What do you think?
Rate this book
Lindsay Gordon #1
Report for Murder
Lindsay Gordon, self-proclaimed cynical socialist lesbian feminist journalist is less than overjoyed at the prospect of spending a weekend at a posh girls' boarding school.
Tensions are running high over the school's financial problems; the fact that school alumna and reknowned musician Lorna Smith-Couper, will return to the school to perform at a benefit concert only exacerbates anxieties.
When Smith-Couper is found strangled with her own cello string right before the concert, Lindsay and Cordelia find their new relationship tested in unique ways as they seek to find the murderer among a long list of suspects.
Tensions are running high over the school's financial problems; the fact that school alumna and reknowned musician Lorna Smith-Couper, will return to the school to perform at a benefit concert only exacerbates anxieties.
When Smith-Couper is found strangled with her own cello string right before the concert, Lindsay and Cordelia find their new relationship tested in unique ways as they seek to find the murderer among a long list of suspects.
265 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
265 people are currently reading
1539 people want to read
About the author
Val McDermid
342 books5,318 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 214 reviews
September 1, 2020
EXCERPT: Lindsay Gordon put murder to the back of her mind and settled down in the train compartment to enjoy the broken greys and greens of the Derbyshire scenery. Rather like home, she decided. Except that in Scotland, the greens were darker, the greys more forbidding. Although in Glasgow, where she now lived, there was hardly enough green to judge. She congratulated herself on finishing the detective novel just at the point where Manchester suburbia yielded place to this attractive landscape foreign to her. Watching it unfold gave her the first answer to the question that had been nagging her all day: what the hell was she doing here? How could a cynical socialist lesbian feminist journalist (as she mockingly described herself) be on her way to spend a weekend in a girl's public school?
Of course, there were the answers she'd been able to use to friends: she'd never visited this part of England and wanted to see what it was like; she was a great believer in 'knowing thine enemy', so it came under the heading of opportunities not to be missed; she wanted to see Paddy Callaghan, who had been responsible for the invitation. But she remained unconvinced that she was doing the right thing. What had made her mind up was the realisation that, given Lindsay's current relationship with the Inland Revenue, anything that had a cheque as the end product couldn't be ignored.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Freelance journalist Lindsay Gordon is strapped for cash. Why else would she agree to cover a fund-raising gala at a girls’ public school? But when the star attraction is found garrotted with her own cello string minutes before she is due on stage, Lindsay finds herself investigating a vicious murder.
Who would have wanted Lorna Smith Cooper dead? Who had the key to the locked room in which her body was found? And who could have slipped out of the hall at just the right time to commit this calculated and cold-blooded crime?
MY THOUGHTS: A great start to a series first published in 1987 from an author I love. There are lots of secrets and resentments amongst the cast of suspects, any one of which could be a motive for murder - long buried affairs, greed, envy and hatred amongst them.
The plot is solid, the suspects numerous, the sleuthing of the good old fashioned variety.
Lindsay is a rather prickly character, quick to take offense, and someone for whom it would be difficult to do a favour. She also finds it difficult to apologise. She is headstrong, tenacious and fiercely independent. These traits work both in her favour and against her. There were moments during this read that I wanted to slap her as, at times, she comes across as arrogant and very rude.
This was a fun and satisfying read. The narration, by Caroline Guthrie, was excellent. I loved listening to her soft Scottish bur and will be looking for other audiobooks that she has narrated.
😊😊😊😊.2
FOR THE ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER: the majority of time is spent in Derbyshire, with forays to Glasgow and London.
THE AUTHOR: Val McDermid is a No. 1 bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold over eleven million copies.
She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009 and was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for 2010. In 2011 she received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award.
She writes full time and divides her time between Cheshire and Edinburgh
DISCLOSURE: I listened to the audiobook of Report for Murder, written by Val McDermid, narrated by Caroline Guthrie and published by Avid Audiobooks via Overdrive. 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 and others are also published on Twitter, Instagram, and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Of course, there were the answers she'd been able to use to friends: she'd never visited this part of England and wanted to see what it was like; she was a great believer in 'knowing thine enemy', so it came under the heading of opportunities not to be missed; she wanted to see Paddy Callaghan, who had been responsible for the invitation. But she remained unconvinced that she was doing the right thing. What had made her mind up was the realisation that, given Lindsay's current relationship with the Inland Revenue, anything that had a cheque as the end product couldn't be ignored.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Freelance journalist Lindsay Gordon is strapped for cash. Why else would she agree to cover a fund-raising gala at a girls’ public school? But when the star attraction is found garrotted with her own cello string minutes before she is due on stage, Lindsay finds herself investigating a vicious murder.
Who would have wanted Lorna Smith Cooper dead? Who had the key to the locked room in which her body was found? And who could have slipped out of the hall at just the right time to commit this calculated and cold-blooded crime?
MY THOUGHTS: A great start to a series first published in 1987 from an author I love. There are lots of secrets and resentments amongst the cast of suspects, any one of which could be a motive for murder - long buried affairs, greed, envy and hatred amongst them.
The plot is solid, the suspects numerous, the sleuthing of the good old fashioned variety.
Lindsay is a rather prickly character, quick to take offense, and someone for whom it would be difficult to do a favour. She also finds it difficult to apologise. She is headstrong, tenacious and fiercely independent. These traits work both in her favour and against her. There were moments during this read that I wanted to slap her as, at times, she comes across as arrogant and very rude.
This was a fun and satisfying read. The narration, by Caroline Guthrie, was excellent. I loved listening to her soft Scottish bur and will be looking for other audiobooks that she has narrated.
😊😊😊😊.2
FOR THE ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER: the majority of time is spent in Derbyshire, with forays to Glasgow and London.
THE AUTHOR: Val McDermid is a No. 1 bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold over eleven million copies.
She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009 and was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for 2010. In 2011 she received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award.
She writes full time and divides her time between Cheshire and Edinburgh
DISCLOSURE: I listened to the audiobook of Report for Murder, written by Val McDermid, narrated by Caroline Guthrie and published by Avid Audiobooks via Overdrive. 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 and others are also published on Twitter, Instagram, and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
May 11, 2019
Report for Murder by Val McDermid is the first book in the Lindsay Gordon mystery series. Reporter Lindsay Gordon is sent to cover a fund-raiser at her old girls boarding school where renowned musician and former student Lorna Smith- couper is set to perform. When she is strangled before the performance and a teacher arrested, the headmistress asks Lindsay to investigate. I found this book to be too drawn out and uninteresting and the investigation rather weak. It may be because of being the first book in the series and being rather dated, but I was expecting something better.
January 20, 2023
“She’s got a way of making people do things, hasn’t she?”
I was a bit sceptical about this series. I've read mostly all McDermid's other books but found that I didn't always like her earlier works (referring to PI Kate Brannigan) This might be because I read the Tony Hill / Carol Jordan series first and is now comparing everything to it.
So, I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised! I quite like the obnoxious Lindsay Gordon. She’s headstrong and aggressively independent – which makes her great at her work but works against her when it comes to dealing with people (yes, she’s arrogant and rude and only shows her softer side to the people she trusts).
She tends to do first and ask questions later. Which gets her into a lot of trouble and unnecessarily complicates things for her. But this is exactly why I like her.
As for the plot, it was your usual “who done it” type of mystery, with quite a few suspects. It moves along a bit slowly, so be warned.
I’m not in a hurry to read the next, but I will get around to it eventually.
I was a bit sceptical about this series. I've read mostly all McDermid's other books but found that I didn't always like her earlier works (referring to PI Kate Brannigan) This might be because I read the Tony Hill / Carol Jordan series first and is now comparing everything to it.
So, I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised! I quite like the obnoxious Lindsay Gordon. She’s headstrong and aggressively independent – which makes her great at her work but works against her when it comes to dealing with people (yes, she’s arrogant and rude and only shows her softer side to the people she trusts).
She tends to do first and ask questions later. Which gets her into a lot of trouble and unnecessarily complicates things for her. But this is exactly why I like her.
As for the plot, it was your usual “who done it” type of mystery, with quite a few suspects. It moves along a bit slowly, so be warned.
I’m not in a hurry to read the next, but I will get around to it eventually.
November 25, 2015
Val McDermid is one of my favorite writers. I discovered her on a trip to the UK, and I'm so glad her books are becoming more available in the US.
That said, I cannot imagine any reason I'd ever want to read another book with this detective. She's arrogant, obstinate, uncharitable, and self-centered. And so very doctrinaire that her principles are more important than people. Take for instance, her first reaction on seeing her new lover's home for the first time. It's a nice house with good furniture & fittings. Practically the first words out of her mouth are an attempt to make her brand-new friend & lover feel guilty for having so much when others have so little. She compares it unfavorably to her own flat, seeming to imply that her tatty furniture and threadbare rugs are a sign of virtue. No, really.
Later in the book the same woman offers to treat her to dinner. Gordon reacts as if she has been ordered to prostitute herself. A really unpleasant person and I don't anticipate any more outings with her.
That said, I cannot imagine any reason I'd ever want to read another book with this detective. She's arrogant, obstinate, uncharitable, and self-centered. And so very doctrinaire that her principles are more important than people. Take for instance, her first reaction on seeing her new lover's home for the first time. It's a nice house with good furniture & fittings. Practically the first words out of her mouth are an attempt to make her brand-new friend & lover feel guilty for having so much when others have so little. She compares it unfavorably to her own flat, seeming to imply that her tatty furniture and threadbare rugs are a sign of virtue. No, really.
Later in the book the same woman offers to treat her to dinner. Gordon reacts as if she has been ordered to prostitute herself. A really unpleasant person and I don't anticipate any more outings with her.
Read
June 18, 2020Report for Murder, is a paean to Dorothy L. Sayers’ Gaudy Night. Murder in a school for Girls. Lindsay is a good reporter and manages to crank out enough copy to fill the pages of another novel. I enjoyed her burgeoning romance with Cordelia (a tip of the hat to the main character in P. D. James’ An Unsuitable Job for a woman), a book that McDermid knows well. Yet as often (if not always) in modern mysteries, McDermid's attempt to create this whodunit different from any other results in an almost unbelievable method for committing the crime that Lindsay investigates. I did like the fact, though, that through each of the seemingly endless interviews that Lindsay has with the suspects, she always managed to get one tiny bit of new information that she could put in with the rest. See Sigrid Brunel's Woman with Red Hair for a similar investigative process. I would give this book somewhere midway between and 3 and a 4.
Note: This was one of the first lesbian mysteries I ever read and it came at a time before I had decided to do an exhaustive study of the genre. For that reason, the above review is a short one.
Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
Note: This was one of the first lesbian mysteries I ever read and it came at a time before I had decided to do an exhaustive study of the genre. For that reason, the above review is a short one.
Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
February 16, 2013
I think I've read ONE (or maybe two) or Val McDermid's early mysteries featuring Lindsey Gordon, a Brit lefty lesbian journalist in the 1980s (I could almost use the 'historical mysteries' tag now). Not this one, though, and not the next one I am about to review. It's interesting to me how this compares in tone and in historical feel to the American equivalent, which is the trilogy by Barbara Wilson that starts with Murder in the Collective. That book is like crack for me, because it so accurately reflects the American feminist left of the 1980s, with Solidarity with Central America politics, lesbian coming out love stories, and so on. The Brit version under Thatcher, which I also experienced first hand in 1984 and then 1986-7 is accurately reflected in these two books by McDermid, but it isn't as resonant for me, and I am not sure why. The setting (especially of the second one, which is a thinly disguised Greenham Common, a protest encampment I almost visited in the summer of 1984 while on a 200 mile protest march of US missile bases in Britain) is perfect; the Brit vernacular is exact... possibly I just don't care that much for Lindsey Gordon, where I was utterly into Pam Nilssen, the sleuth and lesbian in Wilson's books.
October 29, 2017
I want to start this by saying that Val McDermid is one of my favourite authors and when I downloaded this book I hadn’t realised how long ago it was written. It very dated and far too jolly hockey sticks for me! It’s hard to remember a world of cassettes, Margaret Thatcher (that’s best forgotten anyway!!) and pre emails when journalists phoned in their copy or sent photographs by train! I didn’t find the story gelled well with the main character being a professed socialist - why on earth would she want to have anything to do with the privileged world of an all girls boarding school?? I gave up I’m afraid which I don’t normally do.
Val McDermid’s writing now bears no relation to this as her current work is gritty and always a terrific read. Sorry- not for me.
Val McDermid’s writing now bears no relation to this as her current work is gritty and always a terrific read. Sorry- not for me.
January 23, 2020
2.5stars. I found this story quite unbelievable and the main character, Lindsay Gordon, unlikeable.
August 21, 2018
Published in 1987, this is the first in the series featuring lesbian feminist journalist Lindsay Gordon - quite early in McDermid's career and not as taut as her later work, but actually a decent book about a murder at a remote girls school in the depths of the Derbyshire countryside
June 19, 2019
i'm pleasantly surprised to say every val mcdermid novel i've read so far has been subtly different from the one before it. where The Distant Echo felt like your typical who-dunnit and The Wire in the Blood played with a cat-and-mouse dynamic, the first novel in this series mimics the tender candidness of an agatha christie mystery: an outsider coming to a place in the countryside to unveil a mystery where every inhabitant seems to have a motive and an opportunity.
it is certainly more grounded than a hercule poirot story and terribly bound to its setting, 1987, that at times the lack of a proper cellphone can be both funny and frustrating--a passing thought, really, once you have finished the book and not while you are reading it. however, the constant reminder of how this mystery is not like in fiction became a bit too much by the end of it. investigating was mostly interviewing people and discussing what the interviews might have unveiled, i got that, you don't have to repeat it again and again.
in terms of the actual mystery behind the novel, there was nothing trully groundbreaking about it. although (as expected) i did not figure out who the culprit was before the reveal, the novel's commitment to the gritty reality of the process turned the actual revelation into an underwhelming instance. unlike "the distant echo," for example, the plot twists were sparce at best and did not do much to alter the stakes of the story. not to say i was bored by this book. it was certainly easy to consume and not at all a bad time. i would nonetheless be lying if i told you it rocked my world or has been the best mystery i've read this year alone. by all means, i will continue with this series in the future but, within the scope of every val mcdermid series i've begun so far, this will not be a priority.
it is certainly more grounded than a hercule poirot story and terribly bound to its setting, 1987, that at times the lack of a proper cellphone can be both funny and frustrating--a passing thought, really, once you have finished the book and not while you are reading it. however, the constant reminder of how this mystery is not like in fiction became a bit too much by the end of it. investigating was mostly interviewing people and discussing what the interviews might have unveiled, i got that, you don't have to repeat it again and again.
in terms of the actual mystery behind the novel, there was nothing trully groundbreaking about it. although (as expected) i did not figure out who the culprit was before the reveal, the novel's commitment to the gritty reality of the process turned the actual revelation into an underwhelming instance. unlike "the distant echo," for example, the plot twists were sparce at best and did not do much to alter the stakes of the story. not to say i was bored by this book. it was certainly easy to consume and not at all a bad time. i would nonetheless be lying if i told you it rocked my world or has been the best mystery i've read this year alone. by all means, i will continue with this series in the future but, within the scope of every val mcdermid series i've begun so far, this will not be a priority.
November 14, 2024
This was surprisingly cozy for a crime novel. Maybe it's because it subverted the typical gender balance of such stories and ended up only having 2 more important male characters in the whole cast.
I enjoyed the discussion of class in a lesbian relationship and the overall feminist vibe was nice.
Also, the author is iconic for having written queer fiction at the time that she did.
The actual case was slightly obvious but it was fine as I didn't come here for the plot anyway.
I enjoyed the discussion of class in a lesbian relationship and the overall feminist vibe was nice.
Also, the author is iconic for having written queer fiction at the time that she did.
The actual case was slightly obvious but it was fine as I didn't come here for the plot anyway.
December 31, 2020
I've read quite a few of Val Mcdermid's books, I will however not be reading any more of this series! The main character is the most annoying and unlikeable person, I'm amazed I managed to get through it before throwing it in the bin, it was a close thing.
March 16, 2021
I'm a relatively new convert to Val McDermid, and I'm only glad that I didn't come across Lindsay Gordon earlier, as I think it would have put me off the author for ever. I can't honestly say I liked any of the characters.. of which there seemed to be hundreds!...least of all Lindsey herself It took a fifth of the book before anything happened........the scene setting went on for ever. It felt like an Enid Blyton school book for adults! I kept expecting the Mallory School characters to turn up at anytime . So jolly hockey sticks and dated. Lets just say I wont be rushing to read the rest of the series Give me the Brannigan or Pirie series any day!
September 28, 2008
Agatha Christie with lesbian romance. McDermid's first novel and first in a series with socialist feminist reporter Lindsay Gordan. Sent from Glasgow to Derbyshire to cover a fundraiser for a public girls school, it's a clash of cultures from the beginning, though gently told, with concern and dignity for all. When the guest artists, a graduate of the school is murdered, the journalist goes to solve the crime and get herself a whopping good story. As well as a lover who is about as opposite her as possible. A very good story, first in a series.
December 29, 2014
Everything's better with lesbians. Fact.
Otherwise, this book is ordinary bordering on unpleasant. I may have gotten some metaphorical whiplash from Lindsay and Cordelia's hot and cold conversations, and not seen where the slightest bit of attraction came from other than physical, but it was an unsensationalised lesbian relationship in a contemporary book from the eighties and that's something.
And the murder mystery was both a bona fide murder and an adequate mystery, which is more than I can say for a lot of what I've read lately.
Otherwise, this book is ordinary bordering on unpleasant. I may have gotten some metaphorical whiplash from Lindsay and Cordelia's hot and cold conversations, and not seen where the slightest bit of attraction came from other than physical, but it was an unsensationalised lesbian relationship in a contemporary book from the eighties and that's something.
And the murder mystery was both a bona fide murder and an adequate mystery, which is more than I can say for a lot of what I've read lately.
April 8, 2023
Not up to par with her other books. In fact, I found it boring. I much prefer Karen Pirie.
The main character: an out-of-work journalist, lesbian, socialist spent a lot of her time justifying her boorish behavior and knocking about her friends who had more money, different beliefs and backgrounds, etc. My other issue was how quickly the romance escalated between two key characters. Exactly why I don't read romance novels.
The main character: an out-of-work journalist, lesbian, socialist spent a lot of her time justifying her boorish behavior and knocking about her friends who had more money, different beliefs and backgrounds, etc. My other issue was how quickly the romance escalated between two key characters. Exactly why I don't read romance novels.
February 28, 2022
This is the 2nd VM novel I have tried and failed...It came across as preachy and boring 😴! Also wish I would have read other reviews first because it seems even fans of VM had a hard time with this one!
January 28, 2021
You have to start somewhere. Val has clearly grown into the writer she is today. Interesting to read her early work and see how far she has come.
April 14, 2022
Not at all as good as other series.
February 11, 2019
Schon ganz lange wollte ich mal einen Val McDermid Krimi lesen, denn man stelle sich vor – die schottische Queen of Crime kannte ich noch gar nicht. Zum Adventsspezial hat es die Autorin dann mit ihrer Reihe um Privatdetektivin Kate Brannigan in meine Leseliste geschafft, doch ihre erste Reihe um Journalistin Lindsay Gordon habe ich sogar noch davor beschnuppert. Allerdings aus den unterschiedlichsten Gründen, gibt es die Rezension zum ersten Teil der Reihe erst jetzt. Die Beschaffung der Bücher, die natürlich schon vollständig meine Regale ziert, war gar nicht so einfach, denn es sind nicht mehr alle Teile im Handel verfügbar, sondern manche nur noch antiquarisch zu bekommen. Als wahren Krimifan kann einen das aber natürlich nicht aufhalten!
Lindsay Gordon ist freie Journalistin und nicht gerade auf Rosen gebettet. Deshalb kann und muss sie auch den Auftrag ihrer Freundin Paddy Callaghan annehmen, über das Benefizwochenende des elitären Mädcheninternats Derbyshire House zu berichten, auch wenn ihr anspruchsvollere Themen natürlich mehr passen würden. Manchmal soll man seine Wünsche allerdings nicht zu laut äußern, denn just an dem Wochenende wird der Stargast des Benefizkonzerts, die Cellistin Lorna Smith-Couper, ermordet. Niemand wundert sich, war der Star zwar talentiert aber nicht besonders beliebt. Als allerdings Paddy für den Mord in Haft genommen wird, lässt sich Lindsay von der Schulleiterin dazu überreden, eigene Ermittlungen anzustellen.
Ein sehr klassisches und leider auch langweiliges Setting: ein Mädcheninternat auf dem Lande, ein abgeschotteter Kreis von Verdächtigen und wahrlich kein neuer Schauplatz für ein Verbrechen in Krimis. Nichtsdestotrotz bricht die Autorin mit den Konventionen und setzt dort die lesbische und feministisch engagierte Journalistin Lindsay Gordon hinein. Und entgegen den üblichen Klischees ist Lindsay auch so gar nicht überzeugt, ob sie die richtige dafür ist, den wahren Täter zu entlarven und zweifelt an ihren Ermittlerfähigkeiten, lässt sich aber breitschlagen, denn schließlich ist ihre Freundin Paddy im Untersuchungsgefängnis. Lindsay verleiht dem Krimi den gewissen Pfiff und hebt ihn aus dem Einerlei-Krimisumpf heraus.
Neben einigen feministischen Scharmützeln, die sie mit den Lehrerinnen aber auch Schülerinnen ausfechtet, bekommt sie eine treue Begleiterin: Cordelia Brown, Schriftstellerin und Drehbuchautorin. Cordelia ist ein wenig älter und gesetzter als Lindsay, sie hält Lindsay bei den Befragungen in Zaum, zumindest versucht sie es. Ein wenig peinlich ist ihnen, dass sie die Zeit der Ermittlungen nicht nur dazu nutzen, ihre Freundin aus dem Gefängnis zu holen, sondern auch für ihre beginnende Liebesbeziehung.
Lindsay gelingt es, trotz einiger Verwirrung und keinerlei Erfahrung in Mordfällen, ihre investigativen Fähigkeiten anzuwenden und vielen Beteiligten die richtigen, aber hin und wieder auch die falschen Fragen zu stellen. Es finden sich ein oder zwei Fettnäpfchen und letztendlich baut sie so richtig Bockmist, bevor sie den Fall dann doch – mit ein wenig Hilfe – lösen kann.
Fazit:
Ein klassischer Whodunit mit dem gewissen Extra: Lindsay Gordon verleiht der leicht verstaubten Atmosphäre eines englischen Mädcheninternats Frische und Relevanz. Ein guter Erstling, der ausbaufähig ist, aber die steile Karriere der Autorin schon erahnen lässt.
Lindsay Gordon ist freie Journalistin und nicht gerade auf Rosen gebettet. Deshalb kann und muss sie auch den Auftrag ihrer Freundin Paddy Callaghan annehmen, über das Benefizwochenende des elitären Mädcheninternats Derbyshire House zu berichten, auch wenn ihr anspruchsvollere Themen natürlich mehr passen würden. Manchmal soll man seine Wünsche allerdings nicht zu laut äußern, denn just an dem Wochenende wird der Stargast des Benefizkonzerts, die Cellistin Lorna Smith-Couper, ermordet. Niemand wundert sich, war der Star zwar talentiert aber nicht besonders beliebt. Als allerdings Paddy für den Mord in Haft genommen wird, lässt sich Lindsay von der Schulleiterin dazu überreden, eigene Ermittlungen anzustellen.
Ein sehr klassisches und leider auch langweiliges Setting: ein Mädcheninternat auf dem Lande, ein abgeschotteter Kreis von Verdächtigen und wahrlich kein neuer Schauplatz für ein Verbrechen in Krimis. Nichtsdestotrotz bricht die Autorin mit den Konventionen und setzt dort die lesbische und feministisch engagierte Journalistin Lindsay Gordon hinein. Und entgegen den üblichen Klischees ist Lindsay auch so gar nicht überzeugt, ob sie die richtige dafür ist, den wahren Täter zu entlarven und zweifelt an ihren Ermittlerfähigkeiten, lässt sich aber breitschlagen, denn schließlich ist ihre Freundin Paddy im Untersuchungsgefängnis. Lindsay verleiht dem Krimi den gewissen Pfiff und hebt ihn aus dem Einerlei-Krimisumpf heraus.
Neben einigen feministischen Scharmützeln, die sie mit den Lehrerinnen aber auch Schülerinnen ausfechtet, bekommt sie eine treue Begleiterin: Cordelia Brown, Schriftstellerin und Drehbuchautorin. Cordelia ist ein wenig älter und gesetzter als Lindsay, sie hält Lindsay bei den Befragungen in Zaum, zumindest versucht sie es. Ein wenig peinlich ist ihnen, dass sie die Zeit der Ermittlungen nicht nur dazu nutzen, ihre Freundin aus dem Gefängnis zu holen, sondern auch für ihre beginnende Liebesbeziehung.
Lindsay gelingt es, trotz einiger Verwirrung und keinerlei Erfahrung in Mordfällen, ihre investigativen Fähigkeiten anzuwenden und vielen Beteiligten die richtigen, aber hin und wieder auch die falschen Fragen zu stellen. Es finden sich ein oder zwei Fettnäpfchen und letztendlich baut sie so richtig Bockmist, bevor sie den Fall dann doch – mit ein wenig Hilfe – lösen kann.
Fazit:
Ein klassischer Whodunit mit dem gewissen Extra: Lindsay Gordon verleiht der leicht verstaubten Atmosphäre eines englischen Mädcheninternats Frische und Relevanz. Ein guter Erstling, der ausbaufähig ist, aber die steile Karriere der Autorin schon erahnen lässt.
August 4, 2018
Last year at the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival, Val McDermid and Ian Rankin led a torchlit parade from Stirling Castle (where the festival was officially opened) down through the historic town centre. Fittingly, the King and Queen of 'Tartan Noir' (and legends far beyond those borders) were each celebrating 30 years of their crime writing careers.
While McDermid is well-known for delving deep into the darkness in her hugely popular series starring detective Carol Jordan and profiler Tony Hill (books and characters which were adapted into the television series Wire in the Blood), and her fascinating bestsellers starring cold case detective Karen Pirie, thirty years ago it all began with two journalists: Val, and Lindsay Gordon.
What may surprise some crime-lovers who've become McDermid fans in the last twenty years, is that her very first book was more of a classic Christie-style murder mystery, in a way. Not cosy, but definitely veering much more towards that end of the crime-mystery spectrum than her later books.
Of course, McDermid still brought something fresh to her debut story - especially for the late 1980s - Lindsay Gordon was a protagonist who was working class, politically inclined, and and out lesbian. Quite different from the often intellectual, rather sexless sleuths of the classic mystery form.
Gordon is sent from Glasgow to Derbyshire to cover a fundraiser at a hoity-toity girls school (in the UK it's called a public school, but elsewhere we'd call these 'private schools' - high schools largely for children of the well-off, somewhat removed from the everyday national education system). The environment immediately irks Gordon, a 1980s lefty battling Thatcherite times and struggling financially. Gordon self-identifies as a "cynical socialist feminist lesbian", so McDermid doesn't leave the reader in any doubt. And that's one of the things that distinguishes REPORT FOR MURDER from McDermid's later work - she lays quite a lot out for the reader, with more exposition and set-up.
It's a good read, that flows well and has plenty of interest for readers. I thoroughly enjoyed 'going back to the beginning' to see McDermid in more of her raw early form. While the storytelling isn't as tight or gritty as her later work, there's still a lot to enjoy in REPORT FOR MURDER.
McDermid brings the country public school setting to vivid life; its physical environment and the characters who inhabit it. There's some interesting character interplay, including a hot-cold budding relationship for Lindsay Gordon. It's hard to know looking back from where we are now, but I imagine it was quite groundbreaking at the time: a lesbian relationship portrayed quite matter-of-factly as if it was just any old romance, rather than highlighting it as something unusual or 'edgy'.
All in all, REPORT FOR MURDER delivers a more Christie or Sayers-type mystery than later fans of McDermid may have expected, a murder mystery in a somewhat closed environment, with an amateur sleuth interviewing the suspects and witnesses in order to try and unmask the killer.
While McDermid is well-known for delving deep into the darkness in her hugely popular series starring detective Carol Jordan and profiler Tony Hill (books and characters which were adapted into the television series Wire in the Blood), and her fascinating bestsellers starring cold case detective Karen Pirie, thirty years ago it all began with two journalists: Val, and Lindsay Gordon.
What may surprise some crime-lovers who've become McDermid fans in the last twenty years, is that her very first book was more of a classic Christie-style murder mystery, in a way. Not cosy, but definitely veering much more towards that end of the crime-mystery spectrum than her later books.
Of course, McDermid still brought something fresh to her debut story - especially for the late 1980s - Lindsay Gordon was a protagonist who was working class, politically inclined, and and out lesbian. Quite different from the often intellectual, rather sexless sleuths of the classic mystery form.
Gordon is sent from Glasgow to Derbyshire to cover a fundraiser at a hoity-toity girls school (in the UK it's called a public school, but elsewhere we'd call these 'private schools' - high schools largely for children of the well-off, somewhat removed from the everyday national education system). The environment immediately irks Gordon, a 1980s lefty battling Thatcherite times and struggling financially. Gordon self-identifies as a "cynical socialist feminist lesbian", so McDermid doesn't leave the reader in any doubt. And that's one of the things that distinguishes REPORT FOR MURDER from McDermid's later work - she lays quite a lot out for the reader, with more exposition and set-up.
It's a good read, that flows well and has plenty of interest for readers. I thoroughly enjoyed 'going back to the beginning' to see McDermid in more of her raw early form. While the storytelling isn't as tight or gritty as her later work, there's still a lot to enjoy in REPORT FOR MURDER.
McDermid brings the country public school setting to vivid life; its physical environment and the characters who inhabit it. There's some interesting character interplay, including a hot-cold budding relationship for Lindsay Gordon. It's hard to know looking back from where we are now, but I imagine it was quite groundbreaking at the time: a lesbian relationship portrayed quite matter-of-factly as if it was just any old romance, rather than highlighting it as something unusual or 'edgy'.
All in all, REPORT FOR MURDER delivers a more Christie or Sayers-type mystery than later fans of McDermid may have expected, a murder mystery in a somewhat closed environment, with an amateur sleuth interviewing the suspects and witnesses in order to try and unmask the killer.
November 12, 2024
This was quite enjoyable and the characters were all believable.
June 20, 2022
Oof. Val McDermid is very versatile, and can be quite good, but I guess that does not apply to her juvenilia. This reads very green indeed. She fails to resist the amateurish tendency to insert herself into a work of fiction, for one. Her main character here is a Scottish lefty lesbian journalist, just like McDermid herself. I am sure some aspects of the character are fictionalized--or I hope so--but it's clear that she is sticking a little too closely to 'write what you know' here.
Another telling feature of this book is that it's set in an all-girl school, like a giallo, and has almost no male characters. There are only two, both murder suspects. I guess maybe in 1987 it was refreshing and radical, and she certainly passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. It's just a bit obvious and dull to me.
The early parts of the book are somewhat slow, with many pointless conversations. In fact, if you missed the first two or three chapters, you could pick up the book and still make sense of everything. Then the murder happens, and it's Colonel Mustard in the Music room with the garrotte. I kid you not. Except for the Mustard part. It's very Agatha Christie. I was so bored by this (heard it as an audiobook) that I couldn't wait to be done with it. I very rarely fail to finish books, and I did finish this, but I don't intend to sample the rest of the series. Okay, I'll take a peek at the reviews for the next two or three books and see if they suffer from these same problems, but I think I'd rather read her latest, which I believe is kicking off a new series. Now that might be interesting.
Another telling feature of this book is that it's set in an all-girl school, like a giallo, and has almost no male characters. There are only two, both murder suspects. I guess maybe in 1987 it was refreshing and radical, and she certainly passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. It's just a bit obvious and dull to me.
The early parts of the book are somewhat slow, with many pointless conversations. In fact, if you missed the first two or three chapters, you could pick up the book and still make sense of everything. Then the murder happens, and it's Colonel Mustard in the Music room with the garrotte. I kid you not. Except for the Mustard part. It's very Agatha Christie. I was so bored by this (heard it as an audiobook) that I couldn't wait to be done with it. I very rarely fail to finish books, and I did finish this, but I don't intend to sample the rest of the series. Okay, I'll take a peek at the reviews for the next two or three books and see if they suffer from these same problems, but I think I'd rather read her latest, which I believe is kicking off a new series. Now that might be interesting.
November 3, 2021
Report for Murder is what I would class as cosy crime but for lesbians. It tells the story of Lindsey Gordon, an out of work journalist who goes to a boarding school where her friend Paddy works to cover a fundraiser. Not her idea of a job but hey she needs the money. Whilst she is there a brutal murder occurs, and it’s up to Lindsey to solve all and save her friend. Will Lindsey’s love interest Cordelia be helpful? Or is she just trying to hide the fact that she too is a suspect…
As it’s kinda cosy crime it doesn’t have an awful lot of depth which is one of the things I like least about a lot of crime novels. However, with a queer main character and a budding romance to boot, it was definitely a book that I could get on board with.
It’s such an easy read that I managed to finish it in two days. Which is something I can NEVER do!
If you like a cosy crime novel then this one is probably for you. Unless you don’t like lesbians. In that case maybe not…
As it’s kinda cosy crime it doesn’t have an awful lot of depth which is one of the things I like least about a lot of crime novels. However, with a queer main character and a budding romance to boot, it was definitely a book that I could get on board with.
It’s such an easy read that I managed to finish it in two days. Which is something I can NEVER do!
If you like a cosy crime novel then this one is probably for you. Unless you don’t like lesbians. In that case maybe not…
March 27, 2015
I wanted to like this more than I did. I mean, a journalist who (not too self-seriously) identifies herself as a "cynical socialist feminist lesbian" is my kind of protagonist! But, while Lindsay Gordon makes an interesting enough sleuth to follow, the pacing of this book dragged. There was a lot of exposition, many emotions described rather than demonstrated, and the denouement felt overlong. Still, I really liked the evocation of place, and McDermid's twists on a number of genre standards, including the girls' school. I'll probably try more of the series, as I love the taut prose of McDermid's recent work (e.g. A Darker Domain,) while finding its murkiness a bit too disturbing for my tastes.
October 4, 2016
Reading this book felt a little bit like playing Cluedo: There is a fixed set of suspects, each of them has some kind a motive - all of them kinda equal in significance. Through interviews Lindsay Gordon tries to find out who is the real killer, and along the way collects pieces for the jigsaw puzzle this case seems to be. The love story thrown in was not necessary for my liking, but was probably there to illustrate that a lesbian heroine/protagonist is nothing unusual (and this is a book first published 1987!) and I think it was a personal concern for writer Val McDermid, who is homosexual as well.
May 26, 2022
I love Val McDermid but was disappointed with this book. It's great to have a series with an investigator who isn't a policeman. In this case Lindsey Gordon is a journalist. Unfortunately the book, with it's public school setting seems very old fashioned. It read like an adult version of Enid Blyton's Malory Towers books. Lindsey was quite an unlikeable character who came across as self opinionated and preachy. I recently listened to 1979 by the same author, which is also about a female journalist, and that book was much superior.
I will give the second book in the series a try though in the hope that Lindsey Gordon in a different setting is more likeable!
I will give the second book in the series a try though in the hope that Lindsey Gordon in a different setting is more likeable!
February 6, 2017
This book is nearly 30 years old and the most noticeable thing was the total lack of mobiles, tablets, texts messages and selfies. It has a bit of a slow start in the lead up to the murderous crime, much like an Agatha Christie mystery, but then it plays out rather nicely.
This is the first book in the Lindsay Gordon series and I found it an entertaining introduction to the series, even if I have read two other books in the series.
Well worth reading, even if it is old.
This is the first book in the Lindsay Gordon series and I found it an entertaining introduction to the series, even if I have read two other books in the series.
Well worth reading, even if it is old.
April 27, 2022
Not such stellar story-telling in this one-- a rather pedestrian, locked-room, girls' school mystery with the journalist Lindsay Gordon, a lesbian with something of a backstory, introduced as a sleuth. Trying to do her job, solve the murder, navigate the posh environment and toffee-nosed suspects provides most of the interest in this entry. The plot was good enough, but not great, and the writing no great shakes....
November 13, 2021
Not one of the author’s best. The main character, a journalist, is less convincing than others, especially the police detectives. Too many false starts and errors to be satisfying. Still the story is well set in a private school and the sense of privilege and entitlement comes across in contrast to the background and life expectation of Lindsay Gordon, the investigating journalist.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 214 reviews