I think if I was a police person I would welcome DCI Carol Jordan as my superior. She is dedicated (sometimes to the point of obsession) driven, and yet trusting of those within her department who display the same attributes. She is super efficient at managing a small team, allowing her most trusted sufficent latitude to get the job done, but woe betide anyone who takes advantage of this trust as they will become the focus of her extreme wrath.
A teenager is found murdered, and mutilated in the most horrific fashion causing great concern and worry that the perpetrator remains unchecked. In the meantime psychotherapist Tony Hill is empolyed to help an adjoining police force when a similar incident occurs. As the body count rises Tony and Carol realize that this barbarous killing is not random, and they must work together efficiently to ascertain just why an apparently unconnected group of young people are being targeted.

Carol has a newly appointed superior: Chief Constable James Blake, a pedantic and fussy little man more concerned with data and cost saving than actual crime solving. In the meantime Tony is unravelling the mystery that was his father Edmund Arthur Blythey, and what he discovers is not quite what he expected.

This is crime writing at its best, yes it doesnt get any better than this! The Carol Jordan books are a little more gritty, and graphic than the DCI Karen Pirie series, but such descriptions are limited and essential if we are to fully understand the great mind and deductive skills of Tony Hill. A truly brilliant read that grips the reader from the start and once again shows Val McDermid as the queen of crime :) ( )

Having never read any of McDermid's fiction, only her non fiction book on Forensic science, I thought it was high time to try one. Perhaps the choice of this book, which I now realise is quite well into a series, was not the best. Although I could see accomplished writing here, I found it hard to differentiate the various police forces who were investigating the murders and to emphasise with Tony Hill, a major character. Although he is damaged, having been brought up by a terrible mother and feeling abandoned by his, now deceased, father, it seemed a bit cliche to have this trope yet again - he is a great crime profiler because he is so messed up himself? I also had no patience with his prevarication about looking into his father's life, and the legacy left to him.

It also takes a stunningly long time for the police to realise the connection between the main murder cases. Agreed that the lack of joined up systems between forces would hamper things, but given the nature of the crimes, they would have been front page news and you would expect the media at least to link them. Given that Jordan's unit is comprised of supposedly creative and lateral thinking individuals, it does make them come over as rather dense to say the least.

Some of the minor characters are well developed such as Paula, one of the task force led by DCI Carol Jordan, and Ambrose who is on another force but is drawn into the main case. However, given the main role of IT in this, a lot of the key clues - such as the villain using approach and use computers in different locations - comes across as curiously old fashioned. The author is definitely wise to invent a social media site given what ends up happening under its auspices, but even in 2009 surely there was software which could obsfucate internet addresses? The development seemed slow in places although it picks up towards the - to me, not that convincing - denoument, so not a keeper for me. ( )

Somehow I had never read a book by this author but she was recommended to me by a guy working at Barnes & Noble, of course B&N did stock any of her books, but Book Depository did, so I read the descriptions of a couple of them and decided to go with one later in the series rather than the first one. A good author will provide enough information about the characters in each book when it's a part of a series, and that was definitely the case with this book. The story starts off pretty straight forward but there are a number of great twists and revelations as the story progresses to keep it wildly entertaining. I can now see why the author has won so many awards and acclaim.
This was a fantastic book. ( )

Tony Hill Book 6

Suberbly crafted prose, this is the rare sort of thing that makes me green with envy as a writer. I'd figured out the plot twists before the final act (which is rare for me) but it didn't matter because the writing was so good I was gripped anyway.

I've had issues with some of the previous books in the series but it's been a while since I read them and this is so good that I feel I must revisit them. Blew me away. ( )