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A review by canada_matt
Cross and Burn by Val McDermid
4.0
McDermid left some substantial threads hanging at the end of THE RETRIBUTION, leaving the reader to wonder what path things might take. Picking up the story mere months after the Jacko Vance sequel, the scene is as follows: the MIT is no more, her team reassigned; Carol Jordan is no longer a DCI, nor does she work with Bradfield or any other force; and Tony Hill has been cut out of Jordan life entirely, for reasons related to Jacko Vance and his fallibility. All this while McDermid pushes a new case to the forefront, complete with a new and sadistic killer, a man seeking the perfect wife. Women with a strong resemblance to Carol Jordan are being kidnapped and eventually killed, their bodies brutalised and dumped. DS Paula McIntyre, formerly of MIT is working the case in Bradfield, while trying to hunt down an acquaintance who may have become tangled in this web. Away from all the action, Jordan herself has taken to the like of a Do it Yourselfer, in the hopes that this will bring her solace, and adapting to the life of a private citizen. While DS McIntyre continues piecing things together, with the help of the ever-resourceful Dr. Hill, himself dealing with the loss of Jordan and the MIT, she stumbles upon some evidence that blows the investigation in a direction no one saw coming. Calling on Hill's mental acuity and Jordan's sleuthing skills, they are forced to work together to ensure this serial killer does not slip through their fingers and the wrong person is left to bear the brunt of justice's fine fist. A page-turner that surpasses much of what McDermid has brought to the reader up to this point.
With a protagonist shift from Hill-Jordan over to DS McIntyre, McDermid paints a different picture in this novel and one that is highly enjoyable. While always on the periphery, McIntyre is now front and centre and faces much of the strain readers are used to seeing yoked upon Jordan. Multi-layered and quite intriguing, the reader learns much more about McIntyre and her skills, using old connections and forging new ones to set her apart from the DC role she played on the MIT crew. Wonderfully woven into the story line, McDermid offers both sides of the story and breaks the novel into day segments (but in a more effective way, as I lamented gargantuan chapters in an earlier review). Highly addictive and surely one that will keep the reader up late into the night.
As I have reached the 'up to date' point in my Hill-Jordan reading, I want to offer a short summary and add some comments on the series that I have seen progress in my time as an avid reader. Reflecting back on the eight books to date, much has changed and evolved over that time. First and foremost would have to be the evolution of the Hill-Jordan relationship. The attentive reader will have seen much percolating around these two, with little actual progress to push them together. There was a spark, one that almost cost Jordan her life, but little concrete movement towards the animalistic passions McDermid paints for the reader, leaving many to yell onto the pages of the book to "get on with it, already!". Secondly, the creation of MIT came at a time in the series where an injected new angle was needed. While Hill-Jordan are highly entertaining and intriguing, as I mentioned in an earlier review, both characters needed geographic grounding in order to bring some sense of normalcy to the story. Jordan flitted from job to job and Hill followed her (sometimes choosing a longer path), keeping them on one another's radar. However, MIT allowed some foundation-building and new characters that have come to grace the pages of the novels and produced some wonderful sub-plots. Great characters breed wonderful stories and McDermid has shown that repeatedly. Lastly, the crimes and victimology found within the series has been wonderful. I do not say that with a macabre twinge, but to have such detailed and sometimes horrific imagery helps personalise the story. A shooting or stabbing is one thing, but McDermid wants to really get under the reader's skin with horrific happenings, perhaps to fuel a desire to catch the killer. She has not shied away from any of it and I hope she keeps this angle of her writing strong and fresh, as it does wonders for my interest level.
Kudos, Madam McDermid for a splendid addition to the series. Where will you go from here?
With a protagonist shift from Hill-Jordan over to DS McIntyre, McDermid paints a different picture in this novel and one that is highly enjoyable. While always on the periphery, McIntyre is now front and centre and faces much of the strain readers are used to seeing yoked upon Jordan. Multi-layered and quite intriguing, the reader learns much more about McIntyre and her skills, using old connections and forging new ones to set her apart from the DC role she played on the MIT crew. Wonderfully woven into the story line, McDermid offers both sides of the story and breaks the novel into day segments (but in a more effective way, as I lamented gargantuan chapters in an earlier review). Highly addictive and surely one that will keep the reader up late into the night.
As I have reached the 'up to date' point in my Hill-Jordan reading, I want to offer a short summary and add some comments on the series that I have seen progress in my time as an avid reader. Reflecting back on the eight books to date, much has changed and evolved over that time. First and foremost would have to be the evolution of the Hill-Jordan relationship. The attentive reader will have seen much percolating around these two, with little actual progress to push them together. There was a spark, one that almost cost Jordan her life, but little concrete movement towards the animalistic passions McDermid paints for the reader, leaving many to yell onto the pages of the book to "get on with it, already!". Secondly, the creation of MIT came at a time in the series where an injected new angle was needed. While Hill-Jordan are highly entertaining and intriguing, as I mentioned in an earlier review, both characters needed geographic grounding in order to bring some sense of normalcy to the story. Jordan flitted from job to job and Hill followed her (sometimes choosing a longer path), keeping them on one another's radar. However, MIT allowed some foundation-building and new characters that have come to grace the pages of the novels and produced some wonderful sub-plots. Great characters breed wonderful stories and McDermid has shown that repeatedly. Lastly, the crimes and victimology found within the series has been wonderful. I do not say that with a macabre twinge, but to have such detailed and sometimes horrific imagery helps personalise the story. A shooting or stabbing is one thing, but McDermid wants to really get under the reader's skin with horrific happenings, perhaps to fuel a desire to catch the killer. She has not shied away from any of it and I hope she keeps this angle of her writing strong and fresh, as it does wonders for my interest level.
Kudos, Madam McDermid for a splendid addition to the series. Where will you go from here?