Tuesday 17 May 2011

Trick of the Dark ~ Val McDermid

For some reason I simply can't imagine I missed the publication of Val McDermid's latest stand alone novel, Trick of the Dark and consequently I've only just got round to reading it.  Never mind, If I'd read it on publication I wouldn't have had the pleasure of curling up over it during the past few evenings although, as usual where McDermid is concerned, now that I've finished it I feel completely bereft.  I don't know any other writer of crime fiction who is as good in her one off fiction as she is in her series work.  Much as I look forward to a new Tony Hill novel this autumn, McDermid is the one writer who doesn't elicit a groan with the announcement of a non-series publication.  Her last novel, A Darker Domain, which recalled memories all too vivid of the social devastation of the Miners' Strike, was brilliant and this latest is just as good.

Charlie Flint is a senior lecturer in Clinical Psychology and Psychological Profiling accredited by the Home Office to work with the police as a profiler.  Or rather she was.  All that is now in limbo as her suitability is called into question following a trial that has gone spectacularly wrong.  Brought in to give her opinion as to whether or not the accused had committed the crime for which he was indicted, she (correctly as it turns out) states that she thinks he was not.  However, despite her warning that while he may not have killed on this occasion he is likely to in future, the accused is set free and goes on to kill four times before he is brought up before the courts again.  In as spectacular piece of unfairness as you could imagine, Charlie is publicly held to blame for this and while the General Medical Council considers her position she is banned from practising.

Going stir crazy, Charlie is almost relieved to receive a mysterious package in her morning post containing cuttings about the murder of a man on his wedding day and the subsequent trial and conviction of two of his business associates.  The case is especially intriguing as it involves people she knew during her student days in Oxford and so, encouraged by her partner, Maria, she decides to follow up the case simply to give her something else to occupy her mind.

Gradually it becomes apparent that the package has been sent to her by the mother of the bride, her old Oxford tutor, Corinna, and when Charlie challenges her about this she confesses that she has indeed deliberately set out to involve Charlie because she is convinced that the wrong people have been convicted.  Her daughter, Magda, far from being the traditional grieving widow, has taken up very rapidly with another ex-student, Jennifer (Jay) Stewart and is now living with her.   Corinna, although uncomfortable with her daughter's apparently overnight conversion to lesbianism, is actually far more concerned because she claims she has reason to believe that Jay has committed murder in the past in order to get something she desperately desires and is certain that she has done so again in this instance.  She challenges Charlie to find out the truth of the situation, throwing out the bait that by proving there has been a miscarriage of justice in this case, Charlie will be able to redeem herself in the eyes of the public, the police and her academic peers.

As much to get the persistent Corinna off her back,  Charlie agrees to at least look at the evidence, the more so because it allows her to be in Oxford and near to the enigmatic Lisa Kirk, a woman she has recently met and who is exercising a hold over her that even she realises is too strong to be healthy.  And from there everything else unfolds.  But I am saying not a word more.  You need to read this for yourself.  But I strongly suggest you don't pick it up unless you have a couple of days when you don't have to meet any other commitments.  While there were one or two plot points I was a bit sceptical about, the characters are fascinatingly drawn and I was throughly involved from the first page.  This is vintage Mcdermid and I can't recommend it too strongly.

15 comments:

  1. Val McDermid is an author I have been meaning to read for ages. I saw her interviewed on the BBC4 programme 'Nordic Noir' recently and she was so knowledgeable and sensible.

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  2. I agree that this is not a novel one can put down once started, but I have to say I thought it totally silly and over the top. I was not sure if it was intentionally or unintentionally parodic. I do usually like Val McDermid apart from the phase she was in a few years back when very "voyeuristic gruesome" but she has reined back from that recently. I liked A Darker Domain very much but I don't think this title was her most recent before A Trick of the Dark - wasn't it Fever of the Bone? (The one about the teenagers who used a social networking site)?

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  3. Joanne, I recently heard her included as the only non-psychologist in a programme on the way in which the criminal brain works and she not only held her own but was also clearly respected by the others involved. - A very intelligent lady.

    Maxine, I was referring to the stand alone novels, 'Fever of the Bone' was a Tony Hill book, I think. But I didn't make that clear.

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  4. Your recommendation is good enough for me! I've only read one of her books, but it was excellent (can't rememberthe title, but the story involved Fletcher Christian and the mutiny on the Bounty, a story that my dad has always found fascinating).

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  5. I've not read any of Val McDermid's books because I cannot stand to watch Wire in the Blood. Are her books as terrifying and horrific as the TV versions?

    I recently picked up Cleanskin - a Quick Reads book to see what I was missing, but haven't read it yet. Maybe this isn't representative of her work, anyway being aimed at adults who don't normally read or who find reading difficult.

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  6. That's really interesting, Audrey, because I was looking at that one just last night and reading very mixed reviews about it. Some people loved it and others hated it. I got the overall impression that it isn't a typical Mcdermid. If I was going to start with her other novels I would go back to the first of the Tony Hill books, 'The Mermaids Singing' or the earlier one off, 'A Darker Domain.'

    Margaret, I've not watched the television versions, so I can't compare, but the books certainly are very violent. Why don't you try some of her earlier series about Kate Brannigan, the first is 'Dead Beat'. They are much lower key.

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  7. Thanks, Annie. By the way I managed to get tickets to see Macbeth next Wednesday - I hope I can stand the violence in that - :)

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  8. Margaret that's great. I'm sure you'll be fascinated by it. Are you staying over?

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  9. we're planning to stay in Chester Tuesday night on the way down to break the journey and then going to my sister-in-law's after the play for a few days.

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  10. I'm a fan of Val McDermid, too. Both the Tony Hill series and some of her stand-alones. But then, I always like a good mystery/crime novel.

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  11. I don't think I've ever read a Val McDermid, but I'm sure I've got one of her books on my shelves somewhere. I really should get around to reading it!

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  12. Jenclair, I understand that there is a new Tony Hill due out later in the year. I hope so, because I like those best of all.

    Nikki-ann, she is well worth the effort; not only a good plotter but also an excellent writer.

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  13. Hi Annie,

    I love all Val McDermid's books, although I haven't watched any of the television adaptations.

    I know that I have this book on my shelves somewhere, so hopefully, when our new bookshelves arrive and I sort my books out into alphabetical order, I am looking forward to finding it !!!

    Yvonne

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  14. Yvonne, I'm working my way through her back list at the moment having discovered that there are some of the earlier stand alone novels I haven't read. The trouble is she is so good she spoils me for other writers.

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  15. I've never tried Val McDermid--but it sounds like I need to add her to my list--now she Does sound like someone who gets it right, right from the start. Any recommendations for a good one to begin with?

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