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spygrl1 's review for:
The Distant Echo
by Val McDermid
This is the third novel I've read by Scottish crime writer Val McDermid, and they've all been engrossing. "Distant Echo" begins with four friend, students at St. Andrews College. As they stumble home from a party one December night, they find a young woman bleeding to death in the snow. The police and the community are suspicious of all four, but no evidence directly ties them to the crime and they are never charged. They live the next 25 years under a pall of suspicion, however. When the murder becomes part of a cold case review, they hope they will be cleared, but instead someone seems to be targeting them for belated revenge.
What I like about McDermid's books is that she creates interesting characters. The books aren't just pulpy mysteries. I'm not always happy with her endings, though. This time out, I had figured out the original mystery long before the end. In "A Place of Execution," which overall I thought was her best, I thought the solution was ingenious but implausible.
What I like about McDermid's books is that she creates interesting characters. The books aren't just pulpy mysteries. I'm not always happy with her endings, though. This time out, I had figured out the original mystery long before the end. In "A Place of Execution," which overall I thought was her best, I thought the solution was ingenious but implausible.