A review by billymac1962
The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid

5.0

There were a couple of visitors to my site who had recommended this one. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

The serial killer sub-genre has certainly been watered down over the years, so I usually take a grain of salt before trying a new one, half-expecting the same old cliches. Almost always I can find some bit of dialogue or a lucky break in a case that makes me roll my eyes but I could find nothing like that in this tale.

This is an entirely believable story, with entirely believable characters, and an entirely believable investigation. It's also one of the very few novels with a killer that genuinely frightened me.
The pacing of the story is very much similar to that of A Philosophical Investigation, by Phillip Kerr, in that each chapter is followed by an entry in the killer's diary.
These entries served to convince me that this person could exist, and that anyone can be a victim. I love novels that feature behavioral
science as criminal profiling, and this is prominent in The Mermaids Singing. A great read. Thank you Val!