Name: The Distant Echo (Detective Karen Pirie, Book 1)
ISBN: 9780007327652

Val McDermid

The first novel in the bestselling Karen Pirie series 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...

The Distant Echo (Detective Karen Pirie, Book 1)

Bestselling, award-winning author Val McDermid delivers her most stunning story yet in The Distant Echo---an intricate, thought-provoking tale of murder and revenge 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 his three best friends. With no evidence but her blood 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...

The Distant Echo

For a book in the Karen Pirie series, I expected more Karen Pirie. A good mystery to solve nevertheless.

Emma Cragg

Sian Wadey

** spoiler alert **
           It took a while for me to get going on this one, as McDermid gives you a lot of information in the first chapter, but once you know who each of the characters are, and their nicknames, this becomes a great murder mystery. The characters are interesting and likeable, the plot is exciting and keeps you reading. My only small criticism is that in the end, the murderer becomes obvious, long before the characters realise who it is. However, the journey is far worth the slightly disappointing destination.

The Distant Echo (Detective Karen Pirie, Book 1)

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