This is the.first book this author I've ever read and I can see why people either like or love this series .Because of it's fast paced , the characters ( that you either grew to love or hate), the way you can get pulled into the story ,with that said I want to thank Netgalley for letting read and review Broken Ground and for introducing me to a new author in a change for my honest opinion.

This is the first novel of McDermid's that I've read, and now I'm looking for more! I loved Broken Ground; it was incredibly atmospheric. The story starts with a couple in search of two vintage motorcycles buried in the Scottish highlands near the end of WWII. They successfully uncover the first one, but have a nasty surprise when trying to unearth the second -- a dead body, perfectly maintained by the peat in the ground. Enter Karen Pirie, who heads up the cold case division of the Edinburgh police department (which they call the HCU, Historic Crimes Unit). Pirie's quest to find justice for the long-buried body is engrossing. I couldn't put this book down.

Apparently, this is the fifth book to feature Karen Pirie, which thrills me as now I have four earlier novels to discover. I loved everything about this novel. The Pirie character is a fantastic protagonist, and I loved her interactions with her very nasty boss, her friends River and Jimmy, and a potential new love interest, Hamish Mackenzie. The plotting was tight, and the descriptions of city and country life in Scotland were fascinating.

I am so happy to have discovered Val McDermid and this series in particular. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a British procedural. The heroine is DI Karen Pirie who is in charge of a cold case unit with the Scottish Police. The first murder took place in the mid ‘90’s and was the result of a crime committed at the end of WWII. There is a second murder with which Pirie gets involved because of something she overheard in a restaurant and finally a third murder caused by the arrogance and incompetence of a DS put into her unit to report to her superior about her actions . The plot is obviously complex but it is well written and will grasp the reader’s interest. It covers the murders, office politics, Pirie’s uncompromising personality and the solution to all. Thanks to Net Galley and Atlantic Monthly Press for an ARC for an honest review.

Broken Ground is an excellent who-done-it, set in Wester Ross, Scotland in the peat bogs during three different time periods. We follow Austin Hinde and Kelly Pasoc who were training future spies how to exist behind enemy lines at Clachtorr Lodge ending in 1944, with the European Theatre closing shop. We visit Joey Sutherland as he competed in the Invercharron Highland Games in 1995, and the attractive American woman who accompanied him. Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie and her side kick Jason 'the Mint' Murray of the Historic Cases Unit in Edinburgh retrace the whole historic story as told by the peat in 2018. The time changes are easily followed and the pace is fast. There is enough conflict and angst in the cop shop to entertain, and an attractive Highlander, Hamish Mackenzie, often in the mix as the clues are buried on the land he inherited from his grandparents.

This is a tightly wound mystery, with captivating characters and well defined environs. Val McDermid is an exceptional author I am happy to recommend to friends and family.

What a great series! This installment did not disappoint. McDermid writes a mystery that is layered like lasagna with many twists. I highly recommend this book to all mystery lovers. You will love DCI Karen Pirie. Thanks to Atlantic Grove and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Although the Karen Pirie series will never be as good as the Carol and Tony series, I still really enjoy her character. I love that she is completely dedicated to being a cold case detective, when a lot of coppers don't think it's a worthwhile job. I couldn't think of anything more satisfying than finally finding the answer to somebody's murder and letting the family know what happened after all those years.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it will be a big hit when it is published. Very well written and character development

I love the idea of a dark mystery in dark Scotland and this one does not disappoint. Investigating an ages old mystery about 2 buried motorcycles from the past, the detective finds a more recent body. FIguring out who and what and why is enriched by the locale and dialect.

I hadn't read anything by this author before and really enjoyed it. I will look forward to others.
Not your typical US detective story, but just as interesting, it not more.
Give it a read.

Complicated cases have a way of finding DCI Karen Pirie, whether she is having coffee at a refugee run cafe she helped establish, called by her friend and forensic anthropologist, Dr River Wild, or in her capacity as head of the historic cases unit at the Police Scotland. While this is not a fast-paced novel, I was hooked instantly and devoured the book in less than two days. I particularly liked the mix of new murder and cold case.
This thriller has it all, inner city hipster baristas, police department politics, cutting edge forensic technology, and a mysterious body in a peat bog found during the hunt for World War II nazi loot.
This was my first Val McDermid novel and I particularly liked the complex main character, DCI Karen Pirie, along with her nightly city runs, love for artisanal gin and coffee addiction. This is also the first novel set in Scotland that I have read in a long time. I’m looking forward to reading more books from this series.

Val McDermid hasn't lost her touch. Broken Ground was a fantastic read and kept me wanting more. I've ordered several copies for my library. Thank you so much allowing me to read it!

For all fans on British Police mysteries (or in this case Police Scotland) this book needs to be at the top of your to be read list. It has diamonds stolen, from a murdered Nazis, in Beligum by an American spy operative at the end of the war. These are taken to Scotland and subsequently hidden in one of two new Indian motorcycles when he realizes he can not smuggle them aboard ship on his return to the US. These two motorcycles are then secretly buried, with the intent to later recover, by two local spy instructors following a burn or bury order to dispose of no longer needed equipment. When a subsequent recovery operation by a granddaughter, 70+ years later, uncovers a well preserved more recent body a murder investigation is launched by the cold case team. This book must be read to be appreciated.

I have given this book a 5 star rating.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for my unbiased review.

I did not particularly care for this book but made myself finish in order to give an honest review. This is book #5 in the Karen Pirie series, although it is the first book in that series that I have read. Perhaps if I were more familiar with the characters form previous stories, I would have found this more interesting. As it was, I just found the whole tale a bit boring and had some difficulty with the Scottish references and wording that even my Kindle dictionary couldn’t define. Even though I did like the main character, I’m not really interested enough to go back and read any of the earlier books. It was just so very ho-hum for me.

McDermid's books are well-written and seem to target people who are not opposed to vocabulary that is not at a 6th grade level. I appreciate that. I consider myself to be well-educated and have spent a bit of time in Scotland, but still find it best to read McDermid's books in Kindle format on my iPad as I need to look up a lot of words. Right off the bat I looked up crofter (someone who leases farmland in Scotland). This continued throughout this very good novel, sometimes unsuccessfully when the words might have been Scottish slang, and ending with vertiginous (causing vertigo, especially by being extremely high or steep - this was referring to a pair of high heels).

This book has a few story lines, and, thankfully, they don't all tie together at the end. I don't like it when a detective is working on the murder of X, kidnapping of Y and robbery of Z and it turns out that the crimes are somehow all too-conveniently connected.

The main story here has detective Karen Pirie looking into the 20-25 yr old death of a man and the current risk of a potential domestic murder. The characters were interesting. I have read other books by Val McDermid, but I don't remember if I have read any with this police detective (things start to blend together). I like her and will do a little research to remedy that if I have overlooked them.

Val McDermid does not disappoint. Karen Pirie, cold case detective, is a character worth following. The mystery draws you in with lots of twists and turns. I could not put this down.

This has become my favorite series. Val McDermid's style and attention to detail remind me mostly of Peter Robinson, as their novels usually involve unsolved, historical cases. Karen Pirie heads up the HCU or cold case division in Edinburgh's police department, and here she battles interior forces seeking to unseat her and denigrate her and the importance of the work she oversees. What McDermid does so well is keep at least four balls in the air, with occasional forays into the past. Pirie's attempts to deliver justice in these cases gives the books more than a usual sense of righteousness and purpose, holding interest until every loose end is bound off satisfactorily. McDermid dedicates this book to "... all the booksellers who love stories and thrust them into our hands and make addicts of us." Well, for us readers, books this good feed our addictions to a T.

Some detective series tend to grind after two or three, but Val McDermid just keeps getting more creative with her plots and her characters. DI Karen Pirie has been having her ups and downs as the head of a Historic cold case unit and in this outing she gets pushed about, but nails the case anyway. I like the setting, the historical detail, and the plot. I got this copy as a Netgalley advance, but I will buy the audio version when available because McDermid's the best at lyrical prose and witty Scots dialogue... It just sings.

Broken Ground by Val McDermid

While I have not had the pleasure to read any other book by McDermid, I certainly will now after reading this one. I believe this is her 32nd novel in the thriller genre so obviously that is why she writes so well. The characters especially the POV Karen, are grounded and kick ass to the point that their even may be some paranoid delusions but hey, that makes for a great thriller right? We have a couple who are hunting for the grandfathers treasure, motorcycles that have been buried for many years. While unearthing them, they find a body. A body that has not been there as long as the cycles have. McDermid has done a great job at keeping the pace with just enough drama and suspense to keep you guessing. If you have not read any of her books, you can easily start with this one.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

5 stars ⭐️ out of 5

I love Val McDermid. Her books never let you down. Not only do I get a great mystery but I feel like I just vacationed in Scotland. McDermid describes a situation so effectively that I swear I smelled cookies when she mentioned them in one chapter. I seriously kept sniffing. It was like brain muscle memory.

I'm always a sucker for a woman written as strong and competent as Karen Pirie. As much as I like Karen, I dislike equally her boss, Ann. But then you're supposed to.

This book has everything: WWII, Suspense, Cold Case Protocol, you name it, it has it. You definitely come away with more knowledge than coming in.

In this book, we are actually gifted with two mysteries in one. I've read many a book that I have to keep rereading parts to figure out where I'm at. Absolutely no confusion here. It's written so clearly that you never lose track of which story or which tense you're in: past or present. So refreshing.

I have one complaint about this book. And quite frankly, its the same complaint I always have with this writer. The book ends.

Val McDermott is a talented writer of standalone and series, and when police detective Karen Petrie is on the job,, her careful plotting and excellent pacing combine with a richness of character development that's typical of her best work. When the treasure-hunting couple tracking down a grandfather's legacy unearth a body that's much younger than the 1944 era motorcycles he buried, the cold case investigation turns into a murder that clearly post dates the first burial. That sets up this we)-wrought mystery, and the handsome Scotsman whose family has owned the site of the crime - or at least the peat bog where the bikes and the victim have been perfectly preserved - adds a romantic fillip to a fascinating story.

Val McDermid adds diamonds to her crown as Queen of Crime in this taut thriller. Treasure hunters digging for classic motorbikes buried in a remote peat bog get more than they bargained for when their search turns up a corpse. DCI Karen Pirie of the cold cases squad assumes control of the investigation when it becomes clear that the body has been there for years. The fascinating steps involved in the investigation will keep pages turning all through the night.