The skeleton road (2014) by Val McDermid

Cold case detective Karen Price, with forensic help, determines the identity of a skeleton in an Edinburgh tower of an abandoned Gothic building. The remains are those of a Croatin generl who migrated to the UK with Professor Maggie Blake. his love.  Sleuthing reveals that the general was a war criminal from Serbia/Croatia.  Maggie's best fried. Tessa, had uncovered the truth and killed him.  There is much history of the Yugoslav Wars 1991-2001.

Thank you Goodreads.

The sketeton road (2014) by Val McDermid

Before reading this novel, a primer on the Yugoslavian War (1991-2001) may be necessary. The author heavily relies on the events of this turbulent time as a backdrop for  murder. A building inspector finds a skeleton in the turret of a Victorian Gothic building.  A bullet had pieced the skull. Cold Case detective Karen Pirie used forensic science to determine the identity of the man.  He was a Croatian general who left the Balkans to marry Maggie Blake, an Oxford professor of anthropology who met him while on studies in Serbia.

Research in the field and the was crimes tribunal reveals that he had committed the atrocity of killing over 40 people in retaliation for the deaths of his wife an sons. A mutual friend of Maggie and the general discovered the truth. Maggie had to find the truth, along with Detective Pririe, who experienced her own loss due to male aggression.

The vanishing point (2012) by Val McDermid

Thanks to Goodreads for this brief review.

A child is brazenly abducted in the middle of a busy airport. But this is no ordinary kidnapping, because this is no ordinary child. His mother was Scarlett, a reality TV star who died tragically young from cancer. She didn't trust her disastrous family and left the care of her child to her ghost writer, Stephanie Harker. What Scarlett didn't know is that Stephanie's ex is a bitter, jealous man who will stop at nothing to destroy her life. Even if that means snatching an already traumatized child.

Trick of the Dark (2010) by Val McDermid

"Barred from practice, disgraced psychiatrist Charlie Flint receives a mysterious summons to Oxford from an old professor who wants her to look into the death of her daughter's husband. But as Charlie delves deeper into the case and steps back into the arcane world of Oxford colleges, she realizes that there is much more to this crime than meets the eye."  Review by Goodreads.com

 

McDermid writes with confidence as sheincludes both homosexuals and herterosexuals in her novels as main characters.  She reflects life as it is.  I applaud her for this.  Her women characters are  independent and confident, having professional careers in their own right.

Fever of the bone (2009) by Val McDermid

 Fever of the Bone is the sixth novel featuring profiler Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan, this time on the trail of a serial killer who is targeting apparently unconnected young people. McDermid's skill is such that Hill, who must surely win the prize for most dysfunctional maverick investigator, engages without ever annoying, even when he is going into the mind of the monster. This is very much a story about parents and children, and both Hill's own family crises and his "will they, won't they" relationship with Jordan are expertly dovetailed into a wonderfully complex plot. McDermid is especially good at serving up a mix of hi-tech and old-fashioned coppering, as well as showing how proximity to extreme brutality can take its toll on even the toughest police officer. 

Review by Laura Wilson, The Guardian, Saturday 12 September 2009



The Retribution (2011) by Val McDermid

"Clinical psychologist Tony Hill has had a good run. He and police detective Carol Jordan have put away scores of dangerous criminals and have a clearance rate that colleagues envy or resent. But there is one serial killer who has shaped and defined their careers, a person whose evil surpasses all others: Jacko Vance, an ex-celebrity and sociopath whose brilliance and utter lack of remorse have never left Tony’s mind in the ten years Vance has been locked up. Now Jacko has broken out of prison and, with a mind even more twisted and cunning than before, he is focused on wreaking revenge on Tony and Carol for the years he has spent in prison. They don’t know when Jacko will strike, or where. All they know is that he will cause them to feel fear like they’ve never known."

Review by Goodreads Copied Oct 9, 2012

A darker domain (2008) by Val McDermid