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A review by tracey_stewart
The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid
4.0
After finishing Mapp and Lucia a while back, I felt in need of murder and mayhem. I can't say I've ever felt that before; I don't remember ever hating one book's characters enough to want to go read graphic descriptions of a serial killer's work. Although the demographic being murdered in The Mermaids Singing was completely different from that I had a wished death on in M&L, it still hit the spot.
That sounds a bit twisted, doesn't it…
It hit the spot surprisingly well, in fact. Maybe I've watched too much "Criminal Minds" and "Walking Dead" and so on over the years (and Wire in the Blood); maybe I've become jaded. Because this was beyond all doubt graphic. I usually do avoid this subsection of the genre, but back when Netflix still included streaming video with all subscriptions I stumbled on and became a huge fan of "The Wire in the Blood", and being as this is what that was based on, I wanted more of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan.
And that's exactly what I got. As it turns out, the first episode of the TV series was a remarkably faithful adaptation of this first book. Happily, I saw it long enough ago that details had faded, and my memory is bad enough that the end wasn't spoiled.
This isn't one of the sporting class of murder mysteries, where the clues are planted throughout the story for the clever and attentive reader to pick up and put together. This is pure procedural, with the coppers both dreading and hoping for the next victim of the serial killer on the loose: dreading, for obvious reasons, and anticipating in hopes that with a new body will come more data toward finding the killer. Intercut with the personal and professional lives of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan and their colleagues are journal entries from the killer, shadowing the timeline without giving away any real detail about the killer except how contact was made with the victims.
But it all really comes down to those two, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan. They're terrific characters. I don't know that I'm quite jaded enough to pursue the book series - but it's good to know it's out there.
That sounds a bit twisted, doesn't it…
It hit the spot surprisingly well, in fact. Maybe I've watched too much "Criminal Minds" and "Walking Dead" and so on over the years (and Wire in the Blood); maybe I've become jaded. Because this was beyond all doubt graphic. I usually do avoid this subsection of the genre, but back when Netflix still included streaming video with all subscriptions I stumbled on and became a huge fan of "The Wire in the Blood", and being as this is what that was based on, I wanted more of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan.
And that's exactly what I got. As it turns out, the first episode of the TV series was a remarkably faithful adaptation of this first book. Happily, I saw it long enough ago that details had faded, and my memory is bad enough that the end wasn't spoiled.
This isn't one of the sporting class of murder mysteries, where the clues are planted throughout the story for the clever and attentive reader to pick up and put together. This is pure procedural, with the coppers both dreading and hoping for the next victim of the serial killer on the loose: dreading, for obvious reasons, and anticipating in hopes that with a new body will come more data toward finding the killer. Intercut with the personal and professional lives of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan and their colleagues are journal entries from the killer, shadowing the timeline without giving away any real detail about the killer except how contact was made with the victims.
But it all really comes down to those two, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan. They're terrific characters. I don't know that I'm quite jaded enough to pursue the book series - but it's good to know it's out there.