Out of Bounds

Product Information

a b "Dr Val McDermid – English, 1972". St Hilda's College, Oxford. 29 January 2016 . Retrieved 29 May 2019.

DCI Karen Pirie is a dedicated, determined and wonderfully flawed protagonist. I have a soft spot for this Detective and enjoyed her strengths and weaknesses because they made her believable. I liked that she was not afraid to question/challenge her colleagues, no matter their rank. I also enjoyed her vulnerabilities which were the foundations of her dedication and ability to get the job done. I felt her loss in terms of her partner, Phil and how she placed herself in risky situations – almost taunting someone to do something so she could be with Phil – knowing the she would fight for survival if anyone were to dare.McDermid considers her work to be part of the " Tartan Noir" Scottish crime fiction genre. [10] In addition to writing novels, McDermid contributes to several British newspapers and often broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland. [11] Her novels, in particular the Tony Hill series, are known for their graphic depictions of violence and torture. Congratulations to St Hilda's Alumnae Team on their Christmas University Challenge Victory". St Hilda's College, Oxford. 2 January 2017 . Retrieved 22 March 2017. This is a police procedural led by a Scottish cold case detective who uses her innate intelligence to solve crimes. The latest case belonged to Inspector Detective Noble. An apparent suicide of one of the sons whose mother was killed on board that ill fated plane. Karen's idea of a professional detective did not include Noble. Although officially this wasn't Karen's case she decided to do her own bit of investigation. This may not sit well with Chief Constable Simon Lees but that never stopped Karen when she had her mind set on finding answers that others had overlooked.

A supposed suicide of Gabriel, a Kinross man, also leads to Karen unofficially opening a cold case on a 1994 aircraft crash. The aircraft contained 4 people, the pilot was an MP and one of the passengers was Gabriel's mother. It was always believed that an incendiary device had caused the aircraft to crash and that the IRA were responsible. As Karen digs deeper, she finds more and more and comes to believe that the terrorists were far from responsible. [3]

Customer reviews

The 2nd cold case is one in which 4 people lost their lives aboard a small engine plane 22 years ago. The consensus is that terrorists blew the plane up. That explanation seemed to satisfy almost everyone...everyone except Inspector Pirie. Ach, a stupid boy showing off to his pals, more than likely. They lifted a Land Rover Defender and somersaulted it over a roundabout on the Perth road in the wee small hours. All three passengers smashed to bits, dead on arrival at Ninewells.'

Kudos, Madam McDermid for another wonderful novel. I hope you will keep writing Pirie novels. I am curious, since you have a number of successful series, if you will entertain a crossover at some point. Brilliant if you would consider it for us fans! Anna Burnside (2 September 2016). "Straight-talking Val McDermid lifts lid on her latest novel and why she's the badass woman of the week". Daily Record . Retrieved 25 October 2016. Meanwhile, Karen finds herself irresistibly drawn to another mystery that she has no business investigating, a mystery that has its roots in a terrorist bombing two decades ago. And again, she finds that nothing is as it seems. Resistance: A Graphic Novel (2021), illustrated by Kathryn Briggs ( Profile Books/ Wellcome Collection, London, ISBN 978-1-78816-3552) I loved McDermid's writing style.She doles out just enough information to keep you in the investigative loop but still mystified as to how all the pieces will fit together. Her Karen Pirie is a rough around the edges, loaded down with baggage insomniac. She’s also quite brilliant and not afraid to stand up to her superiors or bend the rules to obtain the information she needs to solve her case and ensure justice is achieved. I loved how the DNA angle ends up playing a role in the case she covertly investigates in parallel to the one to which she is assigned. I loved how Karen copes with a numpty of an assistant and how she comes to Jason’s aid when he puts their investigation in jeopardy and brings Karen’s superiors barking at her heels. I even liked the Syrian refugee subplot generated thanks to Pirie’s late night strolls through the streets of Edinburgh.On 23 October 2016 McDermid married her partner of two years, Jo Sharp, a professor of geography at the University of Glasgow. [34] [35] At the end of chapter 3, I’m told I’m reading about DCI Karen Pirie, and then I remember what happened in the last book. I re-read the chapter because it defines who Karen is now. This is one reason why I enjoy Val McDermid’s books. She surprises me. The best recent thrillers – review roundup". the Guardian. 7 September 2021 . Retrieved 16 April 2022. She walked. Whenever sleep slipped from her grasp, she walked. It occurred to her that her life had come to resemble the first draft of an advertising script for Guinness or Stella Artois. “She walks. That’s what she does.” Except that there was no brightly lit pub full of cheery faces waiting to greet her at the end of her wanderings.