Val McDermid"s A Place of Execution - A Review
Val McDermid was a journalist before she wrote A Place of Execution, her first non-serial book.
She is a prolific writer with half a dozen books for each of three mystery series, including a continuing one with psychologist and profiler Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan.
Her Kate Brannigan series is touted as the V.
I.
Warshawski of Manchester, England.
Warshawski is a character in the Chicago-based mystery series by Sara Paretsky.
Like most ex-reporters, McDermid has what it takes to keep your eyes glued to the printed page.
In this stand-alone she draws a detailed picture of a small, closed-off English hamlet governed by Philip Hawkin.
Hawkin marries into the community, which consists of only three or four different surnames.
He becomes the main suspect in the disappearance and murder of his stepdaughter, thirteen-year old Alison Carter.
What draws you into this book is the compelling nature of the characters set in England in 1963, especially George Bennett, the main investigator.
He takes a personal and persistent interest in finding either Alison's body or proof of her killer's guilt.
His pursuit with the aid of Detective Sergeant Tommy Clough ties the two men together and their thoughts conveyed through conversations add depth to the story.
The case becomes a life-changing experience for both of them, as their evidence slowly ties a noose around the neck of the villain, who is finally hanged on the same night Bennett's son is born.
Although off-putting to some, McDermid uses a book within a book to tell the story of the many repercussions that occurred as a result of this crime.
Thirty-five years after it is solved, George Bennett is approached to assist in the writing of a book based on the precedent-setting conviction of the suspect.
There are many twists and turns that show us that Bennett has retained his sense of fairness, protectiveness and honor even in his retirement.
That sense of honor forces him and Tommy Clough to take another look at the crime and finally close the book for good.
She is a prolific writer with half a dozen books for each of three mystery series, including a continuing one with psychologist and profiler Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan.
Her Kate Brannigan series is touted as the V.
I.
Warshawski of Manchester, England.
Warshawski is a character in the Chicago-based mystery series by Sara Paretsky.
Like most ex-reporters, McDermid has what it takes to keep your eyes glued to the printed page.
In this stand-alone she draws a detailed picture of a small, closed-off English hamlet governed by Philip Hawkin.
Hawkin marries into the community, which consists of only three or four different surnames.
He becomes the main suspect in the disappearance and murder of his stepdaughter, thirteen-year old Alison Carter.
What draws you into this book is the compelling nature of the characters set in England in 1963, especially George Bennett, the main investigator.
He takes a personal and persistent interest in finding either Alison's body or proof of her killer's guilt.
His pursuit with the aid of Detective Sergeant Tommy Clough ties the two men together and their thoughts conveyed through conversations add depth to the story.
The case becomes a life-changing experience for both of them, as their evidence slowly ties a noose around the neck of the villain, who is finally hanged on the same night Bennett's son is born.
Although off-putting to some, McDermid uses a book within a book to tell the story of the many repercussions that occurred as a result of this crime.
Thirty-five years after it is solved, George Bennett is approached to assist in the writing of a book based on the precedent-setting conviction of the suspect.
There are many twists and turns that show us that Bennett has retained his sense of fairness, protectiveness and honor even in his retirement.
That sense of honor forces him and Tommy Clough to take another look at the crime and finally close the book for good.
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