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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
For some reason, this book is listed as the first of the "Karen Pirie" series. I'd read one further along the line (#5, I think it was) and figured to try to begin at the beginning. Karen Pirie has only a couple of cameo appearances in this book. Weird.
So, we begin in 1978. Four extremely inebriated youth are staggering home after a late night of partying and one of them falls across the body of a young bar maid, Rosie Duff. She's been stabbed. The police, not really knowing what to do, figure one of the boys is a chief suspect, and the tabloids certainly like them as perps. But, all attempts to find incriminating evidence on any of the boys is not to be found.
Then we fast forward twenty-five years. The police decide to open up a cold case, using the tools of modern forensics that were unavailable at the time of Rosie Duff's original killing. In addition, it appears that Rosie Duff had had a child at one time—immediately adopted off and well hushed— and he has decided that the boys must pay for having murdered his mother. He becomes quite obsessive about it. But, for some reason, most of the forensic evidence from 25 years previously has mysteriously disappeared.
Next thing you know, first one, then a second of the boys, now of course men with various careers, is killed off in suspicious circumstances. So what is going on?
Basically, the police don't seem to be doing much of anything, and it's some of the original four who begin doing a bit of sleuthing on their own to come up with a surprising solution.
This was a pretty interesting and engaging book, but as I said, attributing it to a "Karen Pirie series" is a bit of a stretch.
So, we begin in 1978. Four extremely inebriated youth are staggering home after a late night of partying and one of them falls across the body of a young bar maid, Rosie Duff. She's been stabbed. The police, not really knowing what to do, figure one of the boys is a chief suspect, and the tabloids certainly like them as perps. But, all attempts to find incriminating evidence on any of the boys is not to be found.
Then we fast forward twenty-five years. The police decide to open up a cold case, using the tools of modern forensics that were unavailable at the time of Rosie Duff's original killing. In addition, it appears that Rosie Duff had had a child at one time—immediately adopted off and well hushed— and he has decided that the boys must pay for having murdered his mother. He becomes quite obsessive about it. But, for some reason, most of the forensic evidence from 25 years previously has mysteriously disappeared.
Next thing you know, first one, then a second of the boys, now of course men with various careers, is killed off in suspicious circumstances. So what is going on?
Basically, the police don't seem to be doing much of anything, and it's some of the original four who begin doing a bit of sleuthing on their own to come up with a surprising solution.
This was a pretty interesting and engaging book, but as I said, attributing it to a "Karen Pirie series" is a bit of a stretch.
It's crystal clear that I need to read more Val McDermid.
A Place of Execution was one of the best things I read in 2021, but I consistently punt on her books. I finally bought 1979 with some Christmas money after returning it three times to the library unfinished. I don't know why, don't ask me to explain it. She's very good.
Like the other one I read, this is a character driven crime novel with a mystery that's resolved in a textured way. There are twists that feel legit, as opposed to the Jump Scare Style of so many thriller writers. The persons are all three dimensional and the stakes high. I had a decent idea of who the killer was but this still go me thinking.
I read this because the BBC series Karen Pirie is now broadcasting stateside. I wouldn't recommend picking it up just for that. Pirie herself doesn't even show up until act two and isn't really featured until near the end. This isn't a book about high end sleuthing. The bulk of the plot revolves around the four boys/men who discovered the body and how their lives changed after...and to see if one of them is the killer. So it's not that kind of catch-and-mouse whodunnit featuring a brilliant detective and a villain. But it's still very good and I encourage everyone to try it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what they cull from this for the series. And I'm definitely looking forward to reading more Val McDermid. No more excuses.
A Place of Execution was one of the best things I read in 2021, but I consistently punt on her books. I finally bought 1979 with some Christmas money after returning it three times to the library unfinished. I don't know why, don't ask me to explain it. She's very good.
Like the other one I read, this is a character driven crime novel with a mystery that's resolved in a textured way. There are twists that feel legit, as opposed to the Jump Scare Style of so many thriller writers. The persons are all three dimensional and the stakes high. I had a decent idea of who the killer was but this still go me thinking.
I read this because the BBC series Karen Pirie is now broadcasting stateside. I wouldn't recommend picking it up just for that. Pirie herself doesn't even show up until act two and isn't really featured until near the end. This isn't a book about high end sleuthing. The bulk of the plot revolves around the four boys/men who discovered the body and how their lives changed after...and to see if one of them is the killer. So it's not that kind of catch-and-mouse whodunnit featuring a brilliant detective and a villain. But it's still very good and I encourage everyone to try it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what they cull from this for the series. And I'm definitely looking forward to reading more Val McDermid. No more excuses.
The pacing is a bit odd. It takes forever to get the storying going. When it finally get to the reveal of the murder it’s over in a second, just for the after to stretch out again.
We love a book where you can guess the murderer and there's no random dropped in character. It's so satisfying to put the pieces together! On a sidenote, I miss St Andrews and really want to be back!!! I never made that particular walk to DRA, and had never heard of hallow hill but I'd love to check it out!
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A satisfying, complex mystery but too dark for my taste.
Well, this was disappointing. This book started out with a great premise, and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing with it. Every part of this book dragged, even during the final showdown I was impatient, hoping they'd just get on with it. Another problem for me was that I knew who the real murderer was less than halfway through the book, so everything after that was pretty anticlimactic. The characters weren't particularly engaging either, and I kept shaking my head at their sheer stupidity. The ending, once it finally arrived, was supremely satisfying, with a cut away from the action and a brief summary that several murders would not be prosecuted despite a full confession from the murderer.
My one-word summary: disapponment.
My one-word summary: disapponment.
I think, if I'd read the book first and then watched the TV show, I would have rated this a 4* read. However, I saw the TV series first, and it was so well arranged, and Karen Pirie came through as such a strong character, with a clear, concise personality and skill at her job that the book left me feeling a little...disappointed?
At first, I loved the full 40% focus on the past investigation, which felt clearer and easier to follow than the jumping back and forth in time of the TV show. Until that point, everything was going great. I could see how they'd taken Weird/Mondo and amalgamated them for the show, and it made sense.
Everything fell apart by the time we got into the present day investigation.
1) the investigation was *seriously* lacking, on page. We got to see SO little of actual police work.
2) the lack of Karen Pirie. This is the BIGGEST problem, for me. I get that this is "introducing Karen Pirie", but I got zero picture of who she is as a cop, as a woman, as a character, through her very limited on page presence. It takes 56% before we see ANYTHING of Karen Pirie, on page. That's 16% of the modern day investigation before she even appears.
Sadly, the Karen Pirie aspect of the book was the biggest disappointment for me. She arrived so late into the book, with so little presence, and she did absolutely nothing of worth during the investigation, that it was hard to get a feel for who she is and what to expect of her next case. It felt more like the Lawson/Gilbey investigation.
HOWEVER...I will be reading more. It's possible this was written before Karen Pirie was meant to be the central character of the series, or even before there was a series in the works. That's how it came across to me, so I'm holding out hope that the next book/s will help show Karen in a clearer light.
I did really like the investigation, the cold case review concept, and the dual layer timeline. I think it had SO much potential, but because I saw the TV show first, it left me wanting more of that feisty, strong Karen I saw on the show.
At first, I loved the full 40% focus on the past investigation, which felt clearer and easier to follow than the jumping back and forth in time of the TV show. Until that point, everything was going great. I could see how they'd taken Weird/Mondo and amalgamated them for the show, and it made sense.
Everything fell apart by the time we got into the present day investigation.
1) the investigation was *seriously* lacking, on page. We got to see SO little of actual police work.
2) the lack of Karen Pirie. This is the BIGGEST problem, for me. I get that this is "introducing Karen Pirie", but I got zero picture of who she is as a cop, as a woman, as a character, through her very limited on page presence. It takes 56% before we see ANYTHING of Karen Pirie, on page. That's 16% of the modern day investigation before she even appears.
Sadly, the Karen Pirie aspect of the book was the biggest disappointment for me. She arrived so late into the book, with so little presence, and she did absolutely nothing of worth during the investigation, that it was hard to get a feel for who she is and what to expect of her next case. It felt more like the Lawson/Gilbey investigation.
HOWEVER...I will be reading more. It's possible this was written before Karen Pirie was meant to be the central character of the series, or even before there was a series in the works. That's how it came across to me, so I'm holding out hope that the next book/s will help show Karen in a clearer light.
I did really like the investigation, the cold case review concept, and the dual layer timeline. I think it had SO much potential, but because I saw the TV show first, it left me wanting more of that feisty, strong Karen I saw on the show.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow. This was so good it kept me up til 2am three nights in a row!
Gilly, Weird, Ziggy and Mondo have been friends and since highshool in Kirkcaldy. Now living together in St Andrews while they attend the university, an evening at the pub takes a nasty turn when they take a short cut past the cemetery and stumble across a dying woman instantly becoming prime suspects (and social pariahs).
25 years later, the crime remains unsolved but when the cold case team starts digging in to it again, the four friends lives are turned upside down all over again. Could one of them really have done it and kept it a secret for all those years?
Gilly, Weird, Ziggy and Mondo have been friends and since highshool in Kirkcaldy. Now living together in St Andrews while they attend the university, an evening at the pub takes a nasty turn when they take a short cut past the cemetery and stumble across a dying woman instantly becoming prime suspects (and social pariahs).
25 years later, the crime remains unsolved but when the cold case team starts digging in to it again, the four friends lives are turned upside down all over again. Could one of them really have done it and kept it a secret for all those years?