The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid

"A great example of story telling"

Description from NetGalley:

"When a skeleton is discovered hidden at the top of a crumbling, gothic building in Edinburgh, Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is faced with the unenviable task of identifying the bones. As Karen's investigation gathers momentum, she is drawn deeper into a world of intrigue and betrayal, spanning the dark days of the Balkan Wars.

Karen's search for answers brings her to a small village in Croatia, a place scarred by fear, where people have endured unspeakable acts of violence. Meanwhile, someone is taking the law into their own hands in the name of justice and revenge, but when present resentment collides with secrets of the past, the truth is more shocking than anyone could have imagined . . ."

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I haven’t read anything by Val McDermid before (shock, horror!!) so didn’t really know what to expect but I have heard many good things about her previous books so took a punt and requested a copy via NetGalley and was approved by the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group UK to receive it in return for an honest review.

Set in Scotland, England and Croatia, the book follows the investigation into the murder of an unknown male found as a skeleton at the top of a derelict building in Edinburgh. The murder is put in the hands of the Historic Cases Unit and DCI Pirie who, with the help of her colleagues, discovers the identity of the body which leads her on a trip to Croatia and the discovery of secrets from the Yugoslav war of the 1990s. Running alongside Pirie’s investigation, we enter the world of two lawyers who work for the International Criminal tribunal who are attempting to find a killer who is assassinating war criminals. In amongst all this, we are transported into the world of Professor Maggie Blake, her relationship with a Croatian General and work in the underground universities in the former Yugoslavia.

This is a complex book with complex characters, interweaving timelines and historical events with the present. For me, it’s not particularly fast paced and it took a while to get into it but once I did, it held my interest to the end. The characters are believable and the locations are expertly described.

Would I recommend this book? In the main, yes but although it is described as a crime thriller, for me it lacked the “thrills” but is a great example of crime writing and story telling.

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Author twitter - valmcdermid