Well, there was up until recently – me! I don’t know why because I really like and admire her and enjoy listening to her on radio and TV. She’s had a wonderful career but remains very down to earth and, of course, she’s Scottish, a football supporter and plays in a band! She supports the Scottish football team Raith Rovers from her home town of Kirkcaldy where she sponsors one of the grandstands which has been named after her. She also sings in the band ‘Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers’ along with Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre, Stuart Neville, Luca Veste and Doug Johnstone. So, pretty good credentials for making me a fan but, for some reason I had never tried any of her books until now but, having begun writing this blog, I felt that I had to sample her, see what I thought and then pass it on to you just in case there are people out there who haven’t tried her either! I can tell you that I’m glad that I did and I’m hooked! I’m also hoping that my experience will be of interest to those of you are fans and I would be really interested to hear what you think of her books.
Before telling you about my first Val McDermid experience, I should say that this is something I really enjoy – finding a new author, liking them and then realising that this has introduced me to a huge number of new books with a range of new characters in the genre that I enjoy so much! I know now that there is never any question of running out of authors and books about detective fiction and that there are many others I haven’t tried yet but its very reassuring that I have found a new one!
The book I tried is called ‘The Distant Echo’ and it was published in 2003 so it arrived some sixteen years after her first novel and introduced the reader to a new character, Inspector Karen Pirie. Funnily enough, she doesn’t feature very prominently in the book until the very late stages but there are another five, with the most recent coming in 2020, and my first venture left me looking forward to finding out more about this character.
The Distant Echo is a really good read. It begins by telling the story of an unsolved murder from twenty-five years before and then picks it up again when it is resurrected as a cold case. It keeps you guessing all the way, taking you down different roads and, as it reaches its conclusion, I think it gives you enough clues to spot the twist and identify the murderer just before the main characters begin to see the answer. No spoilers but just a really strong recommendation and a promise of more pieces as I work my way through the series and also pick up the books she’s written about different characters across three other series and a number of stand- alone books, including the clinical psychologist, Tony Hill whom you might have seen Robson Greene playing on TV. The other series’ principal characters include a journalist, Lindsay Gordon, and a private investigator, Kate Brannigan, so quite a bit of variety and I’m looking forward to trying them all and then telling you about them! In fact, I’m now on my third Karen Pirie book and she is certainly growing on me. Without being disrespectful to anyone involved, I have her in my mind as a cross between the comedian, Susan Calman, and the former leader of the Conservative Party in Scotland, Ruth Davidson, and I put that down to the clever way in which Val McDermid puts the picture of her together for the reader! In any event, I like her and I am sure I will be reading many more of Val McDermid’s books.