A Place of Execution - Val McDermid

~~~INTRODUCTION~~~ I buy a lot of books from charity shops - after all they're cheap, accessible, tend to have an impressive range of genres available and at the same time you're supporting a good cause in a way that offers a benefit to you as well as the organisation concerned. I found myself in the local Oxfam shop a couple of months ago. Recently refurbished, it holds a remarkable collection of books, organised by author making it easy to see ...
...and sometimes when you've read a few books by an individual author in quick succession there's a danger of becoming bored with their style, tone or formulaic approach to writing. Nothing could be further from the truth in this case! ~~~THE AUTHOR~~~ McDermid became the first woman from a Scottish state school to be accepted at St Hilda's in Oxford to read English and went on to become a young and enthusiastic journalist. She always wanted to be ...

fantasybeliever 13.07.2005 · Read full review
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Review of A Place of Execution - Val McDermid

Author Val McDermid begins A Place Of Execution with a short introduction from fictitious writer Catherine Heathcote. We are told that London based journalist Catherine is researching and planning to write a book about Detective Inspector George Bennett’s first murder case that took place 35 years earlier. Catherine plans to speak to everybody possible involved and revisit the Derbyshire moorland area close to where she grew up and where she ...
...a girl her age had disappeared. Following the introduction the larger part of the novel details the 1963 murder investigation, the conclusion to the case and the murder trial. The second part is set in 1998 and Catherine comes into the novel for the first time living in the area for 6 months while researching. We follow her visits to meet George and some of the others involved and the book ends with an interesting twist. THE CASE On a bitterly ...

shewhosmiles 06.06.2003 · Read full review
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Review of A Place of Execution - Val McDermid

...have vanished in Manchester, England. A third child vanishes in December, in a small and isolated village in Derbyshire. George Bennett is a young and newly promoted police inspector is plunged into the most difficult case of his life. It is decades before he tells his story to a journalist for a new book. Just as it is about to be published, Bennett cancels it, having new information which threatens his existence and that he refuses to divulge. ...
...ago. This is quite a long novel but it is excellent. The story starts in the past and ends in the present, spanning the years well. The plot is superb and McDermid develops her characters well and manages to sustain them through to the end. The ending itself seems reminiscent of Agatha Christie to me, as it packs a great wallop and is a surprise, but when you think of it, all McDermid is doing is using a well-known literary trick. Val McDermid ...

LukeCroll 01.04.2001 · Read full review
Review of A Place of Execution - Val McDermid

This book is a slight deviation from the usual formula that this author employs, but it is a welcome and refreshing deviation. Anyone who is familar with the ‘Moors Murders’ commited by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley will find similarities in this book which echo with the same horror and fascination as the ‘Moors Murders’ elicite. Book One of this book tells the story of a young girl’s disappearance, and the subsequent police investigation from the ...
...It is written as a factual account of the investigation, warts and all. Book Two of this book tells the story of how the ‘author’ of Book One, journalist Catherine Heathcote, persuades George Bennett to tell his side of the story after keeping quiet for all these years. However, once the book is written, George suddenly changes his mind about it’s publication and begs Catherine not to go ahead with publishing this book, saying that it ‘could have ...

Pobs 22.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of A Place of Execution - Val McDermid

...thought her writing was at a peak, Val McDermid rises head and shoulders above her previous work. This again is a different scene, tale, style of writing from her earlier work. What a book - from telling a tale of sixties police work regarding a missing child, the investigation techniques - so different from today - the twists and turns of the plot - totally believable characters and and a wicked outcome - or is it so wicked - you decide! Two thirds ...
...third is the introduction of a family friend who manages to pursuade the detective leading the investigation to help her write the definitive book on the case. Then in the last pages ....... no I cannot spoil it for you. This is a book everyone should read at least once, although you will probably want to read it over and over (beware lending it to anyone - buy it them for Christmas!). To read it is to live it. ...

bren 28.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of A Place of Execution - Val McDermid

...focuses on the disappearance of a young girl during the Moors Murders era. A young police sargeant is drawn into the case and it takes over his entire life. That said, this book took over my life. The writing style is wonderful. Val McDermid has an incredible skill for describing the smallest of human traits. Her characters are easy to formulate in ones mind. The book spans 30 years and it would be unfair to divulge any more of its plot. In short, ...

Dara 01.09.2000 · Read full review
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Review of A Place of Execution - Val McDermid

...the offchance running to catch a train it was the first thing that cought my eye and I am so glad that it did! The story was brilliantly put together with amazing realism in the early part of the book set in the 60's to an equally great grasp of the modern day setting. The characters were unbelievably real - I could see them and imagine them without any trouble at all. The dialogue was great and did not seem forced like in some books. The twists ...
...the last minute so the book could claim to have a twist. I was sorry when my train got where I was going and I had to put it down! Easily one of the best books I have read - have already been out looking for the authors other works. ...

jow 12.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of A Place of Execution - Val McDermid

...McDermid books I read. As a fan of Patricia Cornwell, a friend introduced me to McDermid & I can't get enough of this writer's work. Being used to stories about a Forensic Pathologist, it seems only natural to progress to the work of a Forensic Psychologist, and Tony Hill is the perfect character to fit this bill. The TV series didn't to this justice, but I'm not giving the game away, you'll just have to read it and see for yourself, but be warned ...

harmonypuss 01.10.2004 · Read full review
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Review of A Place of Execution - Val McDermid