Though everyone especially the victim's siblings believe that the drunken male quartet killed her, no proof exists and thus no one is charged with the homicide.

THE DISTANT ECHO by Val McDermid - Publishers Weekly THE DISTANT ECHO by Val McDermid - Publishers Weekly

Of course, I’m delighted to be working with World Productions again, who really know their way around a crime drama. Two of them, Sigmund Malkewicz and Davy Kerr, suddenly die in what look like accidents, but their deaths sends a shiver up the spines of the surviving pair.

True to Val McDermid’s iconic character, DS Karen Pirie is a young and fearless Scottish investigator with a quick mouth and tenacious desire for the truth.

The Distant Echo (Karen Pirie, book 1) by Val McDermid The Distant Echo (Karen Pirie, book 1) by Val McDermid

Twenty-five years later, the police started a cold case review; technological advances should help convict Rosie’s killer. But with a lack of forensic evidence, no charges were brought and the police investigation floundered. In the meantime, most of the forensic evidence has disappeared from the Fife storage lockup, and two of the four principal suspects have moved to the States.

The discovery of a man’s skeleton atop an Edinburgh building slated for demolition kick-starts Diamond Dagger Award–winner McDermid’s hit-or-miss follow-up to 2008’s A Darker Domain. In February 2022, McDermid said she would be withdrawing her support and sponsorship from Raith Rovers after the club signed striker David Goodwillie, who had been ruled to have raped a woman and made to pay damages in a civil case in 2017.

Detailed Review Summary of The Distant Echo by Val McDermid

If you still haven't absorbed the fact that Val McDermid is writing at the top of anyone's game, here's another chance to join the celebration. The contrasting police procedural story lines enable the audience to see how far forensics has come in a relative short period while entertaining the audience with a strong two in one novel that ties nicely together. But Rosie’s two brothers haven’t forgotten or forgiven, and her illegitimate son Graham is skulking about with vengeance in mind.Twenty-five years on, someone appears to be willing to risk everything to keep the secrets surrounding the case hidden. A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Straight-talking Val McDermid lifts lid on her latest novel and why she's the badass woman of the week".

The Distant Echo by Val McDermid | Waterstones

In part two, 25 years later, the police hope new forensic technologies will solve the crime, and suddenly someone is stalking the four men, whose lives have been haunted and their relationships changed by the murder. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection, 2016, etc.

Karen is a refreshingly normal and charmingly unfashionable young woman – slick, maverick cop she is not – but her quick mouth and ingenuity make her an impressive investigator. Within weeks, two men who found Rosie’s body are dead, and another has been beaten to within an inch of his life. On 6 December 2012 a woman poured ink over McDermid during an event at the University of Sunderland. One of the boys ran for help whilst another — a medical student — struggled in vain to keep her alive. outstanding pacing, character and plot development, plus evocative place descriptions, make this another winner.