victim's family, she opens up a dual case, one for her Historical Crimes Unit and one for the alleged suicide. Will Karen be able to solves the cases before internal politics or the past stop her? She's courting trouble as technically she is.. out of bounds!
I'm getting addicted to Karen Pirie, a focused, deep thinking detective who refuses to be bullied or indeed intimidated by senior (male) officers; who fosters and grows a network of women friends in labs, courts, tech etc.; a woman who mentors and strongly supports her loyal team of one, working class Jason; and this is where you know it's fiction, a detective who can't stand Trump or racists, and likes, and goes out of her way to support immigrant communities! Oh, and this was a great dual-case with some really interesting Scotland set police procedural. So I've now read two books in this series, and they both get 8 out of 12, Four Stars from me.
2023 read
I'm getting addicted to Karen Pirie, a focused, deep thinking detective who refuses to be bullied or indeed intimidated by senior (male) officers; who fosters and grows a network of women friends in labs, courts, tech etc.; a woman who mentors and strongly supports her loyal team of one, working class Jason; and this is where you know it's fiction, a detective who can't stand Trump or racists, and likes, and goes out of her way to support immigrant communities! Oh, and this was a great dual-case with some really interesting Scotland set police procedural. So I've now read two books in this series, and they both get 8 out of 12, Four Stars from me.
2023 read
February 15, 2017
Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie, leading the Cold Case Unit has stumbled upon a small plane crash some 20 years ago with all four passengers killed. Forward to current day and it appears the son of one of the victims either committed suicide or was murdered. Karen is also involved in another cold case of a young girl who was brutally murdered with no suspects in sight until DNA emerges from a crash victim. The same clues will be offered many times throughout the chapters, along with forcing the reader to try to understand why other officials in both cases want Karen to stop all the investigating work. Val McDermid has many fans that enjoy her style of writing.
** Thank you to Publisher Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. **
** Thank you to Publisher Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. **
February 24, 2022
EXCERPT: 'DCI Pirie, Historic Cases Unit.'
The voice at the other end had the unmistakable vowels of Dundee. 'Aye, this is Sergeant Torrance from Tayside. Traffic Division.' He stopped abruptly, as if he'd given her enough information to be going on with.
'Hello, Sergeant. How can I help you?'
'Well, I think it might be me who can help you.'
More silence. Clearly she was going to have to work at extracting information from Sergeant Torrance. 'An offer of help always gets my day off to a good start. What is it you think you've got?'
'You maybe saw the news we had a bad crash at the weekend?'
'Sorry, that one passed me by. What happened?'
'Ach, a stupid boy showing off to his pals, more than likely. They lifted a Land Rover Defender and somersaulted it over a roundabout on the Perth road in the wee small hours. All three passengers smashed to bits, dead on arrival at Ninewells.'
Karen sucked her breath over her teeth in an expression of sympathy. She'd seen enough road accidents in her time to know the level of carnage they could produce. 'That'd piss on your chips and no mistake.'
'Aye. One of the officers attending, it was his first fatal RTA. I doubt he'll get much sleep for a wee while. Anyway, the thing is, the driver's still alive. He's in a coma, like, but he's still hanging in there.'
Karen made an encouraging noise. 'And you took a sample to check his blood alcohol.'
'Correct. Which was, by the way, five times over the limit.'
'Ouch. And I'm presuming you got the lab to run DNA?'
'Well, it's routine now.' Sergeant Torrance didn't sound like a man who thought that was a good use of Police Scotland's budget.
'I'm guessing that's why you're calling me.'
'Aye. We got a hit on the DNA database. I don't pretend to understand these things, but it wasn't a direct hit. Well, it couldn't have been, because it ties in with a twenty-year-old murder and this laddies only seventeen.' The rustle of paper. 'Apparently it's what they call a familial hit. Whoever left his semen all over a rape murder victim in Glasgow twenty years ago was a close male relative of a wee Dundee gobshite called Ross Garvie.'
ABOUT 'OUT OF BOUNDS': 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.
MY THOUGHTS: There aren't many crime writers who can write like Val McDermid, who grab me on the first page and keeps me enthralled until the last. I hear her characters speak, they are so real. I know I can rely on McDermid for the perfect read.
McDermid writes with a barely suppressed energy and an eye for detail that is unsurpassed. The plot is complex, but not hard to follow. She has thrown in buckets of red herrings, and surprising plot twists. There are things that happen in the beginning of the book that seem to be irrelevant and forgotten about as the story progresses, but which are nicely tied in at the end.
There are only two people who make up the Historic Crimes Unit, DCI Karen Pirie and DC Jason 'the Mint' Murray, not the sharpest knife in the block, but incredibly loyal. Karen infuriates her boss, ACC Simon Lees who thought he had got rid of her when he moved to Edinburgh. But then she was moved from Fife to run the HCU.
Karen is very good at what she does. She never shies away from a difficult question or a seemingly impossible case.
Her methods are largely unorthodox, but more often than not result in success. She has no more time for her ACC than he has for her, treating him with bland condescension, occasionally bordering on insolence, but never quite crossing that very fine line into insubordination. She is a character I plan to spend more time with. There are six books in this series and I have so far only read two. I have another on my nightstand ready to start.
Although this is book #4 of a series, it is able to be read as a stand-alone. References are made to past occurrences, but enough information is given for the reader to get the general gist of what had happened. However, to get a full understanding of the relationships and backstories, I do recommend you read this series in order.
A totally engaging crime thriller which addresses the ethical dilemmas of advances in forensic science.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.8
#OutofBounds #NetGalley
I: #valmcdermid @groveatlantic
T: @valmcdermid @GroveAtlantic
#contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #murdermystery #policeprocedural #scottishnoir #psychologicalthriller
THE AUTHOR: Val McDermid is a popular Scottish author who was born on June 04, 1955 in Fife, Scotland, United Kingdom. She is particularly famous for writing all her novels in the Mystery, crime and Thriller genres.
McDermid has been writing as a full time author since the success of her initial novels and she spends equal amounts of time in her homes in Edinburgh and Cheshire. She hails from the Kirkcaldy town of Fife in Scotland and completed her college studies from the St. Hilda’s College in Oxford.
McDermid lives along with three cats in Northumberland and Stockport and supports the Raith Rovers team. She also has a border terrier dog and considers the Northumberland coast as one of the relaxing places in the world.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Grove Atlantic via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Out of Bounds by Val McDermid for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
The voice at the other end had the unmistakable vowels of Dundee. 'Aye, this is Sergeant Torrance from Tayside. Traffic Division.' He stopped abruptly, as if he'd given her enough information to be going on with.
'Hello, Sergeant. How can I help you?'
'Well, I think it might be me who can help you.'
More silence. Clearly she was going to have to work at extracting information from Sergeant Torrance. 'An offer of help always gets my day off to a good start. What is it you think you've got?'
'You maybe saw the news we had a bad crash at the weekend?'
'Sorry, that one passed me by. What happened?'
'Ach, a stupid boy showing off to his pals, more than likely. They lifted a Land Rover Defender and somersaulted it over a roundabout on the Perth road in the wee small hours. All three passengers smashed to bits, dead on arrival at Ninewells.'
Karen sucked her breath over her teeth in an expression of sympathy. She'd seen enough road accidents in her time to know the level of carnage they could produce. 'That'd piss on your chips and no mistake.'
'Aye. One of the officers attending, it was his first fatal RTA. I doubt he'll get much sleep for a wee while. Anyway, the thing is, the driver's still alive. He's in a coma, like, but he's still hanging in there.'
Karen made an encouraging noise. 'And you took a sample to check his blood alcohol.'
'Correct. Which was, by the way, five times over the limit.'
'Ouch. And I'm presuming you got the lab to run DNA?'
'Well, it's routine now.' Sergeant Torrance didn't sound like a man who thought that was a good use of Police Scotland's budget.
'I'm guessing that's why you're calling me.'
'Aye. We got a hit on the DNA database. I don't pretend to understand these things, but it wasn't a direct hit. Well, it couldn't have been, because it ties in with a twenty-year-old murder and this laddies only seventeen.' The rustle of paper. 'Apparently it's what they call a familial hit. Whoever left his semen all over a rape murder victim in Glasgow twenty years ago was a close male relative of a wee Dundee gobshite called Ross Garvie.'
ABOUT 'OUT OF BOUNDS': 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.
MY THOUGHTS: There aren't many crime writers who can write like Val McDermid, who grab me on the first page and keeps me enthralled until the last. I hear her characters speak, they are so real. I know I can rely on McDermid for the perfect read.
McDermid writes with a barely suppressed energy and an eye for detail that is unsurpassed. The plot is complex, but not hard to follow. She has thrown in buckets of red herrings, and surprising plot twists. There are things that happen in the beginning of the book that seem to be irrelevant and forgotten about as the story progresses, but which are nicely tied in at the end.
There are only two people who make up the Historic Crimes Unit, DCI Karen Pirie and DC Jason 'the Mint' Murray, not the sharpest knife in the block, but incredibly loyal. Karen infuriates her boss, ACC Simon Lees who thought he had got rid of her when he moved to Edinburgh. But then she was moved from Fife to run the HCU.
Karen is very good at what she does. She never shies away from a difficult question or a seemingly impossible case.
Her methods are largely unorthodox, but more often than not result in success. She has no more time for her ACC than he has for her, treating him with bland condescension, occasionally bordering on insolence, but never quite crossing that very fine line into insubordination. She is a character I plan to spend more time with. There are six books in this series and I have so far only read two. I have another on my nightstand ready to start.
Although this is book #4 of a series, it is able to be read as a stand-alone. References are made to past occurrences, but enough information is given for the reader to get the general gist of what had happened. However, to get a full understanding of the relationships and backstories, I do recommend you read this series in order.
A totally engaging crime thriller which addresses the ethical dilemmas of advances in forensic science.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.8
#OutofBounds #NetGalley
I: #valmcdermid @groveatlantic
T: @valmcdermid @GroveAtlantic
#contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #murdermystery #policeprocedural #scottishnoir #psychologicalthriller
THE AUTHOR: Val McDermid is a popular Scottish author who was born on June 04, 1955 in Fife, Scotland, United Kingdom. She is particularly famous for writing all her novels in the Mystery, crime and Thriller genres.
McDermid has been writing as a full time author since the success of her initial novels and she spends equal amounts of time in her homes in Edinburgh and Cheshire. She hails from the Kirkcaldy town of Fife in Scotland and completed her college studies from the St. Hilda’s College in Oxford.
McDermid lives along with three cats in Northumberland and Stockport and supports the Raith Rovers team. She also has a border terrier dog and considers the Northumberland coast as one of the relaxing places in the world.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Grove Atlantic via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Out of Bounds by Val McDermid for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
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December 10, 2016The Hook - Val McDermid is one of my adopted authors at my hometown public library. I really love the stand-alones and non-fiction McDermid writes but have dipped in and out of her series for years. McDermid is an outstanding author who may just be the Queen of Crime after having lost Ruth Rendell and P.D. James.
The Line(s) - “The adrenaline rush of reopening a cold case never faded for Karen. The rest of her life might have gone to hell in a handcart, but excavating the past for its secrets still exerted its familiar pull on her.”
The Sinker - Generally I prefer to begin at the beginning of a series and probably would have put Out of Bounds off if I had realized this was number four for Karen Pirie. Oh, I don’t think I missed that much but felt like the third wheel while out with two friends who had known each other for years> Of course, we three know each other yet I’m not part of their shared memories. It can feel a bit awkward.
Part of the appeal of DCI Scotland Karen Pirie is the unit she works for, The Historic Cases Unit, The HCU, which deals with cold cases. Cold cases require a special person, one with determination and patience to dig deeply and probe old evidence until they find the something that was missed. It’s not a glamorous job and much more a solitary one than working homicide. The cases you work are usually about people either dead or presumed dead but you have something the original investigators did not have, time and a limited workload. Though bring closure to the loved ones left without answers is important, closing the book on the case itself is also rewarding.
From its opening pages where we experience the horror of a joyride, feeling the intensity of a speeding car spiraling out of control to its crash, this reader is hooked. Four occupants, three dead, the driver clinging to life, a routine blood sample is taken which sets in motion a well-plotted, gripping story about familial DNA.
DCI Karen Pirie is added to my growing list of smart, tough women, making their presence known in fields once habited only by men. Out of Bounds is satisfying read on its own merits yet I wouldn’t mind going backwards in time and seeing the development of character in the first three books.
McDermid is a prolific author, writing the popular and long running Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Series. Let’s hope she’s able to continue to bring the same intensity and strength of character to Karen Pirie.
The Line(s) - “The adrenaline rush of reopening a cold case never faded for Karen. The rest of her life might have gone to hell in a handcart, but excavating the past for its secrets still exerted its familiar pull on her.”
The Sinker - Generally I prefer to begin at the beginning of a series and probably would have put Out of Bounds off if I had realized this was number four for Karen Pirie. Oh, I don’t think I missed that much but felt like the third wheel while out with two friends who had known each other for years> Of course, we three know each other yet I’m not part of their shared memories. It can feel a bit awkward.
Part of the appeal of DCI Scotland Karen Pirie is the unit she works for, The Historic Cases Unit, The HCU, which deals with cold cases. Cold cases require a special person, one with determination and patience to dig deeply and probe old evidence until they find the something that was missed. It’s not a glamorous job and much more a solitary one than working homicide. The cases you work are usually about people either dead or presumed dead but you have something the original investigators did not have, time and a limited workload. Though bring closure to the loved ones left without answers is important, closing the book on the case itself is also rewarding.
From its opening pages where we experience the horror of a joyride, feeling the intensity of a speeding car spiraling out of control to its crash, this reader is hooked. Four occupants, three dead, the driver clinging to life, a routine blood sample is taken which sets in motion a well-plotted, gripping story about familial DNA.
DCI Karen Pirie is added to my growing list of smart, tough women, making their presence known in fields once habited only by men. Out of Bounds is satisfying read on its own merits yet I wouldn’t mind going backwards in time and seeing the development of character in the first three books.
McDermid is a prolific author, writing the popular and long running Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Series. Let’s hope she’s able to continue to bring the same intensity and strength of character to Karen Pirie.
March 20, 2019
The first chapter of this book features a group of teens who’ve been out drinking, stealing a car, and joyriding themselves to a fatal accident.
The second chapter features a young man who has mental issues, is fanatical about Southeast Asia, and paranoid when he’s off his meds.
The third chapter features an unnamed woman with insomnia who walks the streets of Edinburgh alone at night.
At the end of chapter 3, I’m told I’m reading about DCI Karen Pirie, and then I remember what happened in the last book. I re-read the chapter because it defines who Karen is now. This is one reason why I enjoy Val McDermid’s books. She surprises me.
Each book in this series is driven by Karen. She’s been well developed, shown growth and depth, and matured. She’s not the only character to do so, though. Jason “the Mint” Murray is another wonderful character who has grown and is devoted to Karen.
One more book is available in this series and I will be reading it soon.
The second chapter features a young man who has mental issues, is fanatical about Southeast Asia, and paranoid when he’s off his meds.
The third chapter features an unnamed woman with insomnia who walks the streets of Edinburgh alone at night.
At the end of chapter 3, I’m told I’m reading about DCI Karen Pirie, and then I remember what happened in the last book. I re-read the chapter because it defines who Karen is now. This is one reason why I enjoy Val McDermid’s books. She surprises me.
Each book in this series is driven by Karen. She’s been well developed, shown growth and depth, and matured. She’s not the only character to do so, though. Jason “the Mint” Murray is another wonderful character who has grown and is devoted to Karen.
One more book is available in this series and I will be reading it soon.
December 23, 2024
This is a police procedural led by a Scottish cold case detective who uses her innate intelligence to solve crimes.
While the mysteries behind these crimes play a substantive role, DCI Karen Pirie is the star of this series.
Although this is the fourth book of the series, Out of Bounds can be read as a standalone.
Karen’s character is the reason to read this series- there’s just something about her that seems so real.
She is intelligent, strong, and complex. (And I like her name!)
If you like to find conclusions to cold cases, this is also the kind of detective you want on your side!
While the mysteries behind these crimes play a substantive role, DCI Karen Pirie is the star of this series.
Although this is the fourth book of the series, Out of Bounds can be read as a standalone.
Karen’s character is the reason to read this series- there’s just something about her that seems so real.
She is intelligent, strong, and complex. (And I like her name!)
If you like to find conclusions to cold cases, this is also the kind of detective you want on your side!
November 27, 2016
DNA collected at a horrific traffic crash makes a hit on a closed 20 year old cold rape/murder case. There is a familial match to the unknown killer of Tina McDonald. This information hits the desk of Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie, head of the Historic Cases Unit. I love the name of the cold case division. It's perfect for Scotland. And head of the department? It's only her and one junior officer.
Still Pirie is fierce and jumps into the case with no holds barred. There are unusual twists that complicate the investigation. She also stumbles into another cold case, a small airplane bombed years ago supposedly by the IRA and all four passengers were killed. Pirie's investigation negates the Irish connection and leads to another murder just committed.
If that is not enough to juggle, she also makes the acquaintance of some Syrian refuges and involves herself in their adjustment. She is still coping with the death of her lover, another Scottish policeman. It's no wonder she has trouble sleeping.
This is the fourth in the series and never once did I feel like I was missing something. She is such a powerful author that I immediately felt included. It can definitely be a stand alone read. The only thing that bothered me is that I can't tell you why I don't read more McDermid. She's a great author with intricate plots set in Scotland. What could be better than that and what is wrong with me for not reading more?
Thanks to Net Galley for the book in exchange for an honest review.
Still Pirie is fierce and jumps into the case with no holds barred. There are unusual twists that complicate the investigation. She also stumbles into another cold case, a small airplane bombed years ago supposedly by the IRA and all four passengers were killed. Pirie's investigation negates the Irish connection and leads to another murder just committed.
If that is not enough to juggle, she also makes the acquaintance of some Syrian refuges and involves herself in their adjustment. She is still coping with the death of her lover, another Scottish policeman. It's no wonder she has trouble sleeping.
This is the fourth in the series and never once did I feel like I was missing something. She is such a powerful author that I immediately felt included. It can definitely be a stand alone read. The only thing that bothered me is that I can't tell you why I don't read more McDermid. She's a great author with intricate plots set in Scotland. What could be better than that and what is wrong with me for not reading more?
Thanks to Net Galley for the book in exchange for an honest review.
September 24, 2016
This is the 4th book in the Inspector Karen Pirie series by author Val McDermid. I have read other books in this series but not in strict order but this did not spoil my enjoyment. The book was an excellent read with well written strong characters and a decent plot.
In this book 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. Inspector Karen Pirie whose job it is to solve cold crimes leads the investigation that should be straightforward but soon finds out that this is not the case. While investigating Karen is drawn in by another unsolved case that is being investigated by a colleague, a mystery that is linked to a terrorist bombing two decades ago. And again, she finds that nothing is as it seems.
Inspector Karen Pirie is a well written character that gives lots of scope to the author to develop further. A very strong fiery intelligent woman who I would hate to be on the wrong side of and her boss knows exactly what I mean.
A decent plot that is not straight forward but excellently told and there are the usual twists and turns that make the difference between average thrillers and very good ones.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
In this book 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. Inspector Karen Pirie whose job it is to solve cold crimes leads the investigation that should be straightforward but soon finds out that this is not the case. While investigating Karen is drawn in by another unsolved case that is being investigated by a colleague, a mystery that is linked to a terrorist bombing two decades ago. And again, she finds that nothing is as it seems.
Inspector Karen Pirie is a well written character that gives lots of scope to the author to develop further. A very strong fiery intelligent woman who I would hate to be on the wrong side of and her boss knows exactly what I mean.
A decent plot that is not straight forward but excellently told and there are the usual twists and turns that make the difference between average thrillers and very good ones.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 6, 2016
First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Val McDermid, Grove Atlantic, and Atlantic Monthly Press for providing me with a copy of this book, which allows me to provide you with this review.
In a continued meteoric rise, McDermid places DCI Karen Pirie in another first-rate novel that sees her working on the complicated Historic Cases Unit. A horrific vehicular accident leaves three young men dead and eighteen year-old Ross Garvie clinging to life. A routine sample for blood alcohol levels includes DNA analysis and is sent to Police Scotland's database for comparison with any outstanding cases. A flag pops up on a rape-murder twenty years before, where Tina McDonald was left amongst the rubbish bins at a local bar. There is a familial match between Garvie and the rapist, which is the only clue Pirie has to solve the case. As Garvie was not yet born at the time of the crime, all eyes shift to his father, which is further complicated because Garvie was adopted at birth. Wresting with the bureaucratic red tape and awaiting a sheriff's approval to access the original birth certificate, Pirie must bide her time, a trait she does not come by naturally. This sends her to poke around a recent case of Gabriel Abbott, who apparently committed suicide. What piques Pirie's interest is that Carolyn Abbott, mother of the deceased, died when the Cessna on which she flew disintegrated when a bomb exploded onboard in 1994. Never formally solved but attributed to an IRA act of terror, Pirie begins poking around on her own, keeping all her work hidden from superiors and the DI handling Gabriel's case. As with most cold cases, this one is far from simple, though the politics involved extend well-past Bloody Sunday retribution. The more Pirie learns, the less she feels Gabriel Abbott died under his own hand, though the remains as murky as pea soup. While work does seem to keep her busy, Pirie is still struggling with the recent death of Phil Parhatka, whose place in her heart remains a gaping hole and one that she is only just able to address. A conversation with a few new locals in town puts it all in perspective for her, though does not diminish the power of grief. Juggling both case, Pirie moves forward with the birth certificate for Ross Garvie, which takes her on more wild chases and ruffles the feathers of all who will listen. The death of Carolyn Abbott and mutterings by Gabriel about some 'conspiracy' must surely tie the cases together, though Pirie cannot work it out with ease. Can the Historic Cases Unit solve three murders or will the killers all disappear in the wind, never to be brought to justice? McDermid spins another fabulous tale that pits Karen Pirie into her most challenging cases yet.
Only recently discovering the DCI Pirie collection, I have been happy to devour all four books on offer to date. They are not only well composed, but require the reader to divide their attention between the present and numerous parts of the past, as the case is pieced together. Karen Pirie's character can be rough around the edges, pushing her way up the ranks within Police Scotland, while also showing a deeply personal side as she mourns the loss of her partner and lover. McDermid effectively shows this balance, as well as adding a number of characters who are able to coax out all this sentiments from the protagonist. With significant amounts of humour and Scottish colloquialisms, McDermid leaves the reader to feel as though they are right in the mix. The narrative pushes the story along, while also taking the necessary rest stops to develop aspects of the case that require more synthesising. All this done without losing any of the story's momentum or the thrill of the hunt as the killers remain on the loose, awaiting Pirie's sleuthing to find them. McDermid appears ready to tackle anything put before her and I am pleased to see that she continues to be highly successful in this venture.
Kudos, Madam McDermid for another wonderful novel. I hope you will keep writing Pirie novels. I am curious, since you have a number of successful series, if you will entertain a crossover at some point. Brilliant if you would consider it for us fans!
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
In a continued meteoric rise, McDermid places DCI Karen Pirie in another first-rate novel that sees her working on the complicated Historic Cases Unit. A horrific vehicular accident leaves three young men dead and eighteen year-old Ross Garvie clinging to life. A routine sample for blood alcohol levels includes DNA analysis and is sent to Police Scotland's database for comparison with any outstanding cases. A flag pops up on a rape-murder twenty years before, where Tina McDonald was left amongst the rubbish bins at a local bar. There is a familial match between Garvie and the rapist, which is the only clue Pirie has to solve the case. As Garvie was not yet born at the time of the crime, all eyes shift to his father, which is further complicated because Garvie was adopted at birth. Wresting with the bureaucratic red tape and awaiting a sheriff's approval to access the original birth certificate, Pirie must bide her time, a trait she does not come by naturally. This sends her to poke around a recent case of Gabriel Abbott, who apparently committed suicide. What piques Pirie's interest is that Carolyn Abbott, mother of the deceased, died when the Cessna on which she flew disintegrated when a bomb exploded onboard in 1994. Never formally solved but attributed to an IRA act of terror, Pirie begins poking around on her own, keeping all her work hidden from superiors and the DI handling Gabriel's case. As with most cold cases, this one is far from simple, though the politics involved extend well-past Bloody Sunday retribution. The more Pirie learns, the less she feels Gabriel Abbott died under his own hand, though the remains as murky as pea soup. While work does seem to keep her busy, Pirie is still struggling with the recent death of Phil Parhatka, whose place in her heart remains a gaping hole and one that she is only just able to address. A conversation with a few new locals in town puts it all in perspective for her, though does not diminish the power of grief. Juggling both case, Pirie moves forward with the birth certificate for Ross Garvie, which takes her on more wild chases and ruffles the feathers of all who will listen. The death of Carolyn Abbott and mutterings by Gabriel about some 'conspiracy' must surely tie the cases together, though Pirie cannot work it out with ease. Can the Historic Cases Unit solve three murders or will the killers all disappear in the wind, never to be brought to justice? McDermid spins another fabulous tale that pits Karen Pirie into her most challenging cases yet.
Only recently discovering the DCI Pirie collection, I have been happy to devour all four books on offer to date. They are not only well composed, but require the reader to divide their attention between the present and numerous parts of the past, as the case is pieced together. Karen Pirie's character can be rough around the edges, pushing her way up the ranks within Police Scotland, while also showing a deeply personal side as she mourns the loss of her partner and lover. McDermid effectively shows this balance, as well as adding a number of characters who are able to coax out all this sentiments from the protagonist. With significant amounts of humour and Scottish colloquialisms, McDermid leaves the reader to feel as though they are right in the mix. The narrative pushes the story along, while also taking the necessary rest stops to develop aspects of the case that require more synthesising. All this done without losing any of the story's momentum or the thrill of the hunt as the killers remain on the loose, awaiting Pirie's sleuthing to find them. McDermid appears ready to tackle anything put before her and I am pleased to see that she continues to be highly successful in this venture.
Kudos, Madam McDermid for another wonderful novel. I hope you will keep writing Pirie novels. I am curious, since you have a number of successful series, if you will entertain a crossover at some point. Brilliant if you would consider it for us fans!
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
December 10, 2016
Dear reader,
A little over a week ago I entered my local bookstore intent on treating myself to a good book!
When I spotted this,the latest offering from Val McDermid,an author that I greatly admire,I cast all other books aside and headed to the till,hugging this as if it were a treasured possession!!!
When I started to read it,I felt that sweet sensation,that undeniable tingle down my spine and knew,yet again,that I was onto a winner!!
Karen Pirie and her colleague Jason,the duo who make up the Historic Case Unit,face the daunting task of unearthing new evidence in the Tina McDonald case,a twenty year old murder/ sexual assault that,as yet,remains unsolved.
Ross Garvie,a teenage joy rider,critically ill in hospital,the only survivor of the horrific accident that saw his three mates die,seems to hold the key to their investigation.
Delighted that DNA evidence has now borne fruit,Karen is surprised at the sudden twist the case takes and ponders if she will ever discover the real culprit responsible for Tina's death and bring him to justice.
Coupled with this case,is the recent death of one Gabriel Abbott. A young man, whose life was derailed by the very sudden death of his mother,Caroline,and her dearest friend,Ellie, Gabriel's body is found on a park bench with a gun in his hand.
Is Gabriel's death a straight forward suicide as it appears,or is there indeed a more sinister explanation for his death?
Karen,grieving the death of her work and life partner,Phil,is sceptical of the coincidence of the two deaths and begins an investigation of her own.
While not,strictly speaking,her responsibility,for some inexplicable reason, she cannot free herself from the reins of this particular case.
When she and her colleague begin to delve beneath the surface,what they discover takes them on a diverging course that makes them privy to the fury and humiliation of fellow officers,the ire of their commanding officers,and the wilful determination of the person responsible for the deaths of innocent people.
This was a fantastic story,one that I was completely bewitched by. The writing was so endearingly crafted that,by story's end,I felt that I knew and would recognise Karen and Jason if I met them on the street!
Indeed their characters were so well developed,that I felt like dropping by the police station for a can of Irn Bru and a doughnut!
I cared about Karen,her sorrow and insomnia as she traversed the lonely streets of Edinburgh each night,the unequal but strangely intimate partnership that began to grow,right before our eyes,between herself and Jason,and the people she called friends.
I loved her relentlessness,her sheer determination to pursue lines that often saw her go off on tangents,only to be returned to where she'd started,once again.
I marvelled at the volume of information divulged in each case,the myriad twists and turns and how the cases were resolved,in their own unique way,although not to everyone's satisfaction.
Needless to say I loved this book and recommend it to all crime and mystery lovers!
It is a fast paced,clever mix of mystery, intrigue and red herrings.
But be warned,should you pick up this book,you run the risk of being sleep deprived as you are compelled to read just one more page in your quest to discover 'who dun-nit'!
A little over a week ago I entered my local bookstore intent on treating myself to a good book!
When I spotted this,the latest offering from Val McDermid,an author that I greatly admire,I cast all other books aside and headed to the till,hugging this as if it were a treasured possession!!!
When I started to read it,I felt that sweet sensation,that undeniable tingle down my spine and knew,yet again,that I was onto a winner!!
Karen Pirie and her colleague Jason,the duo who make up the Historic Case Unit,face the daunting task of unearthing new evidence in the Tina McDonald case,a twenty year old murder/ sexual assault that,as yet,remains unsolved.
Ross Garvie,a teenage joy rider,critically ill in hospital,the only survivor of the horrific accident that saw his three mates die,seems to hold the key to their investigation.
Delighted that DNA evidence has now borne fruit,Karen is surprised at the sudden twist the case takes and ponders if she will ever discover the real culprit responsible for Tina's death and bring him to justice.
Coupled with this case,is the recent death of one Gabriel Abbott. A young man, whose life was derailed by the very sudden death of his mother,Caroline,and her dearest friend,Ellie, Gabriel's body is found on a park bench with a gun in his hand.
Is Gabriel's death a straight forward suicide as it appears,or is there indeed a more sinister explanation for his death?
Karen,grieving the death of her work and life partner,Phil,is sceptical of the coincidence of the two deaths and begins an investigation of her own.
While not,strictly speaking,her responsibility,for some inexplicable reason, she cannot free herself from the reins of this particular case.
When she and her colleague begin to delve beneath the surface,what they discover takes them on a diverging course that makes them privy to the fury and humiliation of fellow officers,the ire of their commanding officers,and the wilful determination of the person responsible for the deaths of innocent people.
This was a fantastic story,one that I was completely bewitched by. The writing was so endearingly crafted that,by story's end,I felt that I knew and would recognise Karen and Jason if I met them on the street!
Indeed their characters were so well developed,that I felt like dropping by the police station for a can of Irn Bru and a doughnut!
I cared about Karen,her sorrow and insomnia as she traversed the lonely streets of Edinburgh each night,the unequal but strangely intimate partnership that began to grow,right before our eyes,between herself and Jason,and the people she called friends.
I loved her relentlessness,her sheer determination to pursue lines that often saw her go off on tangents,only to be returned to where she'd started,once again.
I marvelled at the volume of information divulged in each case,the myriad twists and turns and how the cases were resolved,in their own unique way,although not to everyone's satisfaction.
Needless to say I loved this book and recommend it to all crime and mystery lovers!
It is a fast paced,clever mix of mystery, intrigue and red herrings.
But be warned,should you pick up this book,you run the risk of being sleep deprived as you are compelled to read just one more page in your quest to discover 'who dun-nit'!
September 13, 2025
4-5 stars
The usual top notch crime novel from VMcD. I love Karen Pirie - fabulous character and she’s sure in the wars in this one. Great storyline, gritty, relevant and engaging.
The usual top notch crime novel from VMcD. I love Karen Pirie - fabulous character and she’s sure in the wars in this one. Great storyline, gritty, relevant and engaging.
August 14, 2016
Reviewing Val McDermid is becoming a tough job, at some point you run out of superlatives, you repeat yourself and can’t really think of any other way of saying that the novels are top notch brilliantly written gems of crime fiction and if you are a crime fiction fan you should just read them all. Fairly sure I’ve just repeated myself again from any number of the last few times I’ve reviewed.
ANYWAY whilst I never thought that Karen Pirie would engage me as heavily as Tony Hill always has, in Out of Bounds that connection became complete. I loved this one, it was particularly addictive even for a novel from this author and I pretty much read this in one sitting. With her usual insightful and witty eye towards characters and setting, a twisty tale that is still completely believable and a bang on the money fascinating plot Out of Bounds gets a huge tick from me. On every level.
Karen as a character, well, you can’t help but dig in deep right alongside her – her way of dealing with personal tragedy, her way of rampaging through the white noise towards the truth of the matter and her ever growing relationships with those around her just give a hugely gripping anchor to the wider narrative, where in the mystery elements Val McDermid gives your brain a work out.
Overall Out of Bounds is one of my favourites to date, simply because of the storytelling. And storytelling is of course where the heart lives for us readers. So carry on please Ms McDermid – more Karen, more Tony, frankly more of whatever you’d like to throw at us. I’ve yet to be even vaguely disappointed.
ANYWAY whilst I never thought that Karen Pirie would engage me as heavily as Tony Hill always has, in Out of Bounds that connection became complete. I loved this one, it was particularly addictive even for a novel from this author and I pretty much read this in one sitting. With her usual insightful and witty eye towards characters and setting, a twisty tale that is still completely believable and a bang on the money fascinating plot Out of Bounds gets a huge tick from me. On every level.
Karen as a character, well, you can’t help but dig in deep right alongside her – her way of dealing with personal tragedy, her way of rampaging through the white noise towards the truth of the matter and her ever growing relationships with those around her just give a hugely gripping anchor to the wider narrative, where in the mystery elements Val McDermid gives your brain a work out.
Overall Out of Bounds is one of my favourites to date, simply because of the storytelling. And storytelling is of course where the heart lives for us readers. So carry on please Ms McDermid – more Karen, more Tony, frankly more of whatever you’d like to throw at us. I’ve yet to be even vaguely disappointed.
November 11, 2016
Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is Book #4 in the Karen Pirie series and I think this series just continues to get better. In this installment, DCI Karen Pirie is head of the cold case unit. Actually she and DS Murray (nicknamed the Mint) are the entire department. When a current case leads to a connection with a 20+ year old cold case of murder, DCI Pirie gets involved. A second current case also attracts DCI Karen Pirie's curiosity, but her boss states that she is not to get involved as the case does not have anything to do with Karen's department. But, that is not about to stop her inquiries.
The two stories seem to be two very separate cases but Val McDermid is such a good author that I did not find myself getting lost in the investigations and I thought the conclusions were very satisfying. With author Val McDermid, a reader cannot go wrong and this series is developing into one to follow. Highly recommend.
This is Book #4 in the Karen Pirie series and I think this series just continues to get better. In this installment, DCI Karen Pirie is head of the cold case unit. Actually she and DS Murray (nicknamed the Mint) are the entire department. When a current case leads to a connection with a 20+ year old cold case of murder, DCI Pirie gets involved. A second current case also attracts DCI Karen Pirie's curiosity, but her boss states that she is not to get involved as the case does not have anything to do with Karen's department. But, that is not about to stop her inquiries.
The two stories seem to be two very separate cases but Val McDermid is such a good author that I did not find myself getting lost in the investigations and I thought the conclusions were very satisfying. With author Val McDermid, a reader cannot go wrong and this series is developing into one to follow. Highly recommend.
November 11, 2016
As the book opens, we find DCI Karen Pirie of the Historical Cases Unit still reeling from the recent loss of her partner. By day she buries herself in cold cases & spends her nights walking the streets of Edinburgh.
So when she gets news of a modern link to an old case, she gratefully digs in. DNA from the driver involved in a recent car crash is a familial match to a sample from a 20 year old unsolved rape. All they have to do is track down & test older male relatives. Easy, right? Well….there’s a hitch.
In alternate chapters we meet Gabriel Abbott, a young man with mental health issues. He suffers from periodic episodes of paranoia & has always been a solitary guy. When he was a child his mother was killed in a plane crash that was unofficially blamed on the IRA. Now he lives alone in Kinross & carefully follows a daily routine until the morning he’s found dead on a park bench.
This instalment has all we’ve come to expect from this series…..snappy dialogue, intricate plotting, atmospheric settings & well drawn characters. But it’s also a deeply personal story as it shines a light on Pirie’s struggle to accept the loss of her beloved Phil. She copes by staying in perpetual motion. In addition to her own cases, she sticks her nose into current investigations that are loosely related in an effort to keep busy. Inevitably this ruffles some feathers but then that’s always been one of Pirie’s “gifts”. ACC Simon Lees returns as the boss from hell who would like nothing better than to make her someone else’s problem. And DC Jason Murray is back as a young copper who’s not exactly the sharp end of a stick but takes direction well.
Methods employed to solve historical cases give the author a chance to showcase her vast knowledge of forensics. Multiple story lines ensure a brisk pace that makes for a quick, satisfying read. This is a kinder, gentler series than McDermid’s Tony Hill/Carol Jordan books & I’ve always harboured a sneaky suspicion that Pirie is her alter ego (Go Rovers!).
So when she gets news of a modern link to an old case, she gratefully digs in. DNA from the driver involved in a recent car crash is a familial match to a sample from a 20 year old unsolved rape. All they have to do is track down & test older male relatives. Easy, right? Well….there’s a hitch.
In alternate chapters we meet Gabriel Abbott, a young man with mental health issues. He suffers from periodic episodes of paranoia & has always been a solitary guy. When he was a child his mother was killed in a plane crash that was unofficially blamed on the IRA. Now he lives alone in Kinross & carefully follows a daily routine until the morning he’s found dead on a park bench.
This instalment has all we’ve come to expect from this series…..snappy dialogue, intricate plotting, atmospheric settings & well drawn characters. But it’s also a deeply personal story as it shines a light on Pirie’s struggle to accept the loss of her beloved Phil. She copes by staying in perpetual motion. In addition to her own cases, she sticks her nose into current investigations that are loosely related in an effort to keep busy. Inevitably this ruffles some feathers but then that’s always been one of Pirie’s “gifts”. ACC Simon Lees returns as the boss from hell who would like nothing better than to make her someone else’s problem. And DC Jason Murray is back as a young copper who’s not exactly the sharp end of a stick but takes direction well.
Methods employed to solve historical cases give the author a chance to showcase her vast knowledge of forensics. Multiple story lines ensure a brisk pace that makes for a quick, satisfying read. This is a kinder, gentler series than McDermid’s Tony Hill/Carol Jordan books & I’ve always harboured a sneaky suspicion that Pirie is her alter ego (Go Rovers!).
July 19, 2019
First of all I would like to congratulate Val McDermid on her 30th novel. This certainly calls for something to celebrate by Val McDermid and her followers. A brilliant author as always I loved every page of Out Of Bounds. Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie and Detective Constable Murray are attached to Police Scotland's Historic Case Unit. A Land Rover somersaulted over a roundabout. All three passengers dead. The driver is still alive, but in a coma. The DNA taken from the driver is connected to a twenty-year-old murder, but there are enough twists here to keep all Val McDermid fans and new fans gripped tight. In the past I have had nightmares with some the books that I have read by Val McDermid, I do wonder if any of her ideas for novels come to her in her dreams. To add to this spine-chilling novel Out Of Bounds there is a bonus short story at the back of the book.
September 25, 2020
Outstanding: McDermid proves once again that she is the Queen of Crime Fiction and that the Karen Pirie series is one of the best police procedurals out there. With an ARC of book six - Still Life - upcoming, I remembered that I had missed the fourth one out, so here was an opportunity to rectify that since I’ve had the paperback sitting on the shelf since finishing the equally brilliant Broken Ground. These books are all stand-alone mysteries so there’s actually no problem reading them out of order, other than a significant but not plot-revealing spoiler for the ending of book three (The Skeleton Road) which I will be mentioning soon, so stop reading if that might bother you...
DCI Karen Pirie and her colleague DC Jason ‘The Mint’ Murray make up Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit, based in Edinburgh. When a teenage joyrider ends up in hospital, a routine DNA analysis finds a link to a twenty year old unsolved murder. Karen, still grieving the loss of her lover and colleague Phil, needs the distraction of work, but also can’t resist getting involved in a recent investigation when she discovers the dead man’s mother was also murdered years earlier. With her senior officer just waiting to catch her out, Karen doesn’t hesitate to bend, if not break the rules, and call on her network of clever friends, to get to the truth - but someone is just as determined to stop her...
This had it all - great characters - sympathetic, realistically flawed - I adore the relationship between Karen and her loyal offsider Jason, as well as cameos from some of her other protagonists like River. I lived in Edinburgh for ten years so loved the nostalgia trip of being able to picture all the streets, buildings and monuments. There’s a subplot about Syrian refugees that beautifully showcases Karen’s humanity and resolute practicality, and plenty of interesting scientific/forensic details. Here the whodunnit is less important than that “how will she catch them” and no less satisfying. McDermid is an experienced and confident enough writer to not feel the need to link all the cases together by infuriating coincidence, and neither do we have to endure the perpetrator’s POV. There’s no gratuitous violence but this is certainly no cosy mystery. An easy five stars from me.
PS I just popped this review up on Amazon and took a look at the leading reviews there: it never ceases to amaze me how some readers will one-star a book because it contains a brief derogatory (and completely accurate) comment about their president.
DCI Karen Pirie and her colleague DC Jason ‘The Mint’ Murray make up Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit, based in Edinburgh. When a teenage joyrider ends up in hospital, a routine DNA analysis finds a link to a twenty year old unsolved murder. Karen, still grieving the loss of her lover and colleague Phil, needs the distraction of work, but also can’t resist getting involved in a recent investigation when she discovers the dead man’s mother was also murdered years earlier. With her senior officer just waiting to catch her out, Karen doesn’t hesitate to bend, if not break the rules, and call on her network of clever friends, to get to the truth - but someone is just as determined to stop her...
This had it all - great characters - sympathetic, realistically flawed - I adore the relationship between Karen and her loyal offsider Jason, as well as cameos from some of her other protagonists like River. I lived in Edinburgh for ten years so loved the nostalgia trip of being able to picture all the streets, buildings and monuments. There’s a subplot about Syrian refugees that beautifully showcases Karen’s humanity and resolute practicality, and plenty of interesting scientific/forensic details. Here the whodunnit is less important than that “how will she catch them” and no less satisfying. McDermid is an experienced and confident enough writer to not feel the need to link all the cases together by infuriating coincidence, and neither do we have to endure the perpetrator’s POV. There’s no gratuitous violence but this is certainly no cosy mystery. An easy five stars from me.
PS I just popped this review up on Amazon and took a look at the leading reviews there: it never ceases to amaze me how some readers will one-star a book because it contains a brief derogatory (and completely accurate) comment about their president.
March 25, 2017
Val McDermid is simply one of the best crime writers around. I have loved every book she's written. She has a number of series. Out of Bounds is the fourth novel featuring Inspector Karen Pirie. But you could absolutely read this as a stand alone.
Pirie is working cold cases. When a DNA sample from an accident victim turns up a match with a twenty two year old unsolved murder, Karen hopes for a quick solve to an old case. But it's not as straight forward as she hoped. And being Karen, she can't help but follow a case that interests her. Even when it's not hers. A terrorist bombing, also from twenty plus years ago is one she can't let go.
Karen is a wonderfully flawed character, struggling to overcome her own tragedies and doubts, while still maintaining a professional demeanor. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But you can't help but be in her corner. She's fierce and driven to find answers. The mental and verbal sparring between her and her superior is such fun to read. Her partner Jason is not as quick, but they make a good team. And it's impossible not to like him.
Where McDermid's books shine are in the plotting. Complex and not easily sussed out. I enjoy following the police work needed to unravel the answers, discovering the connections along with the characters. McDermid adds a nice (and timely) piece of social commentary with Karen befriending some Syrian refugees.
Absolutely recommended. (As are the previous twenty nine books she's written!)
Pirie is working cold cases. When a DNA sample from an accident victim turns up a match with a twenty two year old unsolved murder, Karen hopes for a quick solve to an old case. But it's not as straight forward as she hoped. And being Karen, she can't help but follow a case that interests her. Even when it's not hers. A terrorist bombing, also from twenty plus years ago is one she can't let go.
Karen is a wonderfully flawed character, struggling to overcome her own tragedies and doubts, while still maintaining a professional demeanor. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But you can't help but be in her corner. She's fierce and driven to find answers. The mental and verbal sparring between her and her superior is such fun to read. Her partner Jason is not as quick, but they make a good team. And it's impossible not to like him.
Where McDermid's books shine are in the plotting. Complex and not easily sussed out. I enjoy following the police work needed to unravel the answers, discovering the connections along with the characters. McDermid adds a nice (and timely) piece of social commentary with Karen befriending some Syrian refugees.
Absolutely recommended. (As are the previous twenty nine books she's written!)
November 25, 2016
A teenage joyrider crashes the stolen car and ends up in a coma. A routine DNA test connects it to an unsolved murder investigation 22 years ago. Will solving the cold case bring all the answers or will this twisty read have DCI Karen Price drawn into another case.
This is a well written and engaging read.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and the author Val McDermid for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is a well written and engaging read.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and the author Val McDermid for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 23, 2021
Out Of Bounds (Inspector Karen Pirie, #4) by Val McDermid.
Val McDermid is an author who takes me where she wants me to be and that's with Inspector Karen Pirie. It's all about Karen and it's all worth the ride. Inspector Pirie is a celebrated and successful detective heading the HCU-Police Scotland's Historic Cases Unit. Her methods of detecting goes beyond the acceptable methods of her peers at Police Scotland, but that in no ways deters Karen.
The DNA taken from a teenager involved in a fatal accident appears to match up with a cold case Karen has worked on and never forgotten. It matches the DNA evidence found under the nails of a murdered woman more than 20 years ago. Now Karen has to find a familial DNA match since that teenager wasn't alive at the time of the murder.
The 2nd cold case is one in which 4 people lost their lives aboard a small engine plane 22 years ago. The consensus is that terrorists blew the plane up. That explanation seemed to satisfy almost everyone...everyone except Inspector Pirie.
The latest case belonged to Inspector Detective Noble. An apparent suicide of one of the sons whose mother was killed on board that ill fated plane. Karen's idea of a professional detective did not include Noble. Although officially this wasn't Karen's case she decided to do her own bit of investigation. This may not sit well with Chief Constable Simon Lees but that never stopped Karen when she had her mind set on finding answers that others had overlooked.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, this series and appreciate this author. I expect to be reading many more books by her in the future.
Val McDermid is an author who takes me where she wants me to be and that's with Inspector Karen Pirie. It's all about Karen and it's all worth the ride. Inspector Pirie is a celebrated and successful detective heading the HCU-Police Scotland's Historic Cases Unit. Her methods of detecting goes beyond the acceptable methods of her peers at Police Scotland, but that in no ways deters Karen.
The DNA taken from a teenager involved in a fatal accident appears to match up with a cold case Karen has worked on and never forgotten. It matches the DNA evidence found under the nails of a murdered woman more than 20 years ago. Now Karen has to find a familial DNA match since that teenager wasn't alive at the time of the murder.
The 2nd cold case is one in which 4 people lost their lives aboard a small engine plane 22 years ago. The consensus is that terrorists blew the plane up. That explanation seemed to satisfy almost everyone...everyone except Inspector Pirie.
The latest case belonged to Inspector Detective Noble. An apparent suicide of one of the sons whose mother was killed on board that ill fated plane. Karen's idea of a professional detective did not include Noble. Although officially this wasn't Karen's case she decided to do her own bit of investigation. This may not sit well with Chief Constable Simon Lees but that never stopped Karen when she had her mind set on finding answers that others had overlooked.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, this series and appreciate this author. I expect to be reading many more books by her in the future.
October 17, 2016
Murder in the family...
When some drunken lads steal a Land Rover and then crash it, a blood sample is taken from the driver and routinely checked for DNA matches. The results show a familial match to the perpetrator of a horrific unsolved rape and murder from 1996, so DCI Karen Pirie and her cold case team, consisting of herself and one DC, reopen the case. However it becomes more complicated when they discover the car crash victim was adopted, so they will have to seek the Court's permission to access his birth records. Meantime, a young man called Gabriel Abbott is found dead from a gunshot wound in a park, a death that the investigating officer is eager to call suicide and close the case. Karen's not so sure, and when she discovers that Gabriel's mother was herself murdered over 20 years earlier, she finds herself drawn to try to solve the older case and see if it impacted in any way on Gabriel's death.
I really like this new series of McDermid's. She has always been one of my favourite crime writers, but I tired eventually of the Tony Hill series, so I'm delighted she's gone off in a new direction. These books are strictly police procedurals, told in a straightforward linear fashion with no flashy gimmicks or unbelievable twists. I've only read one other in the series, The Skeleton Road, which had a plot-line that took us back to the Serbo-Croatian war and was as much about the horrors of that as about the crime under investigation. While I enjoyed it very much, in truth I prefer to get my history from history books, so preferred this one which is more traditional in style – a crime or crimes, suspects, motives, clues, red herrings, etc., but all set firmly in the present and with a totally authentic feel to the investigation.
Karen Pirie is an excellent character, perhaps my favourite of all the various lead characters McDermid has created over the years. She is refreshingly non-maverick, working within the rules and procedures of contemporary policing, and getting on with her colleagues on the whole. Somewhat tediously, she has the usual useless boss who's always trying to do her down, but she gets round him with a combination of wit and manipulation, instead of the rather unbelievable outright defiance and belligerence that so many fictional detectives seem able to get away with. She thinks her young assistant Jason is “thick”, but is nevertheless a good, supportive boss to him, and during the course of this book, as he matures into the role, she finds she's beginning to appreciate him more. And again unlike many of the loner detectives of today, she has a few good friends and a normal social life outside work.
In this book she is still grieving after the events at the end of the last one. (I'm leaving that deliberately vague to avoid spoilers – the books work perfectly as standalones and don't have much of a continuing story arc, but like most series they're probably best read in order.) But her grief is shown believably, without wallowing. It recurs from time to time but lessens as time goes on, and Karen handles it without taking to drink or beating people up or all the other things our dysfunctional detectives usually do.
There's also a strand in the book about some of the Syrian refugees who have come to Scotland fleeing from the horrors in their own country. McDermid handles this very well, showing them not as potential terrorists, rapists, murderers or religious fanatics, but as normal people who have seen and experienced terrible things, but survived, and who now want to find a way to build new lives for themselves and their families in a safer place.
The plotting is great, with enough complexity to keep the reader guessing but without ever straying far over the credibility line. Although there are two separate cases on the go, McDermid juggles them well, never letting one be forgotten at the expense of the other. And personally, I'm delighted to see her set a series in her native Scotland. She doesn't shine a light on the political zeitgeist in quite the way Rankin often does, but she creates a clear and authentic picture of contemporary Scotland, particularly with regards to policing and justice systems.
All-in-all, an excellent read which I highly recommend. I'm hoping this series will have a long run.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When some drunken lads steal a Land Rover and then crash it, a blood sample is taken from the driver and routinely checked for DNA matches. The results show a familial match to the perpetrator of a horrific unsolved rape and murder from 1996, so DCI Karen Pirie and her cold case team, consisting of herself and one DC, reopen the case. However it becomes more complicated when they discover the car crash victim was adopted, so they will have to seek the Court's permission to access his birth records. Meantime, a young man called Gabriel Abbott is found dead from a gunshot wound in a park, a death that the investigating officer is eager to call suicide and close the case. Karen's not so sure, and when she discovers that Gabriel's mother was herself murdered over 20 years earlier, she finds herself drawn to try to solve the older case and see if it impacted in any way on Gabriel's death.
I really like this new series of McDermid's. She has always been one of my favourite crime writers, but I tired eventually of the Tony Hill series, so I'm delighted she's gone off in a new direction. These books are strictly police procedurals, told in a straightforward linear fashion with no flashy gimmicks or unbelievable twists. I've only read one other in the series, The Skeleton Road, which had a plot-line that took us back to the Serbo-Croatian war and was as much about the horrors of that as about the crime under investigation. While I enjoyed it very much, in truth I prefer to get my history from history books, so preferred this one which is more traditional in style – a crime or crimes, suspects, motives, clues, red herrings, etc., but all set firmly in the present and with a totally authentic feel to the investigation.
Karen Pirie is an excellent character, perhaps my favourite of all the various lead characters McDermid has created over the years. She is refreshingly non-maverick, working within the rules and procedures of contemporary policing, and getting on with her colleagues on the whole. Somewhat tediously, she has the usual useless boss who's always trying to do her down, but she gets round him with a combination of wit and manipulation, instead of the rather unbelievable outright defiance and belligerence that so many fictional detectives seem able to get away with. She thinks her young assistant Jason is “thick”, but is nevertheless a good, supportive boss to him, and during the course of this book, as he matures into the role, she finds she's beginning to appreciate him more. And again unlike many of the loner detectives of today, she has a few good friends and a normal social life outside work.
In this book she is still grieving after the events at the end of the last one. (I'm leaving that deliberately vague to avoid spoilers – the books work perfectly as standalones and don't have much of a continuing story arc, but like most series they're probably best read in order.) But her grief is shown believably, without wallowing. It recurs from time to time but lessens as time goes on, and Karen handles it without taking to drink or beating people up or all the other things our dysfunctional detectives usually do.
There's also a strand in the book about some of the Syrian refugees who have come to Scotland fleeing from the horrors in their own country. McDermid handles this very well, showing them not as potential terrorists, rapists, murderers or religious fanatics, but as normal people who have seen and experienced terrible things, but survived, and who now want to find a way to build new lives for themselves and their families in a safer place.
The plotting is great, with enough complexity to keep the reader guessing but without ever straying far over the credibility line. Although there are two separate cases on the go, McDermid juggles them well, never letting one be forgotten at the expense of the other. And personally, I'm delighted to see her set a series in her native Scotland. She doesn't shine a light on the political zeitgeist in quite the way Rankin often does, but she creates a clear and authentic picture of contemporary Scotland, particularly with regards to policing and justice systems.
All-in-all, an excellent read which I highly recommend. I'm hoping this series will have a long run.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
April 16, 2017
Karen Pirie is a Detective Inspector working in Edinburgh. She hails from Fife, still referred the Kingdom of Fife, which lies across the Firth of Forth from the capital city. Her bumbling assistant is the only other person in the Historic Cases Unit, in other words, the cold case division. In this novel, Karen is called in when the DNA of a teenage joyrider is a familial match to the DNA found in the rape and murder 20 years earlier of a young woman in Glasgow. Karen also gets involved in the case of a death that is initially judged a suicide. This is the case which seems out of bounds for the historic case unit. But Karen is like a dog with a bone and she won't let go of this one, much to the fury of her supervisor who constantly threatens to suspend her or worse. Karen doesn't stop with these two cases. She also encounters a group of Syrian refugees, and befriends them, while seeking to find a way to help.
The sense of place, not only Edinburgh, but much of Scotland, is very strong in this novel. I read novels set in various places hoping to get a feeling for the setting and the people who inhabit it. McDermid excels at this here. Close attention to the geography of Edinburgh, the streets that Pirie covers in her insomniac nightly walks, is one detail I appreciated. Police in Scotland, as in Ireland, and England, don't always work in the places where they were raised. As a result, Pirie is aware that this officer is from Dundee, as he talks in a distinct way. Another police officer's Glasgow accent gives him away. The narrator shifts accents, and though I don't actually know how accurate these accents are, it certainly adds to the texture of the narration, as does McDermid's attention to the diversity of Scottish talk, and the importance of geography.
I am now going to go back and read the previous books in this series. I read the first, but have forgotten it. McDermid is perhaps best known for her Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series set in Yorkshire. I am glad she has written this series set in her native Fife. I highly recommend this book to lovers of crime novels, and especially, Scottish noir. For a real treat, listen to the audiobook.
The sense of place, not only Edinburgh, but much of Scotland, is very strong in this novel. I read novels set in various places hoping to get a feeling for the setting and the people who inhabit it. McDermid excels at this here. Close attention to the geography of Edinburgh, the streets that Pirie covers in her insomniac nightly walks, is one detail I appreciated. Police in Scotland, as in Ireland, and England, don't always work in the places where they were raised. As a result, Pirie is aware that this officer is from Dundee, as he talks in a distinct way. Another police officer's Glasgow accent gives him away. The narrator shifts accents, and though I don't actually know how accurate these accents are, it certainly adds to the texture of the narration, as does McDermid's attention to the diversity of Scottish talk, and the importance of geography.
I am now going to go back and read the previous books in this series. I read the first, but have forgotten it. McDermid is perhaps best known for her Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series set in Yorkshire. I am glad she has written this series set in her native Fife. I highly recommend this book to lovers of crime novels, and especially, Scottish noir. For a real treat, listen to the audiobook.
December 8, 2016
When a teenage drunk driver is found to share familial DNA with a rapist twenty years in the past DCI Karen Pirie from the Historic Cases Unit is called upon to hunt down the murderer and give the rape victim’s family some closure. While she and her young assistant DC Jason Murray hunt down leads in what turns out to be a less than clear cut investigation, Pirie is pulled into another case which involves a possible suicide of a young man with links to another cold case from the past. This is Val McDermid's thirtieth novel and the first one I have read. Out of Bounds is the fourth book in a series featuring DCI Karen Pirie but can easily be read as a standalone police procedural.
I loved McDermid's writing style.She doles out just enough information to keep you in the investigative loop but still mystified as to how all the pieces will fit together. Her Karen Pirie is a rough around the edges, loaded down with baggage insomniac. She’s also quite brilliant and not afraid to stand up to her superiors or bend the rules to obtain the information she needs to solve her case and ensure justice is achieved. I loved how the DNA angle ends up playing a role in the case she covertly investigates in parallel to the one to which she is assigned. I loved how Karen copes with a numpty of an assistant and how she comes to Jason’s aid when he puts their investigation in jeopardy and brings Karen’s superiors barking at her heels. I even liked the Syrian refugee subplot generated thanks to Pirie’s late night strolls through the streets of Edinburgh.
Excellent read. Now I just have twenty nine more books by McDermid to catch up on.
eARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.
I loved McDermid's writing style.She doles out just enough information to keep you in the investigative loop but still mystified as to how all the pieces will fit together. Her Karen Pirie is a rough around the edges, loaded down with baggage insomniac. She’s also quite brilliant and not afraid to stand up to her superiors or bend the rules to obtain the information she needs to solve her case and ensure justice is achieved. I loved how the DNA angle ends up playing a role in the case she covertly investigates in parallel to the one to which she is assigned. I loved how Karen copes with a numpty of an assistant and how she comes to Jason’s aid when he puts their investigation in jeopardy and brings Karen’s superiors barking at her heels. I even liked the Syrian refugee subplot generated thanks to Pirie’s late night strolls through the streets of Edinburgh.
Excellent read. Now I just have twenty nine more books by McDermid to catch up on.
eARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.
September 5, 2021
Val Mcdermid, crime story surprisingly starts out like “Distant Echo” 4 youths out in the early morning hours after an all night drinking session. The youths are joyriders in a stolen car but this time there is a fatal accident and DNA samples opens up a sensitive cold case. Lead investigator Karen Perie of the Historic cases unit traces tricky family connections, rebel kids, a serial killer clown and some laughably screwed up dead ends. But curiously Karen doesn’t really have any business with another case apparently outside her judicial zone but bullshit is still bullshit hence the title “Out of Bounds” she just slams investigators who are slap dash and lazy. Now she has IRA airline terrorist bombing, suspicious suicide, corrupt murderous businessmen slash wannabe political figure added to the mix. Karen's personal life is a mess but work is her solace and the rock that grounds her after traumatic personal tragedy but even that isn’t enough for her plate she now has got Syrian refugees social work as another hat. She's wearing so many different hats like it’s a one woman cat walk conveyor belt Olympic event. Was it intriguing well yes understatement so I'm blown back beyond belief how can you jam so much into so little space and time, is this then the true big bang theory, probably not but definitely just as much fun. oh Karen gets the bad guy whose an idiot off course.
October 11, 2016
I haven't read the Karen Pirie series in its entirety as I have the Tony Hill series or McDermid stand alones. McDermid is at the top of her game and continuously presents interesting cases as well as strong character development. This story tackles adoption and family law and privacy issues all centered around a DNA hit. A second cold case comes to Pirie's attention after the death of a son twenty odd years after the mother died in an airplane explosion. Pirie doesn't believe in coincidence when it comes to multiple deaths. Pirie breaks rules and puts herself out on a limb to solve her cold cases. McDermid also addresses current events with the Syrian refugee crisis and islamophobia. This is a top notch mystery and fans and newcomers alike will be quite satisfied.
Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley
Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley
August 3, 2018
Really enjoyed this book. I love the attitude of Karen Pirie and the way she handles authority.
I started off wondering if I had the right book and it wasn't until I was a little way in did I realise what a brilliant way Val Mcdermid had dealt with the death of Karen Pirie's significant other. I have nothing but praise for Val mcDermid over this.
I really hope that this series will run and run. Having now read all 4 books via the library I am off to purchase them as they are definitely a revisit book.
I started off wondering if I had the right book and it wasn't until I was a little way in did I realise what a brilliant way Val Mcdermid had dealt with the death of Karen Pirie's significant other. I have nothing but praise for Val mcDermid over this.
I really hope that this series will run and run. Having now read all 4 books via the library I am off to purchase them as they are definitely a revisit book.
December 7, 2018
OUT OF BOUNDS is the fourth book in the Inspector Karen Pirie series and I have previously read book two and three in this series. This is a series that is growing on me. I still prefer the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series by the author, but this one and the one that comes after (that I picked up straight after I finished this one) are really good and I now want to read the first book that I haven't yet read.
Karen Pirie lost the love of her life recently and she spends her nights walking around in the city trying to come to grips with her loss. That doesn't mean that she isn't doing her damn best to solve cold cases. A joyride crash has given new life to an old rape and murder case. However, finding the answers will not be that easy. Karen is also drawn to a recent murder case that is linked to a terrorist bombing that happened twenty years ago. Could there be a link between the two deeds?
OUT OF BOUNDS is a really good book and it's not necessarily to read the books in the right order since each book has new cases.
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
Karen Pirie lost the love of her life recently and she spends her nights walking around in the city trying to come to grips with her loss. That doesn't mean that she isn't doing her damn best to solve cold cases. A joyride crash has given new life to an old rape and murder case. However, finding the answers will not be that easy. Karen is also drawn to a recent murder case that is linked to a terrorist bombing that happened twenty years ago. Could there be a link between the two deeds?
OUT OF BOUNDS is a really good book and it's not necessarily to read the books in the right order since each book has new cases.
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
December 3, 2019
I am aware that Val McDermid has had a long and distinguished career as an author of mysteries and thrillers, but I must admit that this is the first of hers that I have read. This is an extremely good police procedural that builds suspense gradually and kept me wondering who the antagonist(s) might be. I grew to admire the MC, Chief Inspector Karen Pirie, a strong-willed, dedicated, cold-case detective who has experienced her share of personal tragedies. I found her situation and circumstances, as well as the behavior of the other characters, believable, so much so that I wouldn't have been surprised to learn that this novel was based on a true story.
The telling is related in first-person by C.I. Pirie, including her thoughts and dreams, except at one point where the PoV changed for one sentence, which jarred me. As a result, I was more or less informed of the back story that I needed without having to read earlier volumes in this series. There is one cold-case murder and several present day murders that are linked, so the reader needs to pay attention to keep track of the names. I won't expand here on the details of the plot.
I should add that the narrator, Cathleen McCarron, was exceptionally good at giving voice to the various characters. For my American ear, it took me a while to adapt to her Scottish accents and dialects, occasionally even having to replay the last minute, but I could tell that she knew what she was about. After completing the book, I was not surprised to find that she is a professional voice, text, and accent coach, currently based with the Royal Shakespeare Company. (See also linked in.) She has narrated over 50 other books.
The telling is related in first-person by C.I. Pirie, including her thoughts and dreams, except at one point where the PoV changed for one sentence, which jarred me. As a result, I was more or less informed of the back story that I needed without having to read earlier volumes in this series. There is one cold-case murder and several present day murders that are linked, so the reader needs to pay attention to keep track of the names. I won't expand here on the details of the plot.
I should add that the narrator, Cathleen McCarron, was exceptionally good at giving voice to the various characters. For my American ear, it took me a while to adapt to her Scottish accents and dialects, occasionally even having to replay the last minute, but I could tell that she knew what she was about. After completing the book, I was not surprised to find that she is a professional voice, text, and accent coach, currently based with the Royal Shakespeare Company. (See also linked in.) She has narrated over 50 other books.
June 15, 2021
"Serendipity, the gift every cold case detective longs for."
The thing I enjoy most about Val’s books is the strong characters and their intricate relationships, Karen, Carol, Kate, all of them feel like real people. And every time there is a new book out, I just have to have it! Especially with that cliffhanger ending of “The Skeleton Road”. I was so happy that I already had this one on my shelf; the wait would have killed it for me. Overall I’m mostly happy with how everything turned out; even if Karen didn’t get it all. That makes everything just so much more real.
The cold case aspect of the Karen Pirie novels is my favorite. I’m not sure if it is because Val does such an excellent job with it, or if it’s something I just don’t come across so often; but I enjoy the process of these cases. If you’re reading this and know of any good cold case fiction let me know, so I can conclude this conundrum.
The thing I enjoy most about Val’s books is the strong characters and their intricate relationships, Karen, Carol, Kate, all of them feel like real people. And every time there is a new book out, I just have to have it! Especially with that cliffhanger ending of “The Skeleton Road”. I was so happy that I already had this one on my shelf; the wait would have killed it for me. Overall I’m mostly happy with how everything turned out; even if Karen didn’t get it all. That makes everything just so much more real.
The cold case aspect of the Karen Pirie novels is my favorite. I’m not sure if it is because Val does such an excellent job with it, or if it’s something I just don’t come across so often; but I enjoy the process of these cases. If you’re reading this and know of any good cold case fiction let me know, so I can conclude this conundrum.
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