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The award-winning Number One bestseller and Queen of crime fiction Val McDermid carves out a stunning psychological thriller. The past is behind them, but what's still to come will tear them apart... Some things just won't let go. The past, for instance. That night in the cemetery. The girl's body in the snow. On a freezing Fife morning four drunken students stumble upon the body of a woman in the snow. Rosie has been raped, stabbed and left for dead in an ancient Pictish cemetery. And the only suspects are the four young men now stained with her blood. Twenty-five years later the police mount a 'cold case' review of Rosie's unsolved murder and the four are still suspects. But when two of them die in suspicious circumstances, it seems that someone is pursuing their own brand of justice. For the remaining two there is only one way to avoid becoming the next victim - find out who really killed Rosie all those years ago...… (more)
User reviews
Now (2003) the inquiry is being reopened as part of a cold cases drive headed -- coincidentally -- by the officer who, as a young cop back in 1978, was the first to be informed by the students of the crime, and who played a part in that initial, fatally unsuccessful investigation; the fact that he knows the case, and the four students (all now successfully established in their different careers), seems helpful. But the reopening of the case has clearly triggered the original killer, keen the case should remain unsolved, or perhaps some vigilante seeking to avenge that long-ago death.
I was absolutely spellbound throughout this longish book -- spellbound by the sheer storytelling and character depiction as well as by the convolutions of the plot. It's going to be difficult making myself pace the other McDermid novels I now own rather than read them all in a single gluttonous splurge.
In the centre of the novel there is a group of four
The novel is not only about finding out who the killer is, but just as much about what the events do to these four young men and to their friendship. Trust, loyalty, truth - what binds us together, and what is the core of a human being when decade after decade goes by and circumstances change so much?
After a leap of twenty-five years, when strange things start happening that seem connected to the murder, which still has not been solved and is under review as a cold case, these questions become even more important.
Setting: St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Scotland in 1978 and the present day
Standalone
First Line: "He always liked the cemetery at dawn."
In 1978, young Rosie Duff's body was found in a remote corner of a cemetery in St. Andrews, Scotland by four drunken college students.
Val McDermid is now one of my favorite authors, and she did it to me again in this book. The only quibble with The Distant Echo is that I knew who the killer was way too soon, which caused me to verbally castigate some of the characters! I have several other McDermid novels on the TBR shelves, and it's going to be difficult for me to stay away from them. She knows how to spin a yarn!
The story is well told and not disjointed. I was able to read the story in bits and pieces over several
My only criticism is when the author becomes confused regarding the sleep patterns of a character. One specific night he is "feeling as if he had been asleep for minutes instead of hours" (p. 253) and then when describing a period of time taht was included the earlier description the character has "slept more deeply than he had since childhood" (p. 268.) Silly.
Well, I guessed "who done it" . . . before the end, but that's okay.
I will add author Val McDermid to my reading list.
Never read Val McDermid, but now I'm hooked. This is a well written page turner.
The book deftly switches between 1978 nad 2003 and describes both the events of the period as well as discussing the impact of suspicion on the students lives. The writing is done well. The suspense is there. Emotions run high.
A good mystery. Makes me want to read more of Val McDermid.
The fifth major character in this novel is suspicion – suspicion which links, bonds, causes rifts, upends lives and haunts them, until 25 years later the same four lads are still in the frame when the investigation re-emerges as a cold case. Only this time, they aren’t just being looked at. They’re being killed.
I suppose I’ve read other crime fiction where innocent people fall under suspicion to the point of being imperilled, as the police follow leads, particularly where the detectives doggedly pursue the wrong person for most of the book, but the atmosphere of panic and depression is so artfully drawn out that it’s impossible not to emphasise with Alex, Mondo, Weird and Ziggy, even while the reader wonders which of them might have done it.
The dénouement isn’t quite as unique. I don’t know if it was more of a shock in 2003 when it was published (I can’t remember when this particular trend in crime fiction began), but it’s satisfying enough in 2011, anyway.
The Distant Echo might still be a puzzler for some, although even if you consider yourself a fair fictional villain-spotter, there’s a lot worth reading about this story beyond the answer, if you’re a fan of the genre, and it’s still definitely a page-turner (I must remember to review the next book I dislike as having ‘stuck together pages’).
This is the third McDermid book I have read, and the second one I have actually enjoyed (I gave up on the dire `Trick or Treat!') and I am pleased to see it based in the authors native Scotland which really springs from the pages and adds a great sense of
The novel unfolds in the late 1970's as four students at St Andrews University stumble across the body of a young woman in a churchyard after a night out. Rosie Duff is clearly in a bad way, but when she later dies, suspicion immediately alights on the four young men who found her. There's no proof that they had any involvement in what happened, but no other suspects either- and for the next couple of decades that shadow of doubt is cast over the four friends. It is on the twenty fifth anniversary of the murder however when things take another turn for the worst- two of the men die in suspicious circumstances and the remaining men realise that someone is seeking revenge and that they must be next, unless they can find Rosie Duff's real killer...
This was a very readable book that held my attention from beginning to end. I must agree with other reviewers that the characterisation is credible and the friendship between the main characters and their initial bond at the start of the novel is very well drawn. As events unfold, you can almost feel the closeness between the protagonists beginning to fray as suspicion alights on them and they almost start to turn on one another- and this was very well portrayed. I also enjoyed the different time periods depicted- Scotland in the 1970's had very different police procedures and attitudes to the 21st Century and this was interesting to read about, particularly in conjunction with Ziggy, who I think was an excellent character.
My main criticism for this novel is that even though this is fiction and they were clearly devices needed for the plot, I really couldn't believe a) how unsympathetic the police were to the students' predicament and their willingness to tar them as suspects from the start and b) how incompetent the police actually were! Losing evidence? Come on!!! I must confess that the cliché aspect of that bit of plot irritated me a bit. Also, I felt that all the way through the book the sense of tension was invariably heightened, but then once the ending and resolution actually arrived it was all a bit of an anti-climax. Still, I didn't see the actual dénouement coming or whodunit- it was very neatly delivered, so top marks for that.
Criticism aside, this was still a well paced thriller and admittedly a bit of a page turner that held my attention well enough. McDermid isn't the best thriller writer I've ever read, but this book was enjoyable enough and I am looking forward to trying more by her in future.
Predictable from beginning to end. Without giving away any spoilers, I think it's safe to say that the culprit is quite obvious...
What I really don't like about
Compare this book with the latest Ellory's book "A Dark and Broken Heart" (see my review) and you'll see what I mean.
The police are suspicious of the young men and begin to take their lives apart. Talking to their friends, searching their home and turning a blind-eye to local hoodlums taking their own justice – these actions mark the 4 men as suspects though the police can find no evidence that they were responsible, thus branding them in the minds of the townpeople as murderers.
Now, 25 years later, the police department is performing a review of cold cases in the hope that advances in DNA analysis will finally solve these crimes. And, again, the men are considered suspects.
This story was good though the local police force seemed more inept and bumbling than usual. It was also billed as #1 in the Karen Pirie series though she has a very small part in the story. The book was well-written and had a good pace. The author put out enough clues that you could solve along as the story unfolded (though the actual killer was kind of obvious early on)
Rating: 3.75
Karen Pirie series Book #1
4 stars
From The Book:
It was a winter morning in 1978, that the body of a young barmaid was discovered in the snow banks of a Scottish cemetery. The only suspects in her brutal murder were the four young men who found her: Alex Gilbey and
on their hands, no one was ever charged.
Twenty five years later, the Cold Case file on Rosie Duff has been reopened. For Alex and his friends, the investigation has also opened old wounds, haunting memories-and new fears. For a stranger has emerged from the shadows with his own ideas about justice. And revenge.
When two of Alex's friends die under suspicious circumstances, Alex knows that he and his innocent family are the next targets. And there's only way to save them: return to the cold-blooded past and uncover the startling truth about the murder. For there lies the identity of an avenging killer.
My Thoughts:
I was supposed to be the first book in the Karen Pirie series but actually Karen had very little to do with the entire book. She never even made a showing until the second half of the book and then she was a ghostly part of the story. That aside...the book was a fairly good read. Not as good as McDermid's Tony Hill/Carol Jordan books but still very readable. I think if you hadn't been looking for Karen to make an appearance the story would have had much more appeal. The writing is very good...the story is plausible... and the main characters are well developed and realistic. You can't help wondering what anyone would do if they suddenly were thrown into a similar situation. It all comes together in the end, no strings left untied. I can recommend this book to anyone that loves a well told mystery...just don't think of it as a series.
DE begins 25 years earlier when four young college students on their way home after a night of drinking and partying discover a young local barmaid in a remote area, dying from a stab wound. They quickly become leading suspects and don’t help their case when soon caught in a lie about earlier activities that night. The victim’s older brothers quickly assume the young men’s guilt and seek revenge. The press is also suspicious and plants seeds of doubt in the community’s minds. Despite all the circumstances, there is no evidence, and the police are unable to bring charges. However, the four boys lives and dreams are shattered and the shadow over them never really disappears. And after 180 pages, the story leaps forward to the present day. As the anniversary of the barmaid’s murder approaches, two of the original four are killed in separate incidents. And a mysterious stranger arrives on the scene…..
What I liked about DE – a very interesting plot. This is the too rare story that stays with you. Most crime fiction readers expect justice, and while the bad guy is once again caught in the final pages, there is no justice for the four college boys – and their families. The prose is excellent and the dialog particularly; McDermid has been writing a good long while and knows what she’s doing. I enjoyed all the descriptions of the Scottish locales. The climax was well done; the last few chapters ramped up to an exciting ending. Characters were well drawn, particularly the “supporting” ones – cops, grieving brothers, a grieving widow (and her lover!).
What I didn’t like about DE – I thought the story dragged here and there; I felt that perhaps up to 100 of its 450 pages could have been chopped. I didn’t take a shine to the four boys, the center of the story, and I didn’t care enough for any one of them.
This deserves a 3 ½ rating and it gets a lukewarm recommendation here. I will read other books in this series though – I think McDermid is that good.