A Place of Execution
-
-
4.5 • 4 Ratings
-
-
- €7.49
Publisher Description
A riveting psychological thriller from the Number One bestselling Queen of crime fiction – Val McDermid.
In the Peak District village of Scardale, thirteen-year-old girls didn’t just run away. So when Alison Carter vanished in the winter of ’63, everyone knew it was a murder.
Catherine Heathcote remembers the case well. A child herself when Alison vanished, decades on she still recalls the sense of fear as parents kept their children close, terrified of strangers.
Now a journalist, she persuades DI George Bennett to speak of the hunt for Alison, the tantalizing leads and harrowing dead ends. But when a fresh lead emerges, Bennett tries to stop the story – plunging Catherine into a world of buried secrets and revelations.
‘One of the all-time greats – special in every way’ Lee Child
‘This book changed everything I thought I knew about crime fiction’ Belinda Bauer, bestselling author of Snap
‘Every now and then, a writer transforms the landscape of the literary canon: Val McDermid is one such writer’ Fiona Cummins, bestselling author of Rattle
‘Just mesmerizing’ Joseph Knox, bestselling author of Sirens
‘A brilliant book’ Holly Watt, award winning author of To the Lions
'From the first pages, we know we're in the hands of a master ' Jeffrey Deaver
‘Beautifully written’ Daily Telegraph
'One of the best detective stories I've read' Ruth Rendell
‘Possibly the best McDermid has written’ Sunday Telegraph
Reviews
‘This book changed everything I thought I knew about crime fiction’ Belinda Bauer, bestselling author of Snap
‘Every now and then, a writer transforms the landscape of the literary canon: Val McDermid is one such writer…It both moves and shocks, and yet compels us to read on. A Place of Execution reveals her as a master of her craft’ Fiona Cummins, bestselling author of Rattle
‘Just mesmerizing’ Joseph Knox, bestselling author of Sirens
‘A brilliant book. Val McDermid develops each character and location exquisitely, while the story blazes to an astonishing ending’ Holly Watt, award winning author of To the Lions
'From the first pages, we know we're in the hands of a master this book will earn its author a place in that rare pantheon – the truly literary suspense novel' Jeffrey Deaver
‘Beautifully written … It may be that McDermid will write better novels than this in the future, but I do not see how’ Daily Telegraph
'One of the best detective stories I've read' Ruth Rendell
‘A substantial book and an impressive one, possibly the best McDermid has written and it takes this most accomplished writer into higher territory’ Sunday Telegraph
'A Place of Execution is a wake-up call to crime writers everywhere. A terrific and original novel, brilliantly executed' Mirror
About the author
Val McDermid is a No. 1 bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold over eleven million copies. She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year, the LA Times Book of the Year Award and the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger. She writes full time and divides her time between Cheshire and Edinburgh.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This superb novel should make Gold Dagger-nominee McDermid's reputation and bring her new readers in droves. It's December 1963 and teenage girls all over Britain are swooning to the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand." In the tiny, remote village of Scardale, Derbyshire, 13-year-old Alison Carter is envied by her peers because her stepfather buys her all the latest records. When Alison goes missing one dark night, Dist. Insp. George Bennett takes control of the case, despite being new to the job and the district. Other children have gone missing recently from towns and cities in the north, but somehow Alison's case is different. Although the police feverishly track down clues and organize searches over the moors, any hope that they'll find the girl fades as the days go by. Obsessed by the case, George is tormented by his lack of success and by the suffering of Alison's mother. Little more can be said without giving away key plot points, but McDermid spins a haunting tale whose complexity never masks her adroitness at creating memorable characters and scenes. Her narrative spell is such that the reader is immersed immediately in the rural Britain of the early '60s. She clearly did extensive research on how police work was done at the time, and it has paid off beautifully. The format of the novel is unusual, with much of it purporting to be a true crime book, but McDermid keeps the suspense taut, and her pacing never flags. This is an extraordinary achievement, and it's sure to be on many lists of the best mysteries of the year. 10-city author tour.
