It's a killer!
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Highly recommended! The plot is clever and well thought out and the writing is very pacy. I was gripped from the very start of the book and I loved watching the skewed relationship develop between Carol and Tony. This subject matter is dark and distubing but McDermid has a way of involving you so you feel that you are fully immersed in this macabre world. This is the first McDermid book that I have read and I feel that she is out and out fore runner in crime fiction. Looking forward to devouring her back catalogue.
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Graphic but gripping
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As with all books by this author the descriptions of the killing methods are graphically detailed and only for those with a strong constitution.
However, all the books in the Tony Hill series are excellent and as long as you don't read them whilst you're eating they are well worth the cover price!
For fans of the thriller genre - you will not be disappointed. But be prepared to buy all her books once you've finished the first one - addictive stuff.
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Worth reading even if you've seen the TV series
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The Mermaids Singing introduces us to Dr Tony Hill and DI Carol Jordan, as they attempt to find a killer who appears to be targeting young men and then dumping them in areas known as gay haunts. The chapters about the investigation are interspersed with diary entries written by the killer, which are creepy and often quite grisly! Another interesting aspect of the novel is that it includes a number of other plot lines and really strong characterisation. The characters seem a lot more human because we see their imperfections.
I had watched the TV series of `Wire in the Blood' before I came to this book and was a little hesitant, knowing that I already knew who the murderer was. However, I would still say that this book deserves a read. It is very well paced, the characters are interesting and rather than revealing the murderer at the end, we witness them carry out their crimes learning more about their motivations. The plot turns are also slightly different to those of the TV show, which kept it interesting for me!
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average at best
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I read this book as part of a book group.
No one was particularly impressed I am afraid.
It is a well written and an easy to read book. A page turner even. But having finished the book you are definitely left with a feeling of " I have just read an average book".
The police characters are definitely better developed than the criminal. All the characters lack a sense of third dimention and are rather unbeleivable. Clearly however I am in the minority and the books sales speaks for itself.
Great read for a holiday and moderately entertaining but I am heading for a more substantial book next myself.
Saied
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Decent enough.
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I found this to be a solid, if unspectacular novel. It's my first by Val McDermid and I'm tempted to think that while it may have been a ground-breaker back in the mid-90s when it was first published, it does seem a bit dated now. We've had a decade of a barrage of crime media that reflect criminal profiling, serial killers etc - everything from CSI to Silence of the Lambs, and having spent so much time being bombarded with such, this effort probably loses much of the effect that it had back in 1995.
The first thing that I'd take issue with, and something that really grates on me, is the title. The title bears no relevance to what is happening in the book (no I don't expect there to be Mermaids singing, but I do expect a reference to it in some way, a la` Silence of the Lambs). The title refers to a quote that prefaces the novel, but even then, its meaning is indistinct - it just smacks of McDermid trying to be clever and a bit pretentious.
Ok, glad I got that out of the way. The plot (criminal profiler Tony Hill trying to track down a serial killer) is decent enough. The characters are decent enough, and McDermid actually characterises by character (what people do, how they think etc), unlike the present fashion displayed by people like Mark Billingham and Peter James, who think you build a character by telling us what car they drive, what watch they wear, etc....
All in all, this novel is...decent enough. I would point out that there is no real thrill involved here - there are no cat and mouse stand offs, no near misses where the killer is almost caught, but I suppose that comes with the territory. I thought the profiling process was a bit drawn out, but it is broken up by a couple of decent plot movements, and the developing relationship between DI Carol Jordan and Dr Hill. I'd usually say that such a relationship is superfluous in a crime novel, but here it is handled pretty well. The killer is suitably sinister and deranged. Their particular `modus operandi' (ie medieval torture) is suitably grim and handled well. I never got the feeling that the brutality was gratuitous and was perfectly contextual.
The real issue I have is with the resolution. I have to say that the identity of the killer is blindingly obvious pretty much throughout, at least it was to me, but the gradual unmasking of them is decent enough - all the clues fit into place, and McDermid sets up a nice climax....and then utterly destroys it. It ends in such a swift fashion that I actually turned back, thinking I'd missed a page. I hadn't! It really ends that quick! I felt like shouting, 'nooooooooo'! 400 pages of effort, spoiled in a paragraph!
All in all, I'd give this novel four stars. I get a slight feeling it deserves three, but I've just finished a Mark Billingham, which was poor enough by comparison to elevate an extra star for McDermid. The Mermaid's Singing is not a classic by any means, but it is a solid story, well written with good characters and a nice pace. A good beach thriller, but won't live long in the memory.
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