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The Grave Tattoo
It's a time-honoured tradition that the best crime writers begin to chafe at the constraints of their area of the genre and feel a need to stretch their literary muscles. With The Grave Tattoo, the estimable Val McDermid demonstrates that she, too, has felt the need of a change from her contemporary novels of crime and detection, and here takes on a truly ambitious panoply. Not that McDermid has been afraid to tackle unconventional subjects before--it's just that the scale of this novel is even more impressive. A corpse is discovered on a hill in the Lake District, adorned with bizarre tattoos. Wordsworth expert Jane Gresham finds herself distracted from her studies of the great Lakeland poet when another mystery surfaces, involving the Pitcairn Massacre and the events of the mutiny on the Bounty. Is it possible that Fletcher Christian, who led the rebellion against Captain Bligh, faked his own death and clandestinely returned to England? Jane makes a connection between the tattooed body and the tattoos on sailors who served in the South Seas--is this the body of Fletcher Christian? And Jane has another problem on her hands--a young girl who she has tried to help finds herself a murder suspect, and tracks her down to the Lakes. And as Jane closes in on a Wordsworth manuscript that may be a direct transcription of Fletcher Christian's confession, she finds herself with someone else on her trail--an ex-lover with similar designs on the precious document.
As all this might suggest, McDermid has set herself a truly daunting task here, with a canvas so crammed with incident, colour and character. And when the reader learns that the central narrative is counterpointed with sections from the Fletcher Christian document, it's clear that we are a long way away from the medical and criminological puzzles of Wire in the Blood. It is to McDermid's credit that she draws so many strands together with such assurance.
--Barry Forshaw
465 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2006
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2763 people want to read
About the author
Val McDermid
342 books5,322 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 655 reviews
March 21, 2011
This is probably the weakest Val McDermid book that I've read, save for her more deliberately pulpy novels about plucky journalists and private investigators flouting the law to get results (heck, I'd probably read Kate Brannigan again in a second). Admittedly I can't work up the amount of apathy for this as I did for Beneath The Bleeding, the book where she thought her team of serial killer investigators should horn in on a terrorism investigation - a knee jerk reaction to the 7/7 bombings.
Still, it's not a very good book. 2 is a bit harsh, but by McDermid's standards it certainly doesn't warrant any higher.
What McDermid has produced here, you have to understand, is a dull book. Possibly not dull to everyone's expectations, but to the layperson who doesn't care about Wordsworth or The Mutiny on the Bounty it likely is. McDermid has a not particularly interesting or well incorporated series of plotlines about an undiscovered manuscript, a stalking, an attempted murder, and a fugitive running from a crime she only half committed. They're related but they're tough to care about. Each chapter is bookended by an excerpt from Wordsworth's missing work and there's nothing about it to suggest why the man was a great poet or prose artist.
Characterisation is weak, with McDermid giving the hint of interpersonal relationships without going to too much effort to write them. Characters' movements and actions are poorly explained: no adequate reason is given for the fact that Jane is quickly accompanied on her sojourn by the colleague who is supposed to be filling in for her at the university, nor are we allowed to understand why her brother is such a jerk. The less said about the incredibly disparate but most action packed runaway girl segments, the better.
Where McDermid falls down hardest is when she realises that she has to raise stakes. She does so by inducing a series of serial killings so contrived that you have to wonder why she even tried. The twist killer is also vastly disappointing, and his motivation is so weak as to be laughable. Of course, McDermid takes the easy way out and ultimately leaves us with an unmemorable story peopled by samey characters. She is a good author, but she can do and has done so much better than this.
Still, it's not a very good book. 2 is a bit harsh, but by McDermid's standards it certainly doesn't warrant any higher.
What McDermid has produced here, you have to understand, is a dull book. Possibly not dull to everyone's expectations, but to the layperson who doesn't care about Wordsworth or The Mutiny on the Bounty it likely is. McDermid has a not particularly interesting or well incorporated series of plotlines about an undiscovered manuscript, a stalking, an attempted murder, and a fugitive running from a crime she only half committed. They're related but they're tough to care about. Each chapter is bookended by an excerpt from Wordsworth's missing work and there's nothing about it to suggest why the man was a great poet or prose artist.
Characterisation is weak, with McDermid giving the hint of interpersonal relationships without going to too much effort to write them. Characters' movements and actions are poorly explained: no adequate reason is given for the fact that Jane is quickly accompanied on her sojourn by the colleague who is supposed to be filling in for her at the university, nor are we allowed to understand why her brother is such a jerk. The less said about the incredibly disparate but most action packed runaway girl segments, the better.
Where McDermid falls down hardest is when she realises that she has to raise stakes. She does so by inducing a series of serial killings so contrived that you have to wonder why she even tried. The twist killer is also vastly disappointing, and his motivation is so weak as to be laughable. Of course, McDermid takes the easy way out and ultimately leaves us with an unmemorable story peopled by samey characters. She is a good author, but she can do and has done so much better than this.
August 28, 2016
‘Goodbye, Dr Gresham. I don’t expect we’ll meet again,’ he said. He sounded so much like a Bond villain that the spell broke. Jane grinned. ‘You never know,’ she said.
Apparently, I'm on a Val McDermid mission at the moment. So, when I found out (by a quick word search on kindle) that The Grave Tattoo did not have as many ties to graves/graveyards as I would have liked to satisfy a certain bingo square, there was no reason to hold back any longer on this murder mystery combining The Mutiny on the Bounty, William Wordsworth, and an East End of London kingpin.
I'm not sure which part of the book I liked best but rather enjoyed the back and forth between Fletcher Christian's (fictional) memoirs and Jane, a struggling academic who balances waitressing with academia, investigation into whether Wordsworth did write an unpublished account of the Mutiny on the Bounty.
I also enjoyed the relationship between Jane and her neighbour, a vulnerable 13-year-old, who gets thrown into the midst of murder and a police hunt. This was quite different from McDermid's usual setup as the leading characters we're not part of or related to the police force. Unlike the Pirie or Jordan/Hill series, this was not a police procedural. There was some part that included a forensic investigation, but this was in connection with the mystery of a body found in a peat bog, not in connection with any of the crimes.
The Grave Tattoo probably explains why I prefer McDermid's standalones to the series: there is no formula to follow. It's a bit of a restriction of the series that they strive to contain a factual basis of not plot but procedure in order to sustain the series. In The Grave Tattoo, there seemed more flexibility of offering a more outlandish plot, and it worked.
Apparently, I'm on a Val McDermid mission at the moment. So, when I found out (by a quick word search on kindle) that The Grave Tattoo did not have as many ties to graves/graveyards as I would have liked to satisfy a certain bingo square, there was no reason to hold back any longer on this murder mystery combining The Mutiny on the Bounty, William Wordsworth, and an East End of London kingpin.
I'm not sure which part of the book I liked best but rather enjoyed the back and forth between Fletcher Christian's (fictional) memoirs and Jane, a struggling academic who balances waitressing with academia, investigation into whether Wordsworth did write an unpublished account of the Mutiny on the Bounty.
I also enjoyed the relationship between Jane and her neighbour, a vulnerable 13-year-old, who gets thrown into the midst of murder and a police hunt. This was quite different from McDermid's usual setup as the leading characters we're not part of or related to the police force. Unlike the Pirie or Jordan/Hill series, this was not a police procedural. There was some part that included a forensic investigation, but this was in connection with the mystery of a body found in a peat bog, not in connection with any of the crimes.
The Grave Tattoo probably explains why I prefer McDermid's standalones to the series: there is no formula to follow. It's a bit of a restriction of the series that they strive to contain a factual basis of not plot but procedure in order to sustain the series. In The Grave Tattoo, there seemed more flexibility of offering a more outlandish plot, and it worked.
April 11, 2024
I think I'm going to re-read MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY!
A 200 year old preserved peat body discovered in England's Lake District is covered with South Sea Tattoos of the sort that 18th century British seamen acquired during their travels throughout the far reaches of the British Empire. Wordsworth scholar Jane Gresham, convinced that this body is actually Fletcher Christian, long thought to have died on Pitcairn Island, also believes that Wordsworth composed a final epic poem about Christian and the Bounty saga. Of course, if the poem had been published in Wordsworth's lifetime, Christian would have been apprehended and summarily hanged. So, if the poem and any documentary evidence exists as to its provenance, the Wordsworth family have been keeping it secret for over two centuries.
In THE GRAVE TATTOO, McDermid has created an enjoyable literary mystery that is skillfully blended with an imagined tale of Fletcher Christian's escape from a native uprising on Pitcairn Island and his secret return to the British homeland he so sorely missed. The additional story of Jane's friendship and growing love for a young 13 year old black girl, Tenille Cole (her neighbour in Marshpool, one of London's rundown public housing projects), rounds out the story nicely, adds a tinge of modern day reality, lifts the tale out of the somewhat stuffy world of pure academia and gives THE GRAVE TATTOO overall a somewhat more US-centric thriller flavour.
Overall, an enjoyable if somewhat lengthy story that I think might have benefitted by a little editorial pruning and stepping up of some pacing. I'm tempted to make a return visit to Nordhoff and Hall's MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY.
Paul Weiss
A 200 year old preserved peat body discovered in England's Lake District is covered with South Sea Tattoos of the sort that 18th century British seamen acquired during their travels throughout the far reaches of the British Empire. Wordsworth scholar Jane Gresham, convinced that this body is actually Fletcher Christian, long thought to have died on Pitcairn Island, also believes that Wordsworth composed a final epic poem about Christian and the Bounty saga. Of course, if the poem had been published in Wordsworth's lifetime, Christian would have been apprehended and summarily hanged. So, if the poem and any documentary evidence exists as to its provenance, the Wordsworth family have been keeping it secret for over two centuries.
In THE GRAVE TATTOO, McDermid has created an enjoyable literary mystery that is skillfully blended with an imagined tale of Fletcher Christian's escape from a native uprising on Pitcairn Island and his secret return to the British homeland he so sorely missed. The additional story of Jane's friendship and growing love for a young 13 year old black girl, Tenille Cole (her neighbour in Marshpool, one of London's rundown public housing projects), rounds out the story nicely, adds a tinge of modern day reality, lifts the tale out of the somewhat stuffy world of pure academia and gives THE GRAVE TATTOO overall a somewhat more US-centric thriller flavour.
Overall, an enjoyable if somewhat lengthy story that I think might have benefitted by a little editorial pruning and stepping up of some pacing. I'm tempted to make a return visit to Nordhoff and Hall's MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY.
Paul Weiss
June 10, 2017
We're in England's Lake District now and reading a bit of light fiction set in the region. It does make a difference when you know what the scenery and villages actually look like - sharpens the imagery, I think.
I'm not a regular reader of McDermid, but know that she's recognized as a skillful mystery writer.
Here she has bitten off some pretty big chunks - missing Wordsworth letters and possibly a poem that might tell the story of mutineer Fletcher Christian who came from the same part of the world and was connected to Wordsworth; the discovery of a body in a bog who may or may not be Fletcher Christian; three (or is it 4?) parties racing to find papers and identities, some mostly honorable, some less so, some distinctly nasty.
And then there's a complex set of relationships between characters, so complex I'm not even going to try to cover it here, but I did enjoy the presence of the thirteen year old feisty girl, Tenille.
It's a long book, and I confess I skipped bits in the middle. I was surprised by the ending - perhaps I would have picked up a clue or two if I'd paid more attention in the middle. One of the central mysteries remains a mystery, and the final chapter was a bit of a fizzer.
I'm not a regular reader of McDermid, but know that she's recognized as a skillful mystery writer.
Here she has bitten off some pretty big chunks - missing Wordsworth letters and possibly a poem that might tell the story of mutineer Fletcher Christian who came from the same part of the world and was connected to Wordsworth; the discovery of a body in a bog who may or may not be Fletcher Christian; three (or is it 4?) parties racing to find papers and identities, some mostly honorable, some less so, some distinctly nasty.
And then there's a complex set of relationships between characters, so complex I'm not even going to try to cover it here, but I did enjoy the presence of the thirteen year old feisty girl, Tenille.
It's a long book, and I confess I skipped bits in the middle. I was surprised by the ending - perhaps I would have picked up a clue or two if I'd paid more attention in the middle. One of the central mysteries remains a mystery, and the final chapter was a bit of a fizzer.
September 19, 2021
I've enjoyed most of what I've read by Val McDermid, so I was a bit disappointed at the opening of this book, with the introduction of some of the characters being a bit forced and clunky. By the end, happily, she had pulled all of the many threads together to a satisfying conclusion.
The plot is built on artifacts related to William Wordsworth and his childhood acquaintance Fletcher Christian, known to one and all as the chief mutineer of The Bounty. The question at hand is whether Christian escaped from Pitcairn Island and ended up back in the Lake District of England, where he reconnected with Wordsworth. It turns out to be a deadly question.
Several of the characters, including the protagonist, are Wordsworth scholars. There are also dealers in historical documents, a forensic anthropologist, residents of the Lake District, local Lake District police - and police from London. Have I mentioned the secondary plot involving a murder and arson in London?
So lots of moving parts, but all eventually quite well integrated. McDermid is able to show off her knowledge of forensics (documented in her non-fiction Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime), primarily through the forensic anthropologist character. Although this book is a stand-alone, if I'm not mistaken that character resurfaces in the Karen Pirie series, having relocated from the Lake District to Scotland.
This is one of those novels where the setting is the actually the premise for the story - but is also vividly rendered as the action unfolds. An enjoyable read, all in all.
The plot is built on artifacts related to William Wordsworth and his childhood acquaintance Fletcher Christian, known to one and all as the chief mutineer of The Bounty. The question at hand is whether Christian escaped from Pitcairn Island and ended up back in the Lake District of England, where he reconnected with Wordsworth. It turns out to be a deadly question.
Several of the characters, including the protagonist, are Wordsworth scholars. There are also dealers in historical documents, a forensic anthropologist, residents of the Lake District, local Lake District police - and police from London. Have I mentioned the secondary plot involving a murder and arson in London?
So lots of moving parts, but all eventually quite well integrated. McDermid is able to show off her knowledge of forensics (documented in her non-fiction Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime), primarily through the forensic anthropologist character. Although this book is a stand-alone, if I'm not mistaken that character resurfaces in the Karen Pirie series, having relocated from the Lake District to Scotland.
This is one of those novels where the setting is the actually the premise for the story - but is also vividly rendered as the action unfolds. An enjoyable read, all in all.
March 4, 2015
In September 2005, heavy rain is sweeping Britain and in the Lake District a body is revealed as the land moves on the ancient peat hags. This body in the bog is of great interest to Jane Gresham, a scholar of the local Lakeland poet, William Wordsworth. This novel reveals the mystery of what has been hidden for 200 years.
This novel is a lovely mix of things brought together to make a remarkable book. There is history, local folklore, poetry, mystery, police procedure and social commentary. What makes this book so nice is that you get the full story. It is not a storyline with a few details fleshing it out because every scene is built upon with attitude that makes you feel as though you are living the story. Everyday life with it’s modern day character is tightly woven into this novel, making it so real.
Val’s writing quality is very high and she uses a very extensive vocabulary. This is an intelligent read and this novel has a lot of depth. You feel that you are getting the full works from an author at the top of her field. You know that this is as good as it gets.
The Grave Tattoo won the 2006 Portico Prize for fiction and I can see why. This is a great book that was a joy to read and I shall vote it the top score of 5 stars.
The Grave Tattoo was written in 2006 and has 543 pages in the paperback edition.
This novel is a lovely mix of things brought together to make a remarkable book. There is history, local folklore, poetry, mystery, police procedure and social commentary. What makes this book so nice is that you get the full story. It is not a storyline with a few details fleshing it out because every scene is built upon with attitude that makes you feel as though you are living the story. Everyday life with it’s modern day character is tightly woven into this novel, making it so real.
Val’s writing quality is very high and she uses a very extensive vocabulary. This is an intelligent read and this novel has a lot of depth. You feel that you are getting the full works from an author at the top of her field. You know that this is as good as it gets.
The Grave Tattoo won the 2006 Portico Prize for fiction and I can see why. This is a great book that was a joy to read and I shall vote it the top score of 5 stars.
The Grave Tattoo was written in 2006 and has 543 pages in the paperback edition.
July 6, 2019
University professor and scholar Jane Gresham goes to the Lake District to explore a rumored Wordsworth manuscript containing a poem which may be worth millions. The visit was prompted by the discovery of a bog body in the area. Her own family resides in the area. The first member of the family which may hold the manuscript turns up dead before she visits. As she visits others, the death toll mounts. Both a young woman Jane shelters and Jane herself become suspects.
I found the book quite boring. Although there's a bit of a genealogy theme in the book, it wasn't strong enough. The killer's obvious identity did not add to my enjoyment nor did Jane's lack of sleuthing. I expected to enjoy a book with historical, literary, and genealogical elements in an enjoyable setting more than I did. I know many readers enjoy Val McDermid's writing, but I suspect he's not for me. While I made it to the end this time, I previously put down another book he authored whose plot caught my attention because I could not connect with the writing. I debated doing so this time but kept at it to see if it improved. For me, it didn't. I think I'll remove any other McDermid books from my wish list.
I found the book quite boring. Although there's a bit of a genealogy theme in the book, it wasn't strong enough. The killer's obvious identity did not add to my enjoyment nor did Jane's lack of sleuthing. I expected to enjoy a book with historical, literary, and genealogical elements in an enjoyable setting more than I did. I know many readers enjoy Val McDermid's writing, but I suspect he's not for me. While I made it to the end this time, I previously put down another book he authored whose plot caught my attention because I could not connect with the writing. I debated doing so this time but kept at it to see if it improved. For me, it didn't. I think I'll remove any other McDermid books from my wish list.
May 18, 2019
Take mystery and history and give a good stir and a wonderful old fashion yarn pops out. That is how I would describe The Grave Tattoo. Even when the history is only partially based on fact, it is a well known enough story that most would recognize the bones of it and its possible importance to the unveiling of even new facets of this past that makes it so much fun. It can be delicious to think that the past has more to tell us.
This story begins with a body found in a bog in the Lake District of England, a Wordsworth scholar with a theory and the possibility that Fletcher Christian of Mutiny of the Bounty fame could have returned to his home in England under cover of false identity to tell the real story of the famous mutiny and this was set down in a poem by Wordsworth that is only to be published when both are dead.
Jane, a Wordsworth scholar finds evidence that such a poem might exist and that it was entrusted to a family servant and may have been lost or perhaps passed down through her family who might still have the original manuscript.
If found it would be priceless. Easy to see why so many, both scholars and rogues, would be interested in finding and perhaps even kill to get their hands on these yellowing parchments.
McDermid does a great job of setting up the characters and keep the reader guessing as to who are the good and the bad, who are doing the murders and who might have found the precious papers.
In the forefront is Jane, a native of the Lake District who feels sure the manuscript exists. The story is told primarily from her viewpoint and that of Dr. River Wilde who is in charge of the autopsy procedures for “Pirate Pete” the body in the bog who fits the time period and some of the markings of Fletcher Christian.
Between chapters is the Wordsworth verse of the Mutiny and Fletcher's explanation of all that happened, so that story is reveal slowly as well.
It’s a slow moving historical fiction yarn and by no means a thriller though it certainly has its share of dead bodies and a few side plots and so many possible suspects. Great fun and made me want to see the Mel Gibson movie all over again. It's a stand alone story so you need not have read any previous McDermid to enjoy (though some characters do appear in her other books) but it might send you, like me, on a hunt for more of this author.
This story begins with a body found in a bog in the Lake District of England, a Wordsworth scholar with a theory and the possibility that Fletcher Christian of Mutiny of the Bounty fame could have returned to his home in England under cover of false identity to tell the real story of the famous mutiny and this was set down in a poem by Wordsworth that is only to be published when both are dead.
Jane, a Wordsworth scholar finds evidence that such a poem might exist and that it was entrusted to a family servant and may have been lost or perhaps passed down through her family who might still have the original manuscript.
If found it would be priceless. Easy to see why so many, both scholars and rogues, would be interested in finding and perhaps even kill to get their hands on these yellowing parchments.
McDermid does a great job of setting up the characters and keep the reader guessing as to who are the good and the bad, who are doing the murders and who might have found the precious papers.
In the forefront is Jane, a native of the Lake District who feels sure the manuscript exists. The story is told primarily from her viewpoint and that of Dr. River Wilde who is in charge of the autopsy procedures for “Pirate Pete” the body in the bog who fits the time period and some of the markings of Fletcher Christian.
Between chapters is the Wordsworth verse of the Mutiny and Fletcher's explanation of all that happened, so that story is reveal slowly as well.
It’s a slow moving historical fiction yarn and by no means a thriller though it certainly has its share of dead bodies and a few side plots and so many possible suspects. Great fun and made me want to see the Mel Gibson movie all over again. It's a stand alone story so you need not have read any previous McDermid to enjoy (though some characters do appear in her other books) but it might send you, like me, on a hunt for more of this author.
July 5, 2022
This is Val McDermid does cosy mystery.
Jane Gresham is an expert in Wordsworth, working restaurant shifts and teaching undergrads in London while converting her PhD thesis to a book on the subject, when the discovery of a two hundred year-old body in her native Lake District tickles one of her pet theories - that Fletcher Christian, famous Bounty mutineer, actually returned to his homeland and may even have met up with his childhood friend, William "daffodils" Wordsworth. Securing study leave, she heads north to investigate.
So, how does this evolve into a murder mystery? First, just as she is preparing to leave London, Jane helps her teenage friend out of a sticky situation by contacting the girl's estranged father - who also happens to be the local gangland boss. Once back in Cumbria, Jane finds that some letters and unpublished papers may have been left by Wordsworth to his servant, Dorcas Mason, and starts to track down her descendants, locating and approaching those she finds most likely to have had them passed down, all woman and a man in the 80s.
Then people start to die.
This is all run through with various familial relationships and local colour, building into a fairly satisfying mystery, although some of the decision-points do seem a little contrived and the ultimate conclusion of one of the mysteries somewhat tacked on, perhaps because this is away from the more visceral style that is the majority of McDermid's work.
As is my wont, I was switching between ebook and audio, and the reading by Julie Maisey was excellent, my only very slight nit-pick being pronunciation of some of the scientific terms following an autopsy.
3.5 stars
Jane Gresham is an expert in Wordsworth, working restaurant shifts and teaching undergrads in London while converting her PhD thesis to a book on the subject, when the discovery of a two hundred year-old body in her native Lake District tickles one of her pet theories - that Fletcher Christian, famous Bounty mutineer, actually returned to his homeland and may even have met up with his childhood friend, William "daffodils" Wordsworth. Securing study leave, she heads north to investigate.
So, how does this evolve into a murder mystery? First, just as she is preparing to leave London, Jane helps her teenage friend out of a sticky situation by contacting the girl's estranged father - who also happens to be the local gangland boss. Once back in Cumbria, Jane finds that some letters and unpublished papers may have been left by Wordsworth to his servant, Dorcas Mason, and starts to track down her descendants, locating and approaching those she finds most likely to have had them passed down, all woman and a man in the 80s.
Then people start to die.
This is all run through with various familial relationships and local colour, building into a fairly satisfying mystery, although some of the decision-points do seem a little contrived and the ultimate conclusion of one of the mysteries somewhat tacked on, perhaps because this is away from the more visceral style that is the majority of McDermid's work.
As is my wont, I was switching between ebook and audio, and the reading by Julie Maisey was excellent, my only very slight nit-pick being pronunciation of some of the scientific terms following an autopsy.
3.5 stars
May 2, 2009
If I were cynical (Cynical? Moi?) I might be tempted to say that The Grave Tattoo was Val McDermid writing a pastiche of Reginald Hill parodying The Da Vinci Code.
But that wouldn't be entirely fair. It's true that it's set in Hill's beloved Lake District, like his The Stranger House published a year or so earlier. It's also true that the plot revolves around an academic's search to uncover the secret of a historical conspiracy held in trust by a hapless Lakeland family before she is beaten to it with messy consequences. However, there's a lot more to it than that.
The McGuffin in this case is a putative lost epic poem by William Wordsworth, based on the story of Fletcher Christian (a Maryport lad, who went to school with Willie). The literary chase, which leaves a trail of unexplained dead bodies, is a fascinating one with a satisfying resolution. This kind of story is a new departure for McDermid, but I hope it won't be the last she'll do in this field.
But that wouldn't be entirely fair. It's true that it's set in Hill's beloved Lake District, like his The Stranger House published a year or so earlier. It's also true that the plot revolves around an academic's search to uncover the secret of a historical conspiracy held in trust by a hapless Lakeland family before she is beaten to it with messy consequences. However, there's a lot more to it than that.
The McGuffin in this case is a putative lost epic poem by William Wordsworth, based on the story of Fletcher Christian (a Maryport lad, who went to school with Willie). The literary chase, which leaves a trail of unexplained dead bodies, is a fascinating one with a satisfying resolution. This kind of story is a new departure for McDermid, but I hope it won't be the last she'll do in this field.
November 23, 2021
Avoid, especially if you appreciate the English language and/or a good story.
August 31, 2021
Hace tiempo leí otro libro de esta autora, un eco lejano, y me gustó bastante. Por una lectura conjunta he leído este y, sinceramente, me ha defraudado un poco. La historia no está mal, pero creo que se alarga demasiado la trama y luego todo se resuelve en pocos capítulos, como un final apresurado. Hay muchos capítulos intermedios en los que no pasa casi nada y en los últimos podríamos decir que se concentra toda la historia. Lo bueno es que se lee rápido, yo lo intercalé con otra lecturas y ha sido bastante entretenido, pero ya digo, para mi gusto le sobran páginas.
February 10, 2017
The amount of time it took me to read this book is ridiculous. Aside from the 11 days or so that are listed here, I've tried on-and-off to read this book for several years. In fact, I only read it now because I have a patented "reach onto the second row of a shelf and pull out whatever book you touch" technique for my unread book shelf. And when I pulled this one out I audibly groaned because I didn't look forward to it at all.
There are something like 550 pages in this book. On approximately 500 of those pages, there is some reference to Jane Gresham looking for a manuscript. I got that right at the beginning, I didn't need a constant reminder. I'm also not sure that we need all those pages, because a lot of nothing happens for quite some time - I appreciate, from the bibliography at the back, that Val McDermid researched the living jeebus out of her topic (Wordsworth), but she didn't have to use it all.
I was bored for about 450 pages. The last 100 or so are good. Things happen. Otherwise, meh, it's just hills and fells and the Lake District. But in word form, which is nowhere near as scenic or picturesque.
And, while I think of it, the policeman who deals with the stuff in the Lakes is pretty bloody crap. Even if you stretch the bounds of credibility for artistic licence, he's arresting people on evidence so paper thin you could make a kite out of it. At least I'd like to think the actual police force aren't so woefully stupid.
What else?
Oh yes, I let out a little whoop when I finished it.
There are something like 550 pages in this book. On approximately 500 of those pages, there is some reference to Jane Gresham looking for a manuscript. I got that right at the beginning, I didn't need a constant reminder. I'm also not sure that we need all those pages, because a lot of nothing happens for quite some time - I appreciate, from the bibliography at the back, that Val McDermid researched the living jeebus out of her topic (Wordsworth), but she didn't have to use it all.
I was bored for about 450 pages. The last 100 or so are good. Things happen. Otherwise, meh, it's just hills and fells and the Lake District. But in word form, which is nowhere near as scenic or picturesque.
And, while I think of it, the policeman who deals with the stuff in the Lakes is pretty bloody crap. Even if you stretch the bounds of credibility for artistic licence, he's arresting people on evidence so paper thin you could make a kite out of it. At least I'd like to think the actual police force aren't so woefully stupid.
What else?
Oh yes, I let out a little whoop when I finished it.
February 14, 2015
For the love of all the gods of books, authors PLEASE STOP And yes, this is a big spoiler. You have been warned.
September 29, 2018
A literary mystery as a lost Wordsworth letter and a very old body are found in the Lake District, with a second plot based on a murder on an East London sink estate. This book was perhaps longer than it needed to be, but the narrative did keep flowing in typical McDermid fashion.
May 22, 2025
Grave Tattoo is a historical fiction novel incorporating both the Mutiny of the Bounty and the writing of William Wordsworth. These historical events were cleverly linked by the author and it is clear McDermid carried out extensive research when putting this book together. It was a long book and a slow build which I didn’t actually mind. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and also some of the history around Captain Bligh and the Bounty. Unfortunately for many books in this genre (mystery/thriller), the endings are too often overly dramatic, not realistic and bordering on farcical. For me, that’s exactly occurred here. The story being told here was fantastic. We had two wonderful plot lines. One about the likely existence of a missing Wordsworth manuscript (worth big dollars) hidden away in box in a dusty attic of a long lost relative. And the second about a very old body found in a bog after heavy rains, and the forensics carried out on it to discover if it is that of the man who orchestrated the mutiny against Captain Bligh. Two amazing stories which easily stand up on their own. But for some reason the author felt the need to throw in a serial killer. A killer who is a terrific guy for the entire book and then all of a sudden turns into a psychopath and goes around killing people. And his motivation - financial greed. And even then the money and notoriety was only a slim possibility as no one knew if the Wordsworth manuscript even existed at that stage. The characters of Jake and Matthew were clearly thrown in to be horrible men and blatantly provide red herrings for the reader. And the the policeman (Rigston) towards the end being an asshole towards the M/C without any evidence whatsoever. And storming into her parents house at 4am to arrest her on a charge of “suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary”. Seriously? I liked the stories and enjoyed the build up over the first three quarters of the book. But the ending was weak, disappointing and unnecessary.
August 28, 2016
THE GRAVE TATTOO is a standalone book from the prolific and well-known author of, amongst many others, The Wire In The Blood series.
When a tattooed, 200-year-old body is uncovered in the peat bogs of the Lake District, local girl turned Wordsworth Scholar Jane Gresham is instantly reminded of a local legend about Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on the Bounty, said to have returned surreptitiously to England from Pitcairn Island. Returning to her childhood home she is on the trail of a connection between the Wordsworth and Christian families and is intrigued by the meaning behind a letter which she discovers in the archives from Wordsworth's family home. Back in London, on the council estate where Jane lives, a local teenager that Jane has befriended is dealing with a heap of problems of her own, and despite Jane's attempts to help her before she leaves, Tenille finds herself in big trouble. Despite being only 13, and having never travelled far from the council estate in her life, Tenille sets off to meet up with Jane.
The police are looking for Tenille and to add to Jane's problems, her ex-boyfriend, now Historical Document Dealer, is stalking Jane through the Lake District trying to get a lead on the important and valuable documents from Wordsworth that everyone believes exist.
The chapters of the book are interspersed with extracts from Christian's secret diary that all appear to be confirming firstly the theories about who the body is, and the existence of documents or memoirs written by Wordsworth about the mutiny. There are friendships and family relationships that drive Jane and her reactions to the people around her. No sooner have Jane and her coterie of supporters devised a theory about where these memoirs could possibly have gone, then elderly people, interviewed by Jane, start dying.
THE GRAVE TATTOO is quite a change in direction for McDermid, especially for those used to her more confrontational and frequently gory well-known novels. This is more of a plot combined with character study that doesn't pay particular attention to one component over the other. The characterisations were, in the main, reasonably detailed and solid, although some of the motivations for actions were tenuous. The setting was excellent with a great feeling for the Lake Districts and the landscape. The suspects were fairly introduced to the reader, although they were a few over obvious attempts at portraying sinister actions which just didn't quite seem to work, plus it seemed that some of the supporting character roles were too detailed in some places and too sketchy in others.
THE GRAVE TATTOO has a very unexpected setting and environment for a crime fiction book than much of the standard offering these days. In attempting to provide a grand and sweeping theory with a grand and sweeping story it did seem to fall a little flat on occasion.
When a tattooed, 200-year-old body is uncovered in the peat bogs of the Lake District, local girl turned Wordsworth Scholar Jane Gresham is instantly reminded of a local legend about Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on the Bounty, said to have returned surreptitiously to England from Pitcairn Island. Returning to her childhood home she is on the trail of a connection between the Wordsworth and Christian families and is intrigued by the meaning behind a letter which she discovers in the archives from Wordsworth's family home. Back in London, on the council estate where Jane lives, a local teenager that Jane has befriended is dealing with a heap of problems of her own, and despite Jane's attempts to help her before she leaves, Tenille finds herself in big trouble. Despite being only 13, and having never travelled far from the council estate in her life, Tenille sets off to meet up with Jane.
The police are looking for Tenille and to add to Jane's problems, her ex-boyfriend, now Historical Document Dealer, is stalking Jane through the Lake District trying to get a lead on the important and valuable documents from Wordsworth that everyone believes exist.
The chapters of the book are interspersed with extracts from Christian's secret diary that all appear to be confirming firstly the theories about who the body is, and the existence of documents or memoirs written by Wordsworth about the mutiny. There are friendships and family relationships that drive Jane and her reactions to the people around her. No sooner have Jane and her coterie of supporters devised a theory about where these memoirs could possibly have gone, then elderly people, interviewed by Jane, start dying.
THE GRAVE TATTOO is quite a change in direction for McDermid, especially for those used to her more confrontational and frequently gory well-known novels. This is more of a plot combined with character study that doesn't pay particular attention to one component over the other. The characterisations were, in the main, reasonably detailed and solid, although some of the motivations for actions were tenuous. The setting was excellent with a great feeling for the Lake Districts and the landscape. The suspects were fairly introduced to the reader, although they were a few over obvious attempts at portraying sinister actions which just didn't quite seem to work, plus it seemed that some of the supporting character roles were too detailed in some places and too sketchy in others.
THE GRAVE TATTOO has a very unexpected setting and environment for a crime fiction book than much of the standard offering these days. In attempting to provide a grand and sweeping theory with a grand and sweeping story it did seem to fall a little flat on occasion.
June 10, 2019
This latest from one of the most highly regarded present-day British mystery writers may be her best, though it’s rather different from her previous work. Jane Gresham, native of a small village in the Lake District, is an impoverished graduate scholar specializing in William Wordsworth, a local boy. She’s forced by financial circumstances to live in a rather horrible council flat, where she has become a sort of mentor to Tenille, a very bright thirteen-year-old girl of mixed race who has managed not to get mixed up with drugs and early pregnancy. When a 200-hundred-year-old body turns up in a bog near her home, Jane resurrects a local legend that Fletcher Christian, Bounty mutineer and also a native of Jane’s village, made it home secretly from Pitcairn and told his story -- the “true” story of the mutiny -- to his old buddy Wordsworth. The manuscript, naturally, would be worth a fortune. Unfortunately, Jane isn’t the only one looking for it. And then elderly people who might have inherited the manuscript begin dying. And Tenille is wanted in London on suspicion of murder and arson. And she and Jane both seem to the cops like a good fit. McDermid is very, very skillful at building characters and there’s large cast here. The action drags just a little at the midway point but picks up again quickly, and you won’t guess whodunit until the very end -- or I didn’t, anyway. An engrossing read.
November 1, 2012
This was my first Val McDermid novel, and it won't be the last - it was a good read. The premise involves a story that I've always liked: Fletcher Christian and the mutiny on the Bounty. Jane Gresham is a postdoc who is an expert on William Wordsworth, and she grew up in the Lake District where Wordsworth lived and wrote. She's now living in London and doing research at the University. Back in Cumbria, the extremely heavy summer rains have unearthed the mummified body of a tattooed sailor in a peat bog. Jane is excited to read this in the paper, as she's always believed that Fletcher Christian had returned to England after the mutiny and hopes that the body is his. She manages to get a two-week leave of absence to visit the Wordsworth museum to search for any uncatalogued documents about Christian and Wordsworth (they were friends and related by marriage). She finds a letter from Wordworth's widow to her son, which tells of a document found after the poet's death, and this convinces her that there is unpublished material possessed and hidden by the descendants. What she doesn't realize is that the value of the material could induce collectors to kill for it.
March 19, 2022
Aparece un cadáver q tendrá unos 200 años con unos tatuajes, en una turbera. Todo parece indicar q podría ser Fletcher Christian, un oficial d abordo q iba en el navío Bounty. Jane Gresham és una investigadora d William Wordsworth, cree q hay unos manuscritos q tienen mucho valor y hará lo posible x encontrarlos aunque nadie la crea y haya vidas en juego.
August 28, 2022
The Grave Tattoo (CD) by Val McDermid.
I'm a big fan of this author. I've enjoyed many of her stand alone novels as well as the Tony & Carol series and the Karen Pirie series. This book is not among my favorites. I took nothing away with me from the characters or the storyline.
If you don't know this author yet please don't judge her by this one book. Not recommended.
I'm a big fan of this author. I've enjoyed many of her stand alone novels as well as the Tony & Carol series and the Karen Pirie series. This book is not among my favorites. I took nothing away with me from the characters or the storyline.
If you don't know this author yet please don't judge her by this one book. Not recommended.
April 30, 2022
A fascinating story line, some aspects seemed very far fetched but I enjoyed it.
I am not a great Wordsworth fan but have visited Dove Cottage and am familiar with that area of the Lake District. I googled Fletcher Christian and the mutiny.
I am not a great Wordsworth fan but have visited Dove Cottage and am familiar with that area of the Lake District. I googled Fletcher Christian and the mutiny.
May 12, 2021
Não gostei tanto deste livro como dos outros que li desta grande autora de policiais. Apesar disso é uma leitura agradável.
April 11, 2023
"The Grave Tatoo" - written by Val McDermid and published in 2006 by St Martin's Press. Jane is a dedicated Wordsworth scholar who grew up in England's lovely Lake District where the poet also lived. A body is found in the peat bogs there while she ekes out a living teaching and studying in London and she makes the connection that it could be the body of Christian Fletcher of Bounty fame. And, it's possible that there is an extant poem written by Wordsworth regarding his friend Fletcher. Put together all this along with several others on the hunt and you have a complicated but enjoyable mystery. "Someone a damn sight more unscrupulous than her was intent on finding the manuscript." It seemed to go off the rails a bit towards the end — difficult to juggle all those characters and storylines — and tailed away to a somewhat flat ending, but the action kept me engaged.
November 15, 2020
4 1/2 stars. I can't believe that I don't remember reading this before because this is right up my alley, all the things I love: mystery; history; archaeology (of a sort); and a good story. This is a believable story that takes facts and spins an amazing tale of adventure, disappointment and murder and ties the past with present day in a very credible way. Well done and I was completely wrapped up in it.
March 18, 2024
DNF I have given up. Probably where I gave up before. It doesn’t hang together and I am finding myself not listening and then having to play the chapter again and I did that three times with one chapter. Very disappointed because she is such an awesome writer.
February 22, 2025
3.5 stars
I finally finished this, took me a while. It took over 300 pages for there to be an actual murder (discounting the Tenille thing, it wasn't exactly central to the plot). It took a really long time for me to begin enjoying this book but I will admit that the murderer was a stroke of pure genius (maybe not that much but I wanted to use that phrase).
I finally finished this, took me a while. It took over 300 pages for there to be an actual murder (discounting the Tenille thing, it wasn't exactly central to the plot). It took a really long time for me to begin enjoying this book but I will admit that the murderer was a stroke of pure genius (maybe not that much but I wanted to use that phrase).
June 26, 2010
Genre: Mystery Thriller
How I read it: I own it.
What attracted me to the book: I love reading all Val McDermid books. She's one of my favorite authors.
Who should read this book: Mystery lovers, Val McDermid lovers, history lovers, breathers of air. Note of caution: there are some disturbing scenes and some foul language in this book. Almost all Val's books are this way - if you've read any, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Summary (from amazon): An intriguing, 200-year-old mystery propels this multilayered stand-alone from British author McDermid set in England's Lake District. Scholar Jane Gresham pursues her theory that HMS Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian returned secretly from exile to his homeland in the late 18th century. A shriveled body found in a bog seems to bear resemblance to this dashing hero, right down to the South Sea tattoos that blacken his buttocks.
Jane searches relentlessly for a lost manuscript by the poet Wordsworth that relates Christian's tale in tantalizing excerpts between chapters. Various subplots complicate her quest, including a fraught friendship with precocious 13-year-old Tenille, a lonely, mixed-race girl who also loves Romantic poetry. With a feminist, socially conscious spin, McDermid (The Distant Echo) vividly contrasts marginal subsistence in London's dismal Marshpool neighborhood with the Lake District's bucolic lifestyle. - Publisher Weekly.
My thoughts: In all honesty, I started reading this book three times and couldn't get into it before this last time. I don't know if I wasn't in the right frame of mind the first few times but this time I was determined to finish it and I did.
What should this tell you? I'm an IDIOT!
Although the book started with the weather (a pet peeve of mine), the weather was vital to the plot. I loved the characters in this stand alone book (book without a sequel) and liked the combo of Tenille and Jane. The plot, which discusses whether a man named Fletcher Christian (responsible for the Mutiny) ever came back to England from Pitcairn and gave his story to Wordsworth was so enthralling.
Once the story starts, it doesn't stop and the story starts pretty quickly. I must have always gave up on the novel just pages before it started. I'm a real fan of reading sequels - especially Tony Hill and Carol Jordon - and that's probably why my brain couldn't get into this one.
Only one thing I didn't enjoy much in the novel. In between chapters, Val put excerpts of Fletcher's story and I can't say I read them all.
If you want to read more about Fletcher Christian and The Mutiny on the Bounty. Click on the links.
Bottom Line: I was stupid and waited too long to finish a great novel.
How I read it: I own it.
What attracted me to the book: I love reading all Val McDermid books. She's one of my favorite authors.
Who should read this book: Mystery lovers, Val McDermid lovers, history lovers, breathers of air. Note of caution: there are some disturbing scenes and some foul language in this book. Almost all Val's books are this way - if you've read any, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Summary (from amazon): An intriguing, 200-year-old mystery propels this multilayered stand-alone from British author McDermid set in England's Lake District. Scholar Jane Gresham pursues her theory that HMS Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian returned secretly from exile to his homeland in the late 18th century. A shriveled body found in a bog seems to bear resemblance to this dashing hero, right down to the South Sea tattoos that blacken his buttocks.
Jane searches relentlessly for a lost manuscript by the poet Wordsworth that relates Christian's tale in tantalizing excerpts between chapters. Various subplots complicate her quest, including a fraught friendship with precocious 13-year-old Tenille, a lonely, mixed-race girl who also loves Romantic poetry. With a feminist, socially conscious spin, McDermid (The Distant Echo) vividly contrasts marginal subsistence in London's dismal Marshpool neighborhood with the Lake District's bucolic lifestyle. - Publisher Weekly.
My thoughts: In all honesty, I started reading this book three times and couldn't get into it before this last time. I don't know if I wasn't in the right frame of mind the first few times but this time I was determined to finish it and I did.
What should this tell you? I'm an IDIOT!
Although the book started with the weather (a pet peeve of mine), the weather was vital to the plot. I loved the characters in this stand alone book (book without a sequel) and liked the combo of Tenille and Jane. The plot, which discusses whether a man named Fletcher Christian (responsible for the Mutiny) ever came back to England from Pitcairn and gave his story to Wordsworth was so enthralling.
Once the story starts, it doesn't stop and the story starts pretty quickly. I must have always gave up on the novel just pages before it started. I'm a real fan of reading sequels - especially Tony Hill and Carol Jordon - and that's probably why my brain couldn't get into this one.
Only one thing I didn't enjoy much in the novel. In between chapters, Val put excerpts of Fletcher's story and I can't say I read them all.
If you want to read more about Fletcher Christian and The Mutiny on the Bounty. Click on the links.
Bottom Line: I was stupid and waited too long to finish a great novel.
October 10, 2011
From bestselling author Val McDermid comes a modern thriller about an ancient murder set on the high seas…
***CONTAINS SPOILERS AND ENDING***
After summer rains uncover a corpse bearing tattoos like those of eighteenth-century seafarers, many residents of the English Lake District can’t help but wonder whether it’s the body of one of the town’s most legendary fugitives.
Scholar and native Lakelander Jane Gresham feels compelled to finally discover the truth about the myths and buried secrets rooted in her hometown. What she never expected was to find herself at the heart of a 200-year-old mystery that still has the power to put lives on the line. And with each new lead she pursues, death follows hard on her heels….
I just copied this review from someone. They are searching for a manuscript of a poem by Wordsworth who lived in the countryside where Jane's family lives on a farm. The manuscript is supposed to be about Christian Fletcher who led the mutiny on the bounty against Captain Bligh. Lot's of old folks get killed in their homes while the bad guy is searching for the poem supposedly written by Wordsworth. The bad guy turns out to be Jane's fellow professor and trusted friend. He was tired of being a teacher in London and wanted to get rich. At the end the Auntie's house burns down and the stupid manuscript is destroyed any way because the dumb ass aunt just kept it in a box or a book or something. Was an OK story.
***CONTAINS SPOILERS AND ENDING***
After summer rains uncover a corpse bearing tattoos like those of eighteenth-century seafarers, many residents of the English Lake District can’t help but wonder whether it’s the body of one of the town’s most legendary fugitives.
Scholar and native Lakelander Jane Gresham feels compelled to finally discover the truth about the myths and buried secrets rooted in her hometown. What she never expected was to find herself at the heart of a 200-year-old mystery that still has the power to put lives on the line. And with each new lead she pursues, death follows hard on her heels….
I just copied this review from someone. They are searching for a manuscript of a poem by Wordsworth who lived in the countryside where Jane's family lives on a farm. The manuscript is supposed to be about Christian Fletcher who led the mutiny on the bounty against Captain Bligh. Lot's of old folks get killed in their homes while the bad guy is searching for the poem supposedly written by Wordsworth. The bad guy turns out to be Jane's fellow professor and trusted friend. He was tired of being a teacher in London and wanted to get rich. At the end the Auntie's house burns down and the stupid manuscript is destroyed any way because the dumb ass aunt just kept it in a box or a book or something. Was an OK story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2008
Here's the thing: I read McDermid's A Place of Execution and thought it was an astoundingly brilliant mystery. I then devoured a few more of her non-series novels ... A Distant Echo was pretty good-ish. Anything else I read failed to make much of an impression. So when I saw this one at the library a few days ago, I knew I probably woudn't love it, but I wanted something not-too-weighty to get me through the weekend. Mission accomplished. This tale of murder in the Lake District isn't the tour de force that Execution was, and I could quibble with the thinly drawn characters (Jake and Matthew seem to exist just to create difficulties for the protagonist, in an effort to make her more likeable, since she isn't tremendously likeable on her own) and with the process-of-elimination solution (who has the knowledge, the opportunity, and is willing to cheat on his boyfriend to further his career? Could he possibly be ... the murderer!!!?!!).
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