Name: The Mermaids Singing
ISBN: 9780061011757

Val McDermid

When a serial killer known as "Handy Andy" kills for sheer pleasure, displaying his artistry in torture and flaunting his ability to perform the perfect murder, Inspector Carol Jordan and criminologist Dr. Tony Hill must try to look past his clever facade in order to prevent another murder. Reprint.

The Mermaids Singing

This was the summer he discovered what he wanted--at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling. The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim. A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage--or the power--to stop it... The Mermaids Singing is a chilling and taut psychological mystery from Val McDermid.

was so close to being a good take on psychological profiling but ended up BORING and weirdly against minorities 

Ayesha

Izza

This novel was great (well except for the very graphic sexual torture o.O)! I'll definitely be reading the next one in the series. I'm curious to see where (if anywhere) this budding relationship between Carol and Tony is going.

Sian Wadey

I've seen a few episodes of Wire In The Blood, featuring Robson Green and therefore went into this book with preconceived notions. In this case, I actually think they helped.
The Mermaids Singing is about a serial killer in the fictional town of Bradfield. Bradfield police force enlists profiler Dr Tony Hill to help them catch him. 
The initial idea is quite a good one and the police's speculations are interesting as bit by bit they get closer to the killer. It's also quite a fast paced book, with chapters from the police's point of view and the killers. 
However, I had some issues with the book. First of all, I really don't need to know so much about Tony Hill's sexual inadequacies. Too much information! And the dialogue that Carol used I found to be unrealistic in some places. 
Overall, I would read more Val McDermid, but I'd probably stick to the stand alone novels, which I find much better.

Oliver Magnanimous

This is a tense psychological thriller that explores the tormented world of a serial killer. A killer is on the loose in Bradfield, and clinical psychologist Tony Hill is brought in to investigate.

Kate Lillie

You always remember the first time. Isn't that what they say about sex? How much more true it is of murder... Up till now, the only serial killers Tony Hill had encountered were safely behind bars. This one's different -- this one's on the loose. In the northern town of Bradfield four men have been found mutilated and tortured. Fear grips the city; no man feels safe. Clinical psychologist Tony Hill is brought in to profile the killer. A man with more than enough sexual problems of his own, Tony himself becomes the unsuspecting target in a battle of wits and wills where he has to use every ounce of his professional nerve to survive.

The Mermaids Singing

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