Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by darknessfish
The Distant Echo by Val McDermid
4.0
I picked this up free from a recent stay in a holiday cottage, originally only interested because of her close association with Ian Rankin and Iain Banks, two of my very favourite authors. I didn't expect much, after learning that she's at least partly responsible for a TV series involving Robson Greene, but I must admit to being pleasantly surprised.
It's very much a game of two halves, the first following four close friends in their student years as they cope with the pressure of being unjustly vilified as murder suspects in a small community. The second half follows some 25 years later, as their rebuilt lives begin to crumble when a cold-case review reopens the case, and the suspects start being bumped-off in suspicious circumstances. Although the book is well-written throughout, with a tightly constructed plot, the first half was what really gripped me. Once the victim's body has been literally stumbled upon, the way the author handles the behaviour of the four protagonists is a marvel. Each of the four react differently, yet entirely believably to the pressure, some growing as individuals, some experiencing understandable psychological crumblings.
In the second half, the details that seemed to be little more than circumstantial detail turn into important turning points, and the plot unfolds quite beautifully. It's not quite water-tight, and finding a friendly local forensic expert specialising in paint is quite a slice of luck for a case hinging on such evidence, but by the climax that barely seems to matter. The resolution is probably the least interesting aspect here, it's the handling of character here which really matters, and in that, it's something of a masterclass. Clumsy clichés are skilfully avoided, and genuine insight appears to be reached. It's the first book I've read by Val McDermid, but if the rest are in this kind of class, it will only be the first of many.
It's very much a game of two halves, the first following four close friends in their student years as they cope with the pressure of being unjustly vilified as murder suspects in a small community. The second half follows some 25 years later, as their rebuilt lives begin to crumble when a cold-case review reopens the case, and the suspects start being bumped-off in suspicious circumstances. Although the book is well-written throughout, with a tightly constructed plot, the first half was what really gripped me. Once the victim's body has been literally stumbled upon, the way the author handles the behaviour of the four protagonists is a marvel. Each of the four react differently, yet entirely believably to the pressure, some growing as individuals, some experiencing understandable psychological crumblings.
In the second half, the details that seemed to be little more than circumstantial detail turn into important turning points, and the plot unfolds quite beautifully. It's not quite water-tight, and finding a friendly local forensic expert specialising in paint is quite a slice of luck for a case hinging on such evidence, but by the climax that barely seems to matter. The resolution is probably the least interesting aspect here, it's the handling of character here which really matters, and in that, it's something of a masterclass. Clumsy clichés are skilfully avoided, and genuine insight appears to be reached. It's the first book I've read by Val McDermid, but if the rest are in this kind of class, it will only be the first of many.