A Scottish police inspector deals with forgeries and false identities in a new murder mystery in the “superior series” (The New York Times). When a lobster fisherman discovers a dead body in Scotland’s Firth of Forth, DCI Karen Pirie is called into investigate. She quickly discovers that the case will require untangling a complicated web—involving a long-ago disappearance, art forgery, and secret … disappearance, art forgery, and secret identities—that seems to surround a painter who can mimic anyone from Holbein to Hockney. Meanwhile, a traffic accident leads to the discovery of a skeleton in a suburban garage. Karen has a full plate, and it only gets more stressful as the man responsible for the death of the love of her life is scheduled for release from prison, reopening old wounds just as she was getting back on her feet.
From a Diamond Dagger Award winner and multiple Edgar Award finalist, Still Life is a tightly plotted mystery featuring an investigator “whose unwavering confidence is tempered by a strong dose of kindness and sense of justice” (Booklist).
“There are few other crime writers in the same league.”—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post
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“Still Life” is my first read of the Karen Pirie series, and my second of Val McDermid’s.
I really liked the main character Karen, who has had a tough journey through life. In this the sixth of the series, she works on two separate cases, one the murder of the brother of a senior Scottish politician, who “disappeared” under mysterious circumstances, the other a skeleton found in a campervan.
The plot journeys to my native Donegal, and the town of Ramelton which added to my enjoyment. I look forward to reading more in this excellent crime thriller series.
“Still Life” is book six in Val McDermid’s series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie of Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit. Those who have not read the previous books can jump right in without any problem because all characters are introduced, and previous relationships are easily folded into the current scenario.
The drama opens on a chilly February morning. Billy Watson guides the 23-foot creel boat out into the chill waters of the Firth of Forth. Unfortunately the first catch of the day is a drowned man. In another scenario, a woman is cleaning out the house of her recently diseased sister when she finds a camper van in the garage that definitely didn’t belong to her sister. Inside the van she discovers skeletonized human remains. These events seem to be discrete and unrelated but the two cases become intricately intertwined. Detective Sergeant Daisy Mortimer of the Fife-based crime squad and Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie become entangled in complicated scenarios involving counterfeit identities, forged art, and Paris jazz music.
The plot is focused, intense and imaginative. The investigation proceeds in a careful, systematic way with a slow accumulation of facts, and then unexpectedly takes readers somewhere else. McDermid’s word selection and the cadence of conversations reflect nature of the setting and the complexity of the people. Characters drive the plot, and readers get to know them well. They have depth, purpose, and come complete with nicknames such as “the dog biscuit.” DCI Pirie advances the narrative as she struggles not only with a difficult case, but also with her personal life that is a hot mess. She is developing a serious relationship with a “new” man in her life, but then then the killer of the previous “love of her life” is released from prison.
In echoes of things that actually happen, McDermid gives a nod to Covid with a passing mention of a virus popping up in China and the need to possibly stock up on toilet paper and hand sanitizer. (We know how that went downhill fast!) I received a review copy of “Still Life” from Val McDermid and Atlantic Monthly Press. It is a “page turner” right from the start.
Love the whole series and love the author. Gave it 5 stars, which I don’t do a lot.
Love Val McDermid books. She is an excelle t writer with great characters and interesting plots. She never disappoints.
Complex, intriguing, and sophisticated!
In this impressive sixth instalment in the Inspector Karen Pirie series, Still Life, McDermid has written a fast-paced, sinuous, police procedural that has DCI Pirie and her team from the Historic Cases Unit immersed in two investigations, one involving skeletal remains found inside a camper van parked in a residential garage, and the other concerning a newly deceased middle-aged male found floating in the water who seems to have an extremely mysterious, complicated past.
The prose is sharp and tight. The characters are impulsive, secretive, and greedy. And the plot, including all the subplots, seamlessly intertwine and unravel into a gripping tale full of deception, manipulation, misdirection, mayhem, violence, and murder.
Overall, Still Life is another engrossing, pacey, action-packed thriller by McDermid that once again has just the right amount of suspense, well-drawn characterization, and creative storyline to make it a satisfying, highly entertaining read for lovers of this genre.
law-enforcement, Scotland, murder, murder-investigation, missing-persons, international-crime-and-mystery, art-fraud, identity-theft*****
The due diligence on these cases reminds me of the tangles that yarn sometimes becomes. Police Scotland DCI Pirie works the Historic Crimes Unit AKA Cold Cases becomes involved in a mess of interconnected cases, one of which is current and one is skeletal. Add in a couple of missing persons both reported and not, her own personal life, interpolicing politics, a trip to Paris and the mire that international crime begets and you have a truly riveting police procedural that makes the brain work just as hard as those interesting characters who must solve the mess. A wonderful book!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
Still Life is Book 6 in Val McDermid’s Inspector Karen Pirie’s series. McDermid is a strong writer with vivid complexities that readers have come to appreciate when reading her books. Each character has their own strong sense of individuality and the world building has many layers, I have been McDermid’s bookfan for many years and I have yet to find a book that left me wanting. This is indeed another strong addition to this successful series.
DCI Karen Pirie it is so good to have you back solving not one but two cases !
Karen and her team work diligently, smartly as they put all their efforts into solving the cases that seem like they might be related.
Karen divides her time between the two cases with the assistance of a great team .
A skeleton is discovered in a garage and a dead body is found by fishermen.
What else could a reader ask for ?
I love police procedural and no one does it better than Val McDermid.
Can’t wait to get my hard copy to place on my Val McDermid shelf!!
Thanks to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly press for allowing me to follow Karen on another great case.
480 pages
5 stars
DCI Karen Pirie has quickly become my favorite character to spring from Ms. McDermid’s creative mind.
Karen and her partner, Jason have their hands full in this, the latest in the Karen Pirie series. It all begins with a body that is retrieved in a fishing net and a skeleton found inside a camper van.
Unknown identities, forgery, broken hearts and outright lies feature in this book. Karen is still at odds with her immediate boss and the man who carelessly ran into Phil, Karen’s love, is getting out of prison. Her plate is full, but with the aid of her team and a collection of forensic friends, she motors on. Her young sidekick Jason gets into trouble.
This is a superbly written and plotted novel, as are all of Ms. McDermid’s offerings. I like Karen. She seems so human. I really felt what she was feeling as the author’s descriptions are so very apt and spot on. I was traveling in the car with the protagonist and a witness to the shenanigans of the wrong do’ers. I loved the assertive manner with which she handled the French detectives and her interrogation of one of the suspects was sheer genius. More please, Ms. McDermid !.
I want to thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press for forwarding to me a copy of this most remarkable book for me to read, enjoy and review.