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Kate Brannigan #2
Kick Back
PI Kate Brannigan is hired to investigate a series of strange financial scams across Manchester. At first it looks like a discrepancy with the paperwork, but the deeper Kate digs, the murkier the case becomes.
Before long she’s up to her neck in crooked land deals – and murder – and her own life is on the line…
Before long she’s up to her neck in crooked land deals – and murder – and her own life is on the line…
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
414 people are currently reading
1078 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 151 reviews
November 1, 2020
This is the 2nd book in the Kate Brannigan series by author Val McDermid. I recently read the 1st book 'Dead Beat' which was ok and was hoping that the 2nd book would be a lot better. It was better but still not really up to the high standard of other Val McDermid novels.
PI Kate Brannigan is hired to investigate a series of strange financial scams across Manchester. At first it looks like a discrepancy with the paperwork, but the deeper Kate digs, the murkier the case becomes.
The character of Kate Brannigan is starting to grow on me but still along way to go.
PI Kate Brannigan is hired to investigate a series of strange financial scams across Manchester. At first it looks like a discrepancy with the paperwork, but the deeper Kate digs, the murkier the case becomes.
The character of Kate Brannigan is starting to grow on me but still along way to go.
January 23, 2018
Just to convenient
First Sentence: The Case of the Missing Conservatories.
There were just to many convenient things that happened in this one.
I'm more and more convinced that I would not have picked up another book by McDermid it I started out with these books. So it's a good thing I only read a few of them before discovering the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan Series
Still I'm determined to read this whole series. It just shows how much McDermid grew as a writer.
First Sentence: The Case of the Missing Conservatories.
There were just to many convenient things that happened in this one.
I'm more and more convinced that I would not have picked up another book by McDermid it I started out with these books. So it's a good thing I only read a few of them before discovering the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan Series
Still I'm determined to read this whole series. It just shows how much McDermid grew as a writer.
June 2, 2019
I like the Kate Brannigan character - different from most of her other books. The book written in 1993 so is pretty dated where she uses computer technology and floppy discs but still a fun read for a Sunday morning.
January 1, 2016
Second in this series about Manchester-based PI Kate Brannigan, this has her investigating 3 separate cases: one fizzles out as someone else solves it for her, while the other two - missing conservatories, and a friends lost property deposit - which both involve highly confusing mortgage scams - are excruciatingly boring. She spends most of the book driving around, on stake-out, or eating Chinese food, when she's not explaining all the technology which was clearly super-snazzy at the time, but 21 years later is as dated as the fashion. I laughed out loud when Kate explains how her laptop can hold a whopping 60 novels worth of text.
There's no great suspense, a little bit of danger and action, and a lot of snark. The first in the series was more entertaining so I hope the next books improve ( since I've already bought them - fortunately at book fair prices...)
There's no great suspense, a little bit of danger and action, and a lot of snark. The first in the series was more entertaining so I hope the next books improve ( since I've already bought them - fortunately at book fair prices...)
January 10, 2023
Kate Brannigan is a partner in a Private Investigation business in London. She hates the country. She likes that she has a conservatory across the back of her home and Richard's next door. She can see him when she wants or keep her solitude.
When her friend Alexis tells her that finally, she and her partner had bought a piece of land with a deal to build their ideal home. Kate wished her well. Things went from Rosy/Peachy to con deal very quickly. Alexis asked Kate to find out what had happened and to try to get their 5000 pounds back.
While asking around to help her friend, she was also working on another case for her firm. Kate was able to balance the workload and get Alexis to join her in hunting the culprits.
The situation became deadly and Kate had a close call, nearly being side-swiped and crushed petering on the edge of a river bank. This warning-off crash had the opposite effect. Kate was determined to find out what had happened.
I've never read Val McDermid before, however, I'll certainly pick up more of her books in the future.
When her friend Alexis tells her that finally, she and her partner had bought a piece of land with a deal to build their ideal home. Kate wished her well. Things went from Rosy/Peachy to con deal very quickly. Alexis asked Kate to find out what had happened and to try to get their 5000 pounds back.
While asking around to help her friend, she was also working on another case for her firm. Kate was able to balance the workload and get Alexis to join her in hunting the culprits.
The situation became deadly and Kate had a close call, nearly being side-swiped and crushed petering on the edge of a river bank. This warning-off crash had the opposite effect. Kate was determined to find out what had happened.
I've never read Val McDermid before, however, I'll certainly pick up more of her books in the future.
January 7, 2020
A British author—I had read a later book (Crack Down) in the series a year or two ago and been dissatisfied. Now, I can’t see why.
The narrator is a P.I. Named Kate who is partner in a two-person firm specializing in white-collar crime investigations. She has a rock journalist for a boyfriend—one of those couples where he is the softer, more passive partner. This case could be described as The Case of the Missing Conservatories—but it develops into far more. I liked the bits and pieces of British culture/life—almost like being there.
[2020 note: I have been very sorry to see this author drop this series (after 5 or 6 books) for others.]
The narrator is a P.I. Named Kate who is partner in a two-person firm specializing in white-collar crime investigations. She has a rock journalist for a boyfriend—one of those couples where he is the softer, more passive partner. This case could be described as The Case of the Missing Conservatories—but it develops into far more. I liked the bits and pieces of British culture/life—almost like being there.
[2020 note: I have been very sorry to see this author drop this series (after 5 or 6 books) for others.]
August 1, 2025
The second in the Kate Brannigan series. Goodness floppy discs were a blast from the past. Crooked land deals, mortgage scams, untrustworthy lawyers and dishonest builders. Kate is hired by Ted when is loan is called in by the bank and finds that conservatories he built have disappeared and the clients.
Kate uncovers a scam and starts to use a mobile phone. An enjoyable read with Richard her boyfriend a fanatic Chinese food eater and who bought the house next door to her. The characters are growing on me and the ending was tidy with the confrontation with the villain.
Kate uncovers a scam and starts to use a mobile phone. An enjoyable read with Richard her boyfriend a fanatic Chinese food eater and who bought the house next door to her. The characters are growing on me and the ending was tidy with the confrontation with the villain.
June 15, 2021
Enjoyed
August 14, 2023
A favourite author and a very good series
February 11, 2021
2.5 stars
July 16, 2025
Very dated, which isn't the authors fault. The plot is a bit convoluted and not terribly exciting. But the worst thing in my opinion is the style of writing. The author is trying to make the northern PI sound like a wise cracking LA gumshoe. It just doesn't come off. Shame. She has written far better books than this.
January 13, 2017
I reread this as it had been more than 10 years since I read it. Back then McDermid was my favourite author so I was worried I would now (being far more critical than formerly) ruin it for myself. I needn't have worried. It was long enough ago so that I didn't remember too much. As to the quality of the book- I am sure it had flaws but I was having too much fun to notice them. Kate Brannigan is a feisty, witty, brave protagonist and is surrounded by a support network that manage to respect and mock her in just the right proportions. There is a lively plot full of twists, near-misses, action, sarcasm and far too much Chinese food. In other words it is one of those private-eye stories that is always a good read, especially when the private eye is a woman
Brannigan manages to balance a case for a real paying client (who her bossy secretary has a most unprofessional interest in) as well as do a job on the side for one of her best friends. The "bad guys" from the stories look likely to kill her and Kate really wants to go back to her latest computer game (civilization since it was the 90s but I had some cringe factor there). Missing floppy disks (yes that long ago) a corpse who ends up being someone other than the obvious candidate and a Veronica Mars worthy scene (on p244) later Brannigan has all the answers. It's not really been a puzzle for the reader but it has been a rollicking ride with enough twists and lively dialogue to satisfy.
I still like McDermid's other detective Lindsay Gordon even better...and I still don't like McDermid's gorier stories. But this is good clean fun (with some yucky details at the corpse). Also as far as love-interests go Richard is satisfactory (though rather Kate than me).
Brannigan manages to balance a case for a real paying client (who her bossy secretary has a most unprofessional interest in) as well as do a job on the side for one of her best friends. The "bad guys" from the stories look likely to kill her and Kate really wants to go back to her latest computer game (civilization since it was the 90s but I had some cringe factor there). Missing floppy disks (yes that long ago) a corpse who ends up being someone other than the obvious candidate and a Veronica Mars worthy scene (on p244) later Brannigan has all the answers. It's not really been a puzzle for the reader but it has been a rollicking ride with enough twists and lively dialogue to satisfy.
I still like McDermid's other detective Lindsay Gordon even better...and I still don't like McDermid's gorier stories. But this is good clean fun (with some yucky details at the corpse). Also as far as love-interests go Richard is satisfactory (though rather Kate than me).
July 26, 2016
We were so charmed by McDermid’s private eye Kate Brannigan in her first appearance in “Dead Beat” that we hurried to this second in her 6-book set, “Kick Back”. While Kate was still a fun and resourcefully persistent character, the plot did little to engage us – indeed, many readers were as buffaloed as the novel’s players by the convoluted mortgage refinancing scheme that dominated the story. A sub-plot involving a land-swindling conspiracy, complete with a cross-dressing lawyer, wasn’t really that clear or entertaining either. And Kate’s partner Bill, who was on vacation during most of the tale, had merely the same bit part as in the first book.
All entries in this series were published in the 90’s, suggesting the author herself tired of the premise of Kate and Bill’s mostly white-collar crime solving team, although we are not so discouraged we might try another visit with Kate. Meanwhile, the author has two other series (in addition to the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan set) – one contemporary with Brannigan featuring police detective Karen Pirie, and another newer set about Scottish journalist Lindsay Gordon – perhaps those warrant a try…
All entries in this series were published in the 90’s, suggesting the author herself tired of the premise of Kate and Bill’s mostly white-collar crime solving team, although we are not so discouraged we might try another visit with Kate. Meanwhile, the author has two other series (in addition to the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan set) – one contemporary with Brannigan featuring police detective Karen Pirie, and another newer set about Scottish journalist Lindsay Gordon – perhaps those warrant a try…
August 27, 2017
These earlier books of Val McDermid are not as complicated as the later thrillers but they are pleasure to read.
Kate Brannigan is a likeable character and the description of her every day life, the precise information about how she drives around the North West of England, all conjure up an atmosphere of a time I remember - the mid 1990s after Mrs T became Baroness T.
The way the action and the activities of the PI are described recall the style of American writers like Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton. It feels grounded in reality. Maybe it is also the specifics of Chinese food and Thai kickboxing and the domesticity of the proper steady boyfriend next door.
In this second outing for Kate, she resolves three mysteries, rolling up minor and major cons. You go, girl!
Kate Brannigan is a likeable character and the description of her every day life, the precise information about how she drives around the North West of England, all conjure up an atmosphere of a time I remember - the mid 1990s after Mrs T became Baroness T.
The way the action and the activities of the PI are described recall the style of American writers like Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton. It feels grounded in reality. Maybe it is also the specifics of Chinese food and Thai kickboxing and the domesticity of the proper steady boyfriend next door.
In this second outing for Kate, she resolves three mysteries, rolling up minor and major cons. You go, girl!
November 4, 2022
The second Kate Brannigan novel is another page-turner, just like the first. Now, being a journo and a writer, I found the plot which centres on mortgage fraud a bit difficult to follow (I’m more of a words and spaces rather than number guy) but I stuck with it and was rewarded with a cracking tale that includes corrupt practices, cross-dressing and murder. McDermid can certainly write crime fiction and this early example of her work proves it. Some of the action in the book takes place in Ramsbottom, which is where I used to live, which made the read all the more enjoyable. Highly recommended.
September 27, 2015
This was a pretty good mystery with a resourceful heroine- a PI in a small firm, asked as a favor to her secretary to look into a case where a builder installs conservatories, which later disappear. She is also asked as a favor to a friend to look into a land sale fraud. When she is run off the road and injured, she can't be sure which case (if either) made her a target. As I said, pretty good, a bit more convoluted than I cared for with the fraud schemes, but still good.
August 21, 2018
Fair, if a little too involved. I kept getting the two separate cases confused. The MC has yet to grab me.
April 3, 2019
Competent, but nothing special. It perhaps appealed to me as I know many of the locations well. Not one for the Buxton Tourist Office to stock!
September 1, 2021
I have read and enjoyed numerous of VM's books but feel obliged to say this book was dull.
The crime was dull.
Thank G-d it was under 300pp!!
The crime was dull.
Thank G-d it was under 300pp!!
February 2, 2024
I enjoyed the first book in Val McDermid's series on feisty Manchester-based PI Kate Brannigan, so I tried the second. It's pretty enjoyable, thanks to Brannigan's narration, but I found the financial shenanigans she exposes a tad confusing.
Kate, working alone because her partner is elsewhere, tackles three cases. One is a pretty straightforward embezzlement case, thrown in to complicate the other two. The second is a favor for a friend who lost money on a land deal. The third involves "missing conservatories" -- what we in America would call a sunroom. That one's the most interesting of the three, although the second one winds up in murder.
A builder is about to lose his business because the conservatories he builds keep disappearing and there's some financial mismanagement afoot. Brannigan's secretary takes a personal interest because she's besotted with the hunky builder.
Meanwhile Kate's reporter friend Alexis has lost a large sum of money on buying some land and asks her to look into it since they do favors for each other. Before long, someone's trying to force Kate's car off the road and then she finds what appears to be a woman who's hanged herself. Then she realizes that's not what's up at all and it gives her a clue about what, and who, is afoot.
I particularly liked the scenes where Kate, banged up by the attempt on her life, takes her boyfriend Richard along on an investigative trip and they wind up eating badly prepared Chinese food. Their comments were verrrrrrrrrrrrry funny. I also liked her acting job to persuade a travel agent to tell her where a potential fugitive may go.
The climax is exciting as she races to save the life of the only witness who can explain to the cops what's happened, and she has to use her Thai boxing skills on a much larger opponent. However, when she's explaining to Richard the solution, I got totally lost and had to read it twice.
I don't know where to find the other two books about Kate but I want to track them down. Kate's fun to hang around with.
Kate, working alone because her partner is elsewhere, tackles three cases. One is a pretty straightforward embezzlement case, thrown in to complicate the other two. The second is a favor for a friend who lost money on a land deal. The third involves "missing conservatories" -- what we in America would call a sunroom. That one's the most interesting of the three, although the second one winds up in murder.
A builder is about to lose his business because the conservatories he builds keep disappearing and there's some financial mismanagement afoot. Brannigan's secretary takes a personal interest because she's besotted with the hunky builder.
Meanwhile Kate's reporter friend Alexis has lost a large sum of money on buying some land and asks her to look into it since they do favors for each other. Before long, someone's trying to force Kate's car off the road and then she finds what appears to be a woman who's hanged herself. Then she realizes that's not what's up at all and it gives her a clue about what, and who, is afoot.
I particularly liked the scenes where Kate, banged up by the attempt on her life, takes her boyfriend Richard along on an investigative trip and they wind up eating badly prepared Chinese food. Their comments were verrrrrrrrrrrrry funny. I also liked her acting job to persuade a travel agent to tell her where a potential fugitive may go.
The climax is exciting as she races to save the life of the only witness who can explain to the cops what's happened, and she has to use her Thai boxing skills on a much larger opponent. However, when she's explaining to Richard the solution, I got totally lost and had to read it twice.
I don't know where to find the other two books about Kate but I want to track them down. Kate's fun to hang around with.
October 16, 2022
Kate’s reporter friend thinks she has been ripped off in a real estate scam, and asks her to have a look into it for her as a favour. But she’s already pretty busy with another guy whose conservatory construction business is in trouble as the bank has demanded all his loans be repaid immediately and they refuse to discuss it with him so he has no clue what he is supposed to have done wrong.
But weirdly when she goes to the houses where his company built a glass conservatory feature, it’s missing, the houses are empty, and none of the neighbours saw a sale sign up. If this is tech fraud - Kate’s usual interest - she can’t see how.
888
Bless, Kate is looking forward to playing Civilization [snorts - I loved that game] Dated tech and a complex mortgage and rental fraud doesn’t make five star reading. I always wonder about privacy laws as she runs about recording conversations and planting bugs in people’s house. Shrugs.
A moment of trans panic but abated by having a great example of a trans person in society - running the specialist dress and shoe shop that the other frequented.
3 stars
So far this year, my library saved me A$2696.94
But weirdly when she goes to the houses where his company built a glass conservatory feature, it’s missing, the houses are empty, and none of the neighbours saw a sale sign up. If this is tech fraud - Kate’s usual interest - she can’t see how.
888
Bless, Kate is looking forward to playing Civilization [snorts - I loved that game] Dated tech and a complex mortgage and rental fraud doesn’t make five star reading. I always wonder about privacy laws as she runs about recording conversations and planting bugs in people’s house. Shrugs.
A moment of trans panic but abated by having a great example of a trans person in society - running the specialist dress and shoe shop that the other frequented.
3 stars
So far this year, my library saved me A$2696.94
June 12, 2022
Okay, I'll admit that I listened to this as an audiobook, and the plotting got a little too thick for me to follow. This book is about 70% real estate scams. That kind of thing can be pretty interesting if you have a high tolerance for forensic accounting, but I wasn't fully in the mood for it. It might all make sense and be pretty cool, but I missed most of the finer details. I will probably forget almost everything about this book in a few months.
The first-person narration by the wisecracking detective continues to be entertaining, though. I did not expect Val McDermid to be this funny, though my first exposure to her work (the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series) seems in retrospect to be the worst--including mostly lacking in humor. One thing I appreciate about Kate Brannigan so far is that she is in a happy relationship. McDermid being McDermid, I do not necessarily expect it to stay that way, because she tends to like putting her characters through trials and tribulations (especially wrt personal relationships), but hey, so far so good. So yeah, not bad.
The first-person narration by the wisecracking detective continues to be entertaining, though. I did not expect Val McDermid to be this funny, though my first exposure to her work (the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series) seems in retrospect to be the worst--including mostly lacking in humor. One thing I appreciate about Kate Brannigan so far is that she is in a happy relationship. McDermid being McDermid, I do not necessarily expect it to stay that way, because she tends to like putting her characters through trials and tribulations (especially wrt personal relationships), but hey, so far so good. So yeah, not bad.
October 8, 2020
It started out well, a client who installs conservatories which then disappear over night... It caught my attention. However, after a while it got tiresome.
Every now and again throughout the book VM would throw something titillating in, Car accident, transvestites, murder, rec but they never came to anything. Felt like they were dropped in just to change the pace for a second, before going back to the drab.
I did enjoy seeing the progress VM made between book 1 and book 2, you can definitely see how VM is finding her voice and her style. I can see little glimpses how she went on to create the Tony Hill series.
I know I call possible incest at the drop of a hat, but I really did get the sense of possible incest! I can't decide if it Was done on purpose, or if it is my dark mind making connections the author didn't intend. I Was disappointed that there wasn't an incest angle. I know latter VM definitely would of given us incest, or at least made it seen like a real possibility.
The ending was very abrupt. To the point I went back assuming I skipped a page or two.
Every now and again throughout the book VM would throw something titillating in, Car accident, transvestites, murder, rec but they never came to anything. Felt like they were dropped in just to change the pace for a second, before going back to the drab.
I did enjoy seeing the progress VM made between book 1 and book 2, you can definitely see how VM is finding her voice and her style. I can see little glimpses how she went on to create the Tony Hill series.
I know I call possible incest at the drop of a hat, but I really did get the sense of possible incest! I can't decide if it Was done on purpose, or if it is my dark mind making connections the author didn't intend. I Was disappointed that there wasn't an incest angle. I know latter VM definitely would of given us incest, or at least made it seen like a real possibility.
The ending was very abrupt. To the point I went back assuming I skipped a page or two.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2024
4 stars
Another solid book in the series and I've already started book 3. At this rate, I'll finish the series in no time lol.
I do appreciate the books in this series don't start with the murders. Instead, the case started innocuously enough but the stakes were built up slowly. The plot is just as engaging as book 1 because this time, the stakes were personal. 2 mysteries in one short book is always going to work for me.
Apart from the protagonist, we also got to know more about the side characters in her lives. For once, the protagonist was in a loving uncomplicated relationship! I really like Richard because he was real, flawed, clueless, yet so loveable. The same with Kate's friends. I really felt like I started to connect with them. The author's humous is also right up my alley.
Another solid book in the series and I've already started book 3. At this rate, I'll finish the series in no time lol.
I do appreciate the books in this series don't start with the murders. Instead, the case started innocuously enough but the stakes were built up slowly. The plot is just as engaging as book 1 because this time, the stakes were personal. 2 mysteries in one short book is always going to work for me.
Apart from the protagonist, we also got to know more about the side characters in her lives. For once, the protagonist was in a loving uncomplicated relationship! I really like Richard because he was real, flawed, clueless, yet so loveable. The same with Kate's friends. I really felt like I started to connect with them. The author's humous is also right up my alley.
March 31, 2025
Kick Back is the second book in the Kate Brannigan series by Val McDermid and was originally published in 1993.
Kate Brannigan is approached by a builder whose line of credit has been cut short at the bank and his unable to make any headway with what is happening. Someone is going around removing his newly installed conservatories and he is desperate as he does not want to lose his business.
Kate’s friend Alexis is a journalist with the Evening Chronicle (Manchester did have an evening chronicle but defunct by the time of this book). Alexis and her partner have paid a £5,000 deposit on land so they can self-build a property. Unfortunately, she has been ‘stiffed’ on the cash and the land. Kate finds out that there is a full-blown mortgage and land fraud in progress.
This is an excellent thriller.
Kate Brannigan is approached by a builder whose line of credit has been cut short at the bank and his unable to make any headway with what is happening. Someone is going around removing his newly installed conservatories and he is desperate as he does not want to lose his business.
Kate’s friend Alexis is a journalist with the Evening Chronicle (Manchester did have an evening chronicle but defunct by the time of this book). Alexis and her partner have paid a £5,000 deposit on land so they can self-build a property. Unfortunately, she has been ‘stiffed’ on the cash and the land. Kate finds out that there is a full-blown mortgage and land fraud in progress.
This is an excellent thriller.
October 27, 2019
Didn't love this, but I didn't hate it either. As crime books go it was very white collar and I frankly didn't quite follow the corporate shenanigans; but there were enough adventures and I enjoyed the voice of Kate Brannigan enough that I finished it. I did have some serious disbelief about the basic premise though - is it really that easy to just dissemble and cart away a whole conservatory? really? (I actually had to google "conservatory" because I started to think it wasn't what I thought it was, but nope - a big ol' glassed in porch. Okay then).
The age of the book showed when she started talking computers and boot-up disks, and because of that I'll keep on reading more McDermid and look up her other series - if this was an early effort I'm sure she got a lot better.
The age of the book showed when she started talking computers and boot-up disks, and because of that I'll keep on reading more McDermid and look up her other series - if this was an early effort I'm sure she got a lot better.
October 13, 2024
Notably better than the first book in this 6-book series, but still rather pedestrian if you've read a fair share of detective novels. I thought the two intertwined mysteries were intriguing, at first. I liked that they weren't murders. There's a client who builds conservatories on residences, and something is fishy about the loans his customers take out to pay for the work. Separately, there's Kate's journalist friend Alexis, who has apparently been scammed in a shady property deal. Kate runs around and gathers information and evidence, as you would expect. It gets a bit dull before the end.
There are far too many descriptions of clothing and outfits. I also did not appreciate multiple mentions of Kate's auburn hair. I got it the first time. No need to keep mentioning it!
.
There are far too many descriptions of clothing and outfits. I also did not appreciate multiple mentions of Kate's auburn hair. I got it the first time. No need to keep mentioning it!
.
July 31, 2020
The second book in the Manchester based series of the adventures of private eye Kate Brannigan, this one sees her solve two property related crimes - one where entire conservatories go missing, and the second a classic land-sold-twice scam. The plots are interesting enough, but McDermid does go a LOT into the details, which did detract just a bit from the overall reading experience. The whole book is a fun weekend read, and nothing heavier than that. Considering the fact that this is one of McDermid's earlier novels (and having read many of her later ones), it's clear how much she's progressed.
August 22, 2022
Compared to McDermid's crime books, this is lightweight but I didn't have a problem with that. It's nice to have a bit of frivolity in amongst the heavy stuff. Some of the comedy lines are good, some are corny and some are just out-dated especially as this book is quite old. But that's okay too.
Not super easy to follow as the main character is trying to do everything at once including investigating two mysteries so it gets a bit confusing in some parts. However, it's a quick read if you don't worry about concentrating on trying to figure out the scams too much. It's all explained towards the end.
Probably a good read for a lazy holiday on the beach.
Not super easy to follow as the main character is trying to do everything at once including investigating two mysteries so it gets a bit confusing in some parts. However, it's a quick read if you don't worry about concentrating on trying to figure out the scams too much. It's all explained towards the end.
Probably a good read for a lazy holiday on the beach.
July 23, 2025
Brannigan and her Shenanigans
Excellent Kate Brannigan tale, let to her own devices, as Bill her partner is away, Kate gets involved in two cases, one is theft from a Pharmaceutical company and the other a Double Glazing company having their funding pulled. The two cases are taking up all her time when her friend Alexis, a local crime reporter, asks her for some off the books help. So Kate now has three cases on the go and has to manage her time very carefully. What follows is great writing and drama, as ever from Val McDermid. Great PI story, twists and turns, clever fiendish criminals, and Kate putting herself at risk. Well worth a read.
Excellent Kate Brannigan tale, let to her own devices, as Bill her partner is away, Kate gets involved in two cases, one is theft from a Pharmaceutical company and the other a Double Glazing company having their funding pulled. The two cases are taking up all her time when her friend Alexis, a local crime reporter, asks her for some off the books help. So Kate now has three cases on the go and has to manage her time very carefully. What follows is great writing and drama, as ever from Val McDermid. Great PI story, twists and turns, clever fiendish criminals, and Kate putting herself at risk. Well worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 151 reviews