Past Lying, Val McDermid
Past Lying, Val McDermid
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Past Lying

Author: Val McDermid

Narrator: Lauren Lyle

Unabridged: 13 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 11/14/2023


Synopsis

In this superb new addition to Val McDermid’s masterful crime series, DCI Karen Pirie returns in a propulsive thriller of deceit and vengeance, set against the disquiet of a global pandemic

Britain’s reigning “Queen of Crime” (The Scotsman), Val McDermid is the award-winning, internationally bestselling author of over thirty novels. The long-awaited seventh novel in the acclaimed series that has captivated audiences for twenty years, both on the page and now in the Edgar Award–nominated ITV/BritBox show, Past Lying is a full tilt novel of ego, retribution, deceit, and just how far one will go to settle the score.

It’s April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hot—the streets all but empty, an hour’s outdoor exercise the maximum allowed—but a mere pandemic doesn’t mean crime takes a holiday.

When a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie’s team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems it’s game on again. At the center of it, a novel: two crime novelists facing off over a chessboard. But it quickly emerges that their real-life competition is drawing blood. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, and as Karen and her team attempt to disentangle fact from fiction, it becomes clear that their investigation is more complicated than they ever imagined.

A tense, atmospheric page-turner, Past Lying reaffirms McDermid as one of the most talented crime writers of her generation.

About Val Mcdermid

Val McDermid is the author of many crime novels and has created the notable characters Lindsay Gordon, Karen Pirie, Kate Brannigan and Tony Hill. Her novels have been translated into forty languages and have sold over 16 million copies. Visit her online at ValMcDermid.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Meredith (Trying to catch up!) on December 13, 2023

Somber and Complicated When a thriller depicting the death of a real-life missing person is discovered in the archives of a recently passed thriller writer, the case is directed to the Historic Cases Unit under DCI Karen Pirie. Past Lying is the seventh book in the Karen Pirie series and can be rea......more

Goodreads review by Karen on November 27, 2024

Covid is a character in this story. And…For those who remember the ordeal of those first weeks of lockdown, this may trigger those memories. DCI Karen Pirie and her team deal in cold cases. In the midst of lockdown, one of her team members, Jason receives a call from an archivist from the National L......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on December 04, 2023

4.5* Past Lying is another engrossing instalment in Val McDermid's series featuring Edinburgh-based Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie. It's April 2020 and Scotland has been in lockdown for three weeks, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. DCI Karen Pirie is in a domestic "bubble" with Historic Crimes Uni......more

Goodreads review by Karine on February 14, 2024

Karen Pirie is back! She is handling a cold case involving crime writers, flanked by her two teammates, whilst navigating Covid rules in the midst of Edinburgh. Fortunately, in this installment we get to see the former Karen back, the one with compassion and emotions for those in need and ruthless......more

Goodreads review by Bruce on November 14, 2023

The latest adventure of DCI Karen Pirie takes place in 2020 during the first COVID lockdown. Karen is spending her confinement in boyfriend Hamish’s large penthouse flat along with colleague DS Daisy Mortimer. We could hardly expect a fast paced action thriller here when all of Edinburgh is confined......more