Scan barcode
wendoxford's review against another edition
4.0
Just great to pick up Carol & Tony's story which looked as though it had crashed and burned in the last volume. This is a pick-up of seemingly unresolvible (?) differences at the end of the last chapter. We follow the familiar and addictive characters through and vicariously through, another another serial murder, rather different from previous cases.
Addictive, page turning and memorable. Loved it...
Addictive, page turning and memorable. Loved it...
bgg616's review against another edition
4.0
This is 4.5 stars for me. For readers familiar with DCI Carol Jordan and Psychologist Tony Hill, as well as watchers of the TV series Wire in the Blood, this is a must-read. A serial killer is killing women in Bradford, and the police are on a wrong-footed approach to the case. This book finds Carol and Tony out of the roles we have long known them for. I won't go into the reasons why as the book will reveal the reasons. DI Paula McIntyre who has appeared in this series in the past as part of DCI Carol Jordan's team, plays a major part in this story. McDermid knows how to weave a grim tale without gratitous violence. Her characters and story development at top notch and I am looking forward to the next chapter in this series.
futurelegend's review against another edition
2.0
I've always enjoyed reading Val McDermid, although it's been a while now, so when I saw this one I really wanted to enjoy it too. It was ok. It just about kept my interest but it felt tired, as if Val was just going through the motions to keep her publishers happy with yet another Tony Hill moneyspinner.
The author has a problem with Tony Hill, and she's well aware of what it is because I heard her say so in person more than ten years ago. He was intended to be a one-off, in a standalone book The Mermaids Singing. In that excellent but harrowing thriller she'd said everything there was to say about Tony and his foil Carol Jordan, and it was a struggle to develop them in one followup, let alone seven. There's also only so many ways you can repeat the sadistic serial killer theme. The first time shocks, the second titillates, and after that you just tighten the screws, as Philip Marlowe might have said, but didn't. It's the curse of the TV franchise of course.
Still, it's good to see McDermid appropriate the character created by and for the TV series, DCI Alex Fielding, and bring her down a peg or two.
The author has a problem with Tony Hill, and she's well aware of what it is because I heard her say so in person more than ten years ago. He was intended to be a one-off, in a standalone book The Mermaids Singing. In that excellent but harrowing thriller she'd said everything there was to say about Tony and his foil Carol Jordan, and it was a struggle to develop them in one followup, let alone seven. There's also only so many ways you can repeat the sadistic serial killer theme. The first time shocks, the second titillates, and after that you just tighten the screws, as Philip Marlowe might have said, but didn't. It's the curse of the TV franchise of course.
Still, it's good to see McDermid appropriate the character created by and for the TV series, DCI Alex Fielding, and bring her down a peg or two.
caitlinxmartin's review against another edition
4.0
I'm very fond of Val McDermid. I like her series and her standalones and remain impressed with both her output and her continued quality. McDermid tells stories and she tells those stories well. Her characters cover the waterfront of diversity and this makes her stories feel even more real to me - nothing is whitewashed or sanitized, it's all out there just like in real life.
Cross and Burn is number eight in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series. Briefly, Tony Hill is a forensic psychologist and Carol Jordan is a DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) who team together in order to solve particularly brutal crimes of all kinds (both serial and isolated). Their relationship is close and distant and hovering and complex, but they're great as a pair for the reader even though they can't seem to work it out. If Ms. McDermid were a more conventional writer the various kinds of flapping about and hand-wringing that accompany the ambiguous nature of the Hill/Jordan relationship would make me toss these books against the wall and move on, but she manages this part of her story with admirable restraint.
This is the first book where the Hill/Jordan team is separated due to the events of the previous book, The Retribution. Paula McIntyre, familiar to readers of the series, takes center stage as she tries to determine who is killing women who look just like Carol Jordan. Tony and Carol are in this book, but in many ways this is more a book about the people who worked with them, their team, and the sudden disbanding of it. I've always liked Paula as a character - she's so very straightforward and has a keen insight into the heart of a matter. It was lovely to have her character fleshed out more in this book. Equally lovely was to watch Tony and Carol find some new ways to proceed in the world and to deal with the glimpse into the notion that while they are valuable, the world still goes on around them and without them.
If you haven't read the series, it's accessible to entry at any point, although I would recommend going back to the very first one and reading through just for the pleasure of watching it all unfold. I enjoyed Cross and Burn and read it avidly like the treat it was - highly recommended for lovers of crime fiction in all its guises.
Cross and Burn is number eight in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series. Briefly, Tony Hill is a forensic psychologist and Carol Jordan is a DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) who team together in order to solve particularly brutal crimes of all kinds (both serial and isolated). Their relationship is close and distant and hovering and complex, but they're great as a pair for the reader even though they can't seem to work it out. If Ms. McDermid were a more conventional writer the various kinds of flapping about and hand-wringing that accompany the ambiguous nature of the Hill/Jordan relationship would make me toss these books against the wall and move on, but she manages this part of her story with admirable restraint.
This is the first book where the Hill/Jordan team is separated due to the events of the previous book, The Retribution. Paula McIntyre, familiar to readers of the series, takes center stage as she tries to determine who is killing women who look just like Carol Jordan. Tony and Carol are in this book, but in many ways this is more a book about the people who worked with them, their team, and the sudden disbanding of it. I've always liked Paula as a character - she's so very straightforward and has a keen insight into the heart of a matter. It was lovely to have her character fleshed out more in this book. Equally lovely was to watch Tony and Carol find some new ways to proceed in the world and to deal with the glimpse into the notion that while they are valuable, the world still goes on around them and without them.
If you haven't read the series, it's accessible to entry at any point, although I would recommend going back to the very first one and reading through just for the pleasure of watching it all unfold. I enjoyed Cross and Burn and read it avidly like the treat it was - highly recommended for lovers of crime fiction in all its guises.
theinkdrinker's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jennybeastie's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know how I missed this book, but it explains a lot about where #9 starts. Weirdly, you can read #9 without this one, but I can't think why you'd want to. Checks all the boxes -- fast paced, creepy thriller with interesting profiling. A reunion with familiar and well loved characters, and a new chapter in everyone's life. Satisfying.
tanyarobinson's review against another edition
3.0
I had a hard time getting going on Cross and Burn; everything started out so dark and depressing. But it picked up momentum, and I thought the author did a good job of gradually unfolding the story. Still, not my favorite McDermid mystery.