Val McDermid mines her own experience as a journalist in Glasgow in the 1970s giving her latest novel, 1979, a real sense of authenticity.

Allie Burns and Danny Sullivan are young journalists trying to make a name for themselves in the cut-throat world of newspaper journalism. They discover that they have a shared passion and drive; as Danny says ‘From the very start journalism had been like a virus in his brain. He couldn’t resist the pull of a story’. Danny has uncovered a tax-evasion scheme that involves his brother, and enlists Allie’s help to polish the story for publication. Allie jumps at the opportunity to write something more than ‘the baby stories’ that are usually assigned to female reporters. Before they know it, they have ruffled the wrong feathers, with terrible repercussions.

McDermid has written a tight and enthralling thriller - again. In 1979 she also explores how far we have come from the sexism and homophobia that was entrenched in society in the 1970s.

I believe there will be more books featuring the intrepid Allie Burns which is excellent news.

Highly recommended.

I broke all my usual rules by reading book 6 in a series, without having read any of the previous books. Fortunately, it’s not made an iota of difference to my level of enjoyment. I’m ashamed to confess that although I have seen Val McDermid a number of times at book festivals (remember those?) I have never read any of her books. Shame on me!
Still Life is an unputdownable police procedural. McDermid doesn’t muck around with time lines or convoluting sidetracking. Instead she builds a solid plot, or in this case, two solid plots, carried by characters who are nuanced and relatable. Karen, Jason (The Mint) and Daisy are people you’d be happy to share a pint with, down at your local.
DCI Karen Pirie heads the Historic Cases Unit and is constantly fighting to keep her unit running. The powers that be see it as a waste of resources that could be more usefully applied to current cases. Karen views solving cold cases as a way of finding answers for those left behind to grieve. She also relishes the challenge;

‘A cold case was a story, constructed piece by piece. Sometimes the pieces arrived in the wrong order, so it made no sense at first. But some stories were like that. They began at the end or in the middle and you had to stay vigilant, making sure you didn’t miss the clue that would shape the fragments into a narrative. And at the end, if you found all the pieces, you had a coherent tale.’

‘the virus that had been a whisper on the wind when they’d been running around assorted jurisdictions had taken firm root in Scotland and they’d been warned that in the morning, lockdown was scheduled to begin. They’d be working from home, whatever that meant in practice.’

I was looking forward to enjoying my first Val McDermid novel: I saw her at the recent BAD Crime Writers Festival in Sydney and found her such an engaging speaker.
A Darker Domain has no chapters, and constantly changes POV and time. There are so many characters my head was spinning! And I found the conclusion unsatisfying and unbelievable.
I have read other reviews say this is not one of her best, so I will try another.