Reviews - The Distant Echo

325 reviews for:

The Distant Echo

Val McDermid

3.78 AVERAGE

nickartrip102's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I recently decided that I would like to read more mystery/crime fiction, so I selected The Distant Echo by Val McDermid as my next read. The novel opens on a winter morning in 1978. Alex Gilbey and three of his friends stumble upon the body of Rosie Duff and become the only suspects in her brutal murder. With no evidence except for her blood on their hands, they're never charged. Twenty-five years later, the Cold Case file on Rosie Duff is reopened. The investigation reopens old wounds for Alex and when two of his friends who were along with him that night die under suspicious circumstances, Alex finds himself in danger and desperate for answers.

What I appreciated most about The Distant Echo was the depth of the backstory and the characters. I’ve read a few mysteries where all the characters felt wooden and incidental to the plot. Ziggy, Weird, Mondo, and Gilly all felt very real, sometimes annoyingly so (my god, the amount of I wanted to physically reach through the pages to shake or slap Weird and Mondo!) The detectives and police involved were all given such great nuance too, except for perhaps Karen Pirie who mostly felt incidental to the plot despite making a pivotal discovery in the story. It did, however, make me consider how the events of this first novel in the series might affect her crime solving down the line.

Confession: I fully selected this book because I had no idea what to pick and I enjoyed the first season of the Karen Pirie television show but couldn't remember how the mystery was solved. Some answers did creep up on me as I remembered certain details, but I was still able to approach this book with a fresh mindset…and because I somehow had gotten the ending mixed up with an episode of Vera. So, with my mind playing tricks on me, I was surprised by the ending and slapped my hand to my forehead as I reconsidered all the details I had overlooked in my race to the conclusion. Really great stuff, The Distant Echo maintained a firm grip on my attention from beginning to end.