Adult Book of the Month
The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid
Published by Little Brown in 2014
When a skeleton is discovered hidden at the top of a crumbling, gothic
building in Edinburgh, Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is faced
with the unenviable task of identifying the bones. As Karen's investigation
gathers momentum, she is drawn deeper into a world of intrigue and betrayal,
spanning the dark days of the Balkan Wars.
Karen's search for answers brings her to a small village in Croatia, a
place scarred by fear, where people have endured unspeakable acts of violence.
Meanwhile, someone is taking the law into their own hands in the name
of justice and revenge -- but when present resentment collides with secrets
of the past, the truth is more shocking than anyone could have imagined
. . .
The Skeleton Road is a new stand-alone mystery in which McDermid
introduces a new character Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie. It’s
very likely that this is not the last we’ll see of DCI Pirie.
Atmospheric and chillingly disturbing Irish Independent
The book is gripping, thought-provoking and original
- a tour de force Literary Review
A tense, intelligent and unusual thriller Sunday Mirror
The Skeleton Road does an excellent job of wrangling
with these big ideas inside a tightly paced mystery with wonderful depictions
of place, characters we come to care about and an ending that contains
at least one unhappy surprise.
Janet Napolitano LA Times
Val McDermid‘s novels have been translated into
more than thirty languages, and have sold over eleven million copies.
She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger
for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award.
She has been described as "the acknowledged queen of the psychological
thriller". Val McDermid and Paul Carson will join Seán Rocks
in glór on Saturday 7th March as part of the Ennis Book
Club Festival 2015.
