Silent Bones by Val McDermid

 

First Line: New Year's Eve, 2013. She'd never imagined a Hogmanay thrash like this, never mind that she'd be invited to it.

When a landslide on a motorway uncovers a skeleton, DCI Karen Pirie, head of Police Scotland's Historic Cases Unit, finds herself and her team investigating the death of investigative journalist Sam Nimmo.

Nimmo had been the prime suspect in the murder of his girlfriend when he disappeared. Was his death revenge for killing his girlfriend? Or was he investigating something worth killing over? In the meantime, the supposedly accidental death of a hotel manager has raised an allegation of murder. 

Now Karen and her team have a series of puzzles that will test them to their limits.

~

Val McDermid's Karen Pirie series is right at the top of my list of favorites. I've consistently rated these books highly-- either as Best Reads of the Year or as "A's." Although I do have to say that this latest entry, Silent Bones, felt a bit lackluster, a lackluster McDermid novel is still better than most writers' best. 

One of the reasons why McDermid's writing is so strong is due to the cast of characters she creates. Karen and her team of Daisy and Jason are interesting people, and not only do I enjoy keeping up with their private lives, but the way the team has come together is fascinating. Jason, in particular, was originally treated as if he were a joke, but with Karen's guidance, he's become much stronger and is a valuable member of the team. 

The plot of Silent Bones centers on a group of the well-heeled and entitled who think the rules do not apply to them. My patience wears thin with those types of people, and the only new character in this book that I took a shine to was Folasade Cusack. Her comment about an industrial hoover made me snort tea up my nose. Yes, I definitely wouldn't mind seeing her again!

As I said earlier, the plot of Silent Bones didn't really grab me, but any time spent with Karen, Daisy, and Jason is time well spent indeed. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Silent Bones by Val McDermid

eISBN: 9780802164407

Atlantic Crime © 2025

eBook, 432 pages

Police Procedural, #8 Karen Pirie

Rating: B

Source: Net Galley

Past Lying by Val McDermid

 

First Lines: He really believed it was a madcap game. A joke. A dare, played out between old friends. Why would anyone imagine otherwise?

It's April 2020, and Edinburgh is in lockdown. You'd think crime-- especially cold cases-- would take a holiday. Still, when a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie's team about some archived documents of a recently deceased crime novelist, Karen welcomes the chance to investigate. 

At the center of the investigation is a novel: two crime novelists playing a game of chess, but it soon becomes clear that their real-life competition is deadly serious. Bit by bit, Karen and her team uncover a very twisted game of betrayal and revenge, made even more complicated by the pandemic.

~

When anyone asks about my favorite mystery series, Val McDermid's Karen Pirie books are right up at the top of the list. With its lovely twisty plot, Past Lying is an excellent addition. The story is made even more engrossing by showing readers policing in the time of Covid. There are rules that must be obeyed, or there will be consequences, and Karen and her team have to be very careful (and quick-witted) about how they conduct themselves.

Speaking of Karen and her team, there is a lot in Past Lying to further the lives of the main characters. There's Karen's relationship with Hamish, the entrepreneur, which is complicated by the fact that he's miles away while Karen is in his apartment in Edinburgh with team member, Daisy, during the lockdown. And Daisy? She shows a lot of talent as a police officer, but I'm not sure how much I can trust her. After all, Daisy herself says, it's "... always handy to have something on your boss."  This doubt makes the back of my mind itch as I watch Karen work hard to make both Daisy and Jason stronger members of the team. 

There's even more going on in the characters' lives, which makes sense due to the personal nature of lockdown; however, there is also an insider's look at the craft of writing, manuscripts, publishing, author events, and workshops, as well as the plight of refugees. Past Lying is a densely layered, completely satisfying mystery, and I don't want to wait until December for the next book in the series. 

Past Lying by Val McDermid

eISBN: 9780802161505

Atlantic Monthly Press © 2023

eBook, 412 pages

Police Procedural, #7 Karen Pirie

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Broken Ground by Val McDermid

 

First Line: The slap of spades in dense peat was an unmistakable sound.

 

It's just another day at the office for Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie. She's been saddled with Detective Sergeant Gerry McCartney, a man who has no understanding of the Historic Cases Unit-- or even the desire to work there. In addition, Pirie's boss ACC Ann Markie (called "the dog biscuit" behind her back) seems to have upped her game in an attempt to finally get rid of her. 

 

But it's not all fun and personality clashes. Karen is assigned to a case in the Highlands. A woman finds the location of treasure that her grandfather had hidden when he was there during World War II, but when she digs it up, she finds the corpse of a man who'd been shot. Karen is also working a domestic violence case, and as she gets closer to the truth, it becomes obvious that not everyone shares her desire for justice.

~

Val McDermid's Karen Pirie series continues to be one of my favorites. Pirie is a bastion in the Harry Bosch School of Policing. In Broken Ground, she says "My ambition is to clear cases that everybody else has given up on. To give answers to people that have been waiting way too long to find out who blew a hole in their lives and why." That makes her just the type of character most crime fiction fans love.

 

Karen Pirie will succeed, no matter what it takes, and if it means she'll lose her job... so be it. This makes her a bitter pill to swallow for those above her who pay more attention to spreadsheets and the bottom line cost of things, and her boss is determined to get rid of her no matter how high her clearance rate is.

 

There are only two people in the Historic Cases Unit (HCU): Karen and a young Detective Constable known as The Mint. The Mint isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but Karen prefers to work with him as a known entity rather than deal with the unknown... who joins the unit as DS Gerry McCartney, a man who doesn't understand the mission of such a unit nor does he want to. One of the things I like so much about this series is that The Mint isn't mere comic relief. He's a good-natured young man who wants to do a good job, and he is getting better. How? He's "channeling" Karen's deceased partner and Karen herself-- and it's working. Good role models do make a difference.

There's enough going on with the characters to keep readers occupied, but the two cases the HCU is working on are compelling, too. And that's par for the course in this series. Strong characters and strong mysteries. If you haven't made the acquaintance of Karen Pirie, I strongly recommend that you do so. Start at the beginning with the award-winning The Distant Echo.

Broken Ground by Val McDermid

eISBN: 9780802146939

Grove Atlantic © 2018

eBook, 432 pages

 

Police Procedural, #5 DCI Karen Pirie

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

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.

The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid

First Line: Sunset is often a glamorous business in the Cretan holiday harbour of Chania.

A disused Victorian building is being demolished in the center of historic Edinburgh when workers find skeletal remains hidden on the roof. Call in cold case Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie to find answers for all the questions. When it turns out that the bones may be from as far away as the former Yugoslavia, she is going to have to dig deep into the tragic history of that area and into unspeakable war crimes and their consequences.

McDermid has once again crafted an engrossing mystery filled with memorable characters and questions. I still can't quite understand how all the horrific things that occurred in Bosnia and Serbia have faded so quickly and determinedly into the dim past. Without going into masses of gory details, McDermid brings those times to life through the characters she has created.

If anything, there may be a few too many characters, a few too many points of view, that occasionally slow the pace of the book. We have DCI Karen Pirie and her life partner (and fellow police officer) Phil. Pirie's on-the-job partner, Detective Constable Jason "the Mint" Murray. Prickly Oxford professor Maggie Blake, and Macanespie and Proctor, two men trying to find war criminals for the International Criminal Court. And I haven't named them all.

Macanespie and Proctor are sometimes referred to as "the dead-end kids," and they provide some much-needed comic relief while they plod through miles of paperwork in search of the bad guys. Pirie often feels as though DC Murray is the albatross hanging around her neck. The young man tends to be as thick as a plank and has absolutely no initiative, but it is heartwarming to see that he is actually learning things by working with her. Pirie does treat him well, regardless what she may think in private. There are also some highly emotional scenes when one of the characters is rushed to the hospital, and I wish I'd had a box of tissues at hand while reading that part.

Yes, McDermid has written a complex, thought-provoking story filled with complex characters. The Skeleton Road is only slightly marred by too many shifts in points of view. It reminds me of why I like Val McDermid's writing so much-- and why I shouldn't take so long to read another of her books.
     

The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid

eISBN: 9780802192141

Atlantic Monthly Press © 2014

eBook, 406 pages

Police Procedural, #2 DCI Karen Pirie mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Purchased from Amazon.