How the Dead Speak is the 11th in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series and an uncomfortable one in some ways, because after their last outing Tony Hill, psychiatrist and forensic profiler, is in jail for manslaughter and Carol has resigned from active police duty.
How is Tony managing life in prison? He is writing a book and we get to see snippets as epigraphs to chapters. Surviving in a prison population is crucial, and Tony does what he can to aid fellow prisoners and to protect himself at the same time.
Carol, who has been trying to keep busy, suddenly finds herself involved with a couple of situations that require her expertise. Tony's vile mother has asked for Carol's help and a request to investigate a possible miscarriage of justice for the Innocence Project give Carol an outlet for her skills.
The former ReMIT team has a case in which hundreds of bones have turned up when a new development on the grounds of a former convent/girls school. The bodies date from the time the nuns were running the school some 20-40 years ago, and if that isn't enough, more recent bodies of young men turn up as well. Paula McIntire and other familiar characters take the lead in this plot thread. I'm wondering if they will be mostly on their own in future books.
A lot going on in McDermid's latest Tony Hill/Carol Jordan installment!
Read in July; blog review scheduled for Nov. 11.
NetGalley/Grove Atlantic
Police Procedura/Crime. Dec. 3, 2019. Print length: 480 pages.
I don't think I've read any of her books. This sounds like a great series to follow.
ReplyDeleteShe has several series, some stand-alones, and some nonfiction. I've read the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan and Karen Pirie book, and I want to read her nonfiction Forensics: An Anatomy of a Crime.
DeleteI'm a big Val McDermid fan for precisely the reasons you mentioned. I l read mysteries and "thrillers," especially the series, more for the characters than for the actual plots. If the characters aren't developed well, a mystery can be as annoying to me as watching someone do magic tricks. (I'm not a fan of magic because I want to know how they did it and I'm not impressed with an illusion if I already know it's an act.)
ReplyDeleteFortunately, some authors manage both characters and plots--but if I the characters are good, I'm less picky about plots. I also feel the same way about magic. :)
DeleteI know I've read a book by this author, I just can't remember which one! Don't you hate when that happens?
ReplyDeleteHappens to frequently that I can't remember specific titles!
DeleteI've read a handful of McDermid mysteries, including the first two of the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series and the first two in the Karen Pirie series. My favorite still, however, is the stand-alone A Place of Execution.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember reading A Place of Execution (good reference to Lark's comment!). I should check the library!
DeleteA Place of Execution was bone-chilling and one of my favorites of her books. I've long been a McDermid fan, and was thrilled when I got to meet her at The Poisoned Pen. Her book, Forensics, is waiting patiently on the shelf for me to pick it up. :-)
DeleteI want to read Forensics, too!
DeleteI don't think I will ever forget Mermaids Singing. I didn't keep up with this series for some reason. Need to rectify that (saw on Twitter that she proposed to her partner! So happy for them!)
ReplyDeleteMcDermid is the grand dame of the crime genre. Ha! I missed the proposal information--congrats to both of them. :)
DeleteI like it when characters are well written and developed. That can make or break a book for me. I haven't tried this series, but it sounds like it continues to be a good one.
ReplyDeleteThe Karen Pirie series is also very good!
DeleteI've read her standalone, A Place for Execution, and thought it was so well done. I really need to read this series as I'm sure I'm going to love it!
ReplyDeleteThe Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series has some dark elements as Tony Hill is called in on some pretty gruesome crimes. The first books are those that establish his credentials and the relationships of all the characters.
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