Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Out of Bounds by Val McDermid

 
First Line: "Some night, eh, boys?"
 
A teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car and winds up in a coma. When a routine DNA test is done, it reveals a link to a twenty-two-year-old cold case. Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is looking forward to a quick conclusion that brings closure to the families of the victims of the older crime. What she gets is even more twisted than the DNA helix itself.
 
Pirie is also drawn to another case that she really has no business sticking her nose into. The twenty-year-old mystery has a terrorist bombing at its heart, and-- just like the case involving the joyrider-- nothing is as it seems.

Both cases will show Police Scotland's two-person Historic Crime Unit at its most determined because once DCI Karen Pirie is on trail of a killer, she will never give up until that person has been brought to justice.

~

I don't know why, but it's been a while since I've sunk deep down into a Karen Pirie investigation. Pirie is such an indomitable character. Author Val McDermid tells readers that "Women never felt threatened by her and men treated her like a wee sister or a favourite auntie," and many characters in Out of Bounds come to rue misjudging her. How good is this fictional head of Scotland's Historic Crime Unit? I rank her right up there with two other personal favorites, Dr. Ruth Galloway and DCI Vera Stanhope. (I'll bet that made some of you perk up.)

In Out of Bounds, Pirie is still mired deep in the aftermath of a personal tragedy. Unable to sleep, she finds herself walking the streets of Edinburgh in the wee hours of the morning. This is how she becomes acquainted with Syrian refugees, and how she takes this acquaintance further is another mark of her character. 

When Karen Pirie knows she's in the right, she's like a steamroller. Fortunately, she knows her "superior" officer's Achilles heel and uses that knowledge to bring villains to justice. And woe betide any lazy cop who stands in her way because she's exceptional at finding ways to work around slothful impediments, too. 

While I'm talking about this woman's character, I also need to mention her relationship with her partner, young Jason. The Historic Crime Unit of Police Scotland is a two-person operation-- an indication of how Pirie's "superior" officer really wants her to fail. Young Jason isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she feels that it's better to stick with a known numpty (Scots slang for a stupid or ineffectual person) than to bring in a new one. But Jason isn't as useless as Pirie thinks, and his evolving character and her relationship to him is one of the best parts of this book.

Another strength of Out of Bounds is its depiction of Scotland itself. McDermid shows us that, thirty years after Thatcher, parts of Scotland are still reverberating from the damage caused by the closure of its coalfields. Readers learn that, in Scotland, children cannot be disinherited, as well as how other points of Scottish law affect investigations. 
 
The plot is luxurious, and I sank down into it right up to my lower eyelids. With all its seriousness, Out of Bounds still made me bark with laughter at unexpected bits of humor, and Karen Pirie is one of those characters who will always bring me back for more. Why on earth did I wait so long to read this book?
 
Out of Bounds by Val McDermid
eISBN: 9780802190154
Atlantic Monthly Press © 2016
eBook, 419 pages
 
Police Procedural, #4 DCI Karen Pirie mystery
Rating: A+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

14 comments:

  1. I love Karen Pirie books. Have read three. I have to check if I read this one, but if I haven't I will put this one on reserve. One aspect of McDermid's writing in this series is that Scotland is a main character. I look up maps and photos and history and learn more. Then I want to be in Glasgow or in the highlands. And I love the dry wit. I watched a crime festival on zoom in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. I laughed so hard at those authors' repartee and self-deprecation that I could barely breathe.

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    1. I think I watched the same thing because I, too, remember laughing until tears rolled down my face.

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  2. Above I was referring to the Bloody Scotland crime writers' festival.

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  3. That's the thing about McDermid's writing, Cathy: her books have such a good sense of Scotland. And she knows how to write strong female leads, in my opinion. Her stories draw you in, too. I mean, what's not to like?

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  4. Always look forward to see what your first best read of the year will be. I have not read any Karen Pirie books-will have to remedy that. If all works out, my sister and I are planning a trip to Scotland and Ireland September 2023. We traveled together last year to England and France. I haven't read a Best Read of 2023 yet for me.

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    1. You're going to Scotland! How I wish I could stowaway in your luggage... *sigh*

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  5. i checked my lists and I did read this one, but I am reminded to read the books in this series that I haven't yet read. I must get the TV streaming service that has this series. Is it Brit Box?

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    1. Oh, well, I guess that my credit card bill is going up even more.

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    2. My three favorite streaming services are BritBox, Acorn, and PBS Masterpiece.

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  6. Karen Pirie sounds like a character I need to meet. And I do love a book I can sink into. :D

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