- available from audible
- Narrated by:
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Published 2014
When a skeleton is discovered hidden at the top of a gothic Victorian building in Edinburgh, which is scheduled for renovation, Cold Case Squad detective Karen Pirie is given the task of identifying the decades-old bones. Her investigation leads her back to past conflicts, false identities and buried secrets...
My Take
It is actually a while since I have read a Val McDermid novel, and where better to start than a stand alone? You'll notice that I have given this a "historical fiction" label, mainly because so much of this novel is bedded in the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. This is certainly one of those novels that sends you out to brush up on your history.
Although in one sense this is not a Cold case, because there is no previous case on the books, the skeleton discovered on the building rooftop has certainly been there for some time, and the bullet hole in the skull puts it in the murder category. Karen Pirie's first task is to identify it, and the second to work out who the murderer is. Modern technology and some good old-fashioned investigation helps Karen and her offsider Jason "the Mint" give the skeleton a name, but why has no-one reported him missing?
For me the novel is a reminder of what a superb story teller Val McDermid is.
My rating: 4.8
This is a replacement for a review that seems to have disappeared.
Glad to see this review up again, Kerrie
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