A review by pjgal22
The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid

4.0

I started reading this one a few years ago but stopped about 30 pages in when it became apparent the killer would be honing 'his' torture skills on a german shepherd. I read plenty of grisly and disturbing crime fiction, but animal torture is where I draw the line (and is the reason I've never been able to bring myself to finish the Stephen King short story 'Apt Pupil'). I decided to revisit this one, though, after finishing Beneath the Bleeding, because I wanted to have all the pieces of the puzzle in Tony and Carol's relationship, and this book is where it began. I'm also planning to start watching The Wire In the Blood on Netflix's instant play, and the first episode is based on this book. Glad I gave it another chance. Tony and Carol are two of my favorite characters in crime fiction, and there's critical information here about how they relate to each other. Fortunately, much of the torture in this book takes place 'offscreen', so to speak, and is left to the readers' imagination. Don't get me wrong; it's still a very disturbing story, but I was able to get through it without wishing I hadn't tried. What I've discovered about McDermid's books is that I can usually figure out the mystery about 100 pages before the end. Perhaps that's her intent; heaven knows there are plenty of other crime fiction writers out there who manage to keep me guessing until the big reveal, so it's not that I consider myself particularly skilled in solving mystery plots. Regardless, I find that being able to finger the killer just before the police do actually makes her books quite enjoyable. It heightens the suspense. All in all, I found this to be a very satisfactory read.