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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Val McDermid’s thirty-second novel was my first, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I’ve read novels from successful authors before, at times with mixed results. “Broken Ground” exceeded all my expectations.
While others might write with the belief that their characters always will only work on one case at a time, Ms. McDermid deals in realities. This book keeps your attention, sliding from one case to the next and then back again with such ease that one can easily imagine how busy the detectives are and what it would feel like attempting to balance their work days.
What I enjoyed most was the author’s expertise at slowly dribbling out the clues, allowing us to see no further than the characters so we all discovered the guilty parties at the same time. This was accomplished through true police work, not the fast and furious action we see crammed into 46 minutes of visual exploits on a weekly police television program. While adrenaline junkies may not find this book to be their nirvana, it is refreshing to read a story that is down-to-earth and totally believable.
I also like the main character, Karen Pirie. She is not weighed down by either a medical issue nor a haunting event in her past that threatens to incapacitate her at any moment. Karen is a strong female lead, and Ms. McDermid makes sure this does not go to her head. She leads with confidence rather than sheer force of will, and this aspect alone encourages me to seek out the author’s previous books in this series.
Bottom line: Excellent book loaded with police procedural aspects, and a story that keeps you entertained without gun battles or car chases. Highly recommended. Five stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for an advance complimentary ebook.
While others might write with the belief that their characters always will only work on one case at a time, Ms. McDermid deals in realities. This book keeps your attention, sliding from one case to the next and then back again with such ease that one can easily imagine how busy the detectives are and what it would feel like attempting to balance their work days.
What I enjoyed most was the author’s expertise at slowly dribbling out the clues, allowing us to see no further than the characters so we all discovered the guilty parties at the same time. This was accomplished through true police work, not the fast and furious action we see crammed into 46 minutes of visual exploits on a weekly police television program. While adrenaline junkies may not find this book to be their nirvana, it is refreshing to read a story that is down-to-earth and totally believable.
I also like the main character, Karen Pirie. She is not weighed down by either a medical issue nor a haunting event in her past that threatens to incapacitate her at any moment. Karen is a strong female lead, and Ms. McDermid makes sure this does not go to her head. She leads with confidence rather than sheer force of will, and this aspect alone encourages me to seek out the author’s previous books in this series.
Bottom line: Excellent book loaded with police procedural aspects, and a story that keeps you entertained without gun battles or car chases. Highly recommended. Five stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for an advance complimentary ebook.
Good Scottish police procedural. This is a Karen Pirie novel, part of a series, and a complex individual but a great protagonist.
Fan’s of Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie series will not be disappointed in her latest outing. Pirie is investigating a case whose roots reach back to the end of World War II when returning soldiers sometimes came back with souvenirs that they didn’t own. As usual, Pirie is fiercely loyal to her job: to justice and equity for the victims. That loyalty sets her (again) at odds with her more political superiors, and the tension of the several criminal investigations that are ongoing is ratcheted up by Pirie’s conflict with her boss. “Broken Ground” kept me reading, and dreaming of a trip to Scotland!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Karen is investigating the discovery of a man's body (and two motorbikes) in a peat bog. The sections from 1944-46 explain how the bikes got buried, and are mercifully brief, so the main narrative continues apace. I thought Karen made some stunningly accurate assumptions as to the chain of events which led to the murder, but that didn't detract too much. The characterization of Karen, her colleague Jason, and the couple at the beginning who make the discovery, was especially good.
Recommended.
Recommended.
One of the storylines in Broken Ground is that DCI Karen Pirie’s scheming boss is trying to get rid of her. On this showing, my sympathies are with the boss.
This is what Pirie does in a single week: interfere in a case in which she is a witness, be rude and aggressive to a witness in her own investigation, socialise with a potential suspect, take on a case before getting official clearance and assault another police officer. (There’s more but I’d have to give spoilers.)
There’s nothing wrong with having a dodgy cop as your protagonist, but we are constantly told how brilliant Pirie is and that she has a fantastic clear-up rate. The trouble is, in this book we don’t see her doing anything impressive. All she seems to do all day is eat and moan about the traffic (we also get exhaustive details about the parking arrangements at the various locations she visits).
I’m all for local colour, I used to live in Edinburgh so it’s nice to revisit landmarks, but there are so many namechecks for cafes and restaurants (and even a particular supermarket’s wine) that I was sure McDermid must have a product placement deal. Among all this we are told that Pirie has lost weight, which is about as convincing as the claims of her brilliance.
The case itself is quite interesting, revolving round buried World War 2 loot in the Highlands and a body in a peat bog. However the team establish who their suspect is quite early on, and elements of the story are told in flashback which often repeat what we already know. The end is more grandstanding than dramatic climax and a number of subplots are left dangling.
McDermid is often praised for the accuracy of her use of forensics and has even written a non-fiction book on the subject. But it seems that the commitment to realism does not extend to the rest of her work. Are we really expected to believe that a DCI spends her day looking up birth certificates online, or travelling hundreds of miles on a routine enquiry for elimination purposes? Without even ringing ahead to check if the person she intends to speak to is in?
Broken Ground also introduces a new team member who is childishly rude and insubordinate to Pirie from the start. I found this unconvincing. The police have a strict hierarchy and expectations about behaviour. Of course officers find ways to disrespect and undermine their superiors, but it would be both more realistic and more interesting to see him do it with subtlety. Similarly, Pirie’s boss is a caricature and her motivation for her attacks on Pirie is thin.
Despite everything, the pages keep turning. To use a food analogy (which seems particularly appropriate in this case) it’s like a takeaway that doesn’t taste great and you know won’t do you any good, but it has just the right confection of salt, fat and sugar to make you go on eating.
What frustrates me is the fact that McDermid, like her creation, is capable of so much more. The early Jordan and Hill books, in particular, combined complex characterisation with dramatic storylines and an emotional resonance that stayed with me long after I’d forgotten the plots. Maybe it’s easy for her to turn out a book that’s good enough. But I wish she’d go deep and write something great.
*
I received a copy of Broken Ground from the publisher via Netgalley.
Read more of my reviews at katevane.com
This is what Pirie does in a single week: interfere in a case in which she is a witness, be rude and aggressive to a witness in her own investigation, socialise with a potential suspect, take on a case before getting official clearance and assault another police officer. (There’s more but I’d have to give spoilers.)
There’s nothing wrong with having a dodgy cop as your protagonist, but we are constantly told how brilliant Pirie is and that she has a fantastic clear-up rate. The trouble is, in this book we don’t see her doing anything impressive. All she seems to do all day is eat and moan about the traffic (we also get exhaustive details about the parking arrangements at the various locations she visits).
I’m all for local colour, I used to live in Edinburgh so it’s nice to revisit landmarks, but there are so many namechecks for cafes and restaurants (and even a particular supermarket’s wine) that I was sure McDermid must have a product placement deal. Among all this we are told that Pirie has lost weight, which is about as convincing as the claims of her brilliance.
The case itself is quite interesting, revolving round buried World War 2 loot in the Highlands and a body in a peat bog. However the team establish who their suspect is quite early on, and elements of the story are told in flashback which often repeat what we already know. The end is more grandstanding than dramatic climax and a number of subplots are left dangling.
McDermid is often praised for the accuracy of her use of forensics and has even written a non-fiction book on the subject. But it seems that the commitment to realism does not extend to the rest of her work. Are we really expected to believe that a DCI spends her day looking up birth certificates online, or travelling hundreds of miles on a routine enquiry for elimination purposes? Without even ringing ahead to check if the person she intends to speak to is in?
Broken Ground also introduces a new team member who is childishly rude and insubordinate to Pirie from the start. I found this unconvincing. The police have a strict hierarchy and expectations about behaviour. Of course officers find ways to disrespect and undermine their superiors, but it would be both more realistic and more interesting to see him do it with subtlety. Similarly, Pirie’s boss is a caricature and her motivation for her attacks on Pirie is thin.
Despite everything, the pages keep turning. To use a food analogy (which seems particularly appropriate in this case) it’s like a takeaway that doesn’t taste great and you know won’t do you any good, but it has just the right confection of salt, fat and sugar to make you go on eating.
What frustrates me is the fact that McDermid, like her creation, is capable of so much more. The early Jordan and Hill books, in particular, combined complex characterisation with dramatic storylines and an emotional resonance that stayed with me long after I’d forgotten the plots. Maybe it’s easy for her to turn out a book that’s good enough. But I wish she’d go deep and write something great.
*
I received a copy of Broken Ground from the publisher via Netgalley.
Read more of my reviews at katevane.com
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced