Ah, I love Val McDermid and have been reading her books for years, but for some reason or other I just struggled to get into this one. I may try again later. Thanks to the publisher for giving me the opportunity to try it.

This was the 5th book in a mystery thriller series, but I had no problem being fully involved in the story without reading the prior books. I didn't feel like there were any characters or situations that were referenced from prior books that were not fully introduced or explained in this book. I enjoyed how the 3 different story lines/cases featured in this book were interwoven and resolved. I was enthralled with the Scottish setting and references, too. Some definitely required a little context solving on my part, but it was part of the charm of the story. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and these characters and will probably look at picking up more in this series.

Not aware this was part of a series.
More about the characters than a historical fiction. Felt the storyline moved too slow and failed to keep me engaged and the ending was very incomplete. I was very disappointed I didn't like this one more, but feel it was my failure to connect to the book than any fault of the authors.
3 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher and author for an ARC of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

A book I wished was a bit better. It's a mostly okay story that seems a bit lacking. It's a rather predictable plot with some interesting characters.

Always a fan of a strong female protagonist! It was a plus to have so much of the English culture highlighted and detailed, painting a very vibrant picture for the reader. I'm a big fan of mysteries, so this spoke to me and I thoroughly enjoyed the plot; however, the cliffhanger was a killer!

Although I love a good mystery book, I found this one a little lacking. I think there was too much time spent on the other 2 cases not related to the title of the book. I would have liked to know what happened as a result of the trial at the end, instead of the book abruptly ending. I didn't mind the chapters jumping back and forth between present day and the past, although I lost track of who some of the characters were as a result of this. I would have enjoyed the book more if more detail was put into just the one case and the people involved. I understand police are usually working several cases at once, but for a book I'd rather concentrate on one. All in all it wasn't a bad read. I predicted too many of the twists and that left me a little disappointed.

HERE'S THE SUMMARY: Karen Pirie is a cold case detective, working cases up to 70 years after they happen. In her latest case, a new detective joins her crew, a dead strong man is found in a bog, there's a WWII mystery and a 20 year old cold case and a current crime.

HERE'S THE REVIEW: This is a super-solid story of a cold case crime bureau with its detectives, personal struggles, politics and interesting cases. With 3 crimes to solve, it would have been easy to get lost in the hands of a less-deft writer. I never felt confused as the 3 detectives all moved off in separate directions.

This is a quiet slog through a crime story, not an exciting sprint, so I feel like you have to be fans of a certain type of mystery story. But if you are a fan of any police show running on Prime, Netflix, Britbox or Acorn right now - I bet you would enjoy this book. I plan to try to get back to the series soon.

Val McDermid is a writer at the top of her game. I know I can count on her to create atmospheric psychological thrillers that will vicariously transport me to Scotland and this book was not exception. While I was unfamiliar with Karen Pirie, my lack of knowledge of her backstory or previous cases did not hinder my appreciation of this book. In fact, it made so curious about about the DCI, I bought the first four books to learn more. Definitely one of my favorite contemporary detectives.

DCI Karen Pirie runs the Historical Crimes Unit (HCI) in Edinburg and works cold cases along with Constable Jason Murray and her newly assigned body, Detective Sergeant Gerry McCartney. Karen knows that DS McCartney was installed with her as a spy for ACC Markie to keep an eye on her and her department's workings. Nevertheless, Karen works several cases at the same time, like always, giving her all to her work. In this edition, she is trying to solve a 20-year old murder involving diamonds and Indian motorcycles from WW2, recovered in pristine condition from a peat bog.

Karen is a great character - she is not at all egotistical, like most law enforcement officials are normally portrayed, she is real and while not what I'd call lovable, you want to cheer for her success against the criminals and the bosses above her trying to set her up for failure. This is part of a series, and I haven't read any of the other books, but didn't feel lost or confused at all - the author does a good job of filling in any information needed from the first four books. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by Val McDermid.

This is the fifth book in the Karen Pirie series that is set in Scotland and a police procedural. I am a huge fan of all Val's writing and this book did not disappoint. The case investigated like all the other cases in this series which are old and unsolved. It starts with Alice finding a body and DCI Karen being called to the case to figure out how this body ended up yeas ago under a peat bog. While the search for answers happens there are some other crimes that are entangled with this and Karen. The pace is gently moving and keeps the pages turning.

Enjoyable mystery set in Edinburgh and the highlands ties WWII chicanery and modern police procedural. Many of the usual tropes including class differences, potential corruption and risk to our heroine are present in satisfying quantities. The good gals (and guys) are enjoyable and we want the bad people to be brought down.

I had not read any of Val McDermid's books before so I was open to new experiences. I enjoyed the great details in the book as you could actually see the scenes described in your mind. Books based in Scotland are always a favorite of mine so this one was a treat. The characters were people you could identify with and were very real. I especially liked the Inspector. Although the Inspector was working on three different cases at the same time the author kept your interest and pulled the story together perfectly. I will definitely look for other books by this author.
Thank you Netgalley for an opportunity to preview this book.

Interesting characters, both in and out of the police. A straightforward plot, with enough detail to disguise some of the clues. The intercutting of past and present events increases the impact of each plot turn.

This is Val McDermid! What else is there to say? She is one of the best mystery/thriller writers as well as one of the best writers around today. How she comes up with such interesting themes book after book after is a mystery in itself.

Broken Ground takes place in a Highland peat bog and environs. Everyone is suspect except DCI Karen Pirie who is called in to solve the case. The description of this empty, sparse part of Scotland is captivating. McDermind drops clues into the story as background but the reader is never sure what is just information and what the clue is. And that is part of McDermid's genius.

Whenever I see that McDermid has written a new book, I rush to get it. I'm never disappointed. This time I was sent an advance copy by Netgalley. For that I'm truly grateful. What a gifted writer and entertainer.

First in this series that I’ve read. I enjoyed the protagonist but not some of the other characters, and only a three-star story. A wonderful writer, but some of her other books are better.

I have no idea how this came to be on my kindle. But it was in the group of the last half dozen downloaded books. Looking through my messages from Amazon, it wasn't on any of them. So, it just appeared magically...or else I did snag it for some strange reason and, due to my developing a "mature" brain, I forgot.

Well, it seems I downloaded it from Netgalley back at the end of July. Who knew? So how did it end up grouped with December downloads? Whatever, I decided to read it and am glad I did.

It would have been even better, of course, had the folks at NetGalley bothered with a bit of formatting. It's not that difficult to produce a decent EBook these days, but the formatting was so amateurish that I think it might have been done by a beginning student just learning the ropes of InDesign, or Quark, or whatever publishers use these days. Clearly not one of the better students in the class, just someone filling space because his mother made him or her do so. It's not that difficult. I took one of those classes and made both print and EBooks.

Whatever, we are up in Scotland with Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie and her faithful, if not all that competent, sidekick, Detective Constable Jason Murray, also known at "The Mint". They work in the HCU, or "Historical Cases Unit". That is, they investigate things long unsolved in the light of recent information.

So, it seems that a couple, Alice and Will Somerville have heard a story from Alice's grandfather about a pair of vintage Indian motorcycles that were buried in a bog in 1946. They have a crude map, and with the help of a local crofter (who is also rather a stud and runs a chain of coffee shops), Hamish Mackenzie, manage to decode the crude map they have and go to dig up the motorcycles, and thereby, retrieve some of Alice's "inheritance". Well, it turns out that there's a body in one of the holes along with the motorcycle. But, the strange thing is, the body can't have been there for more than about 20 or so years. Thus we have a case for the HCU.

There are, of course many complications. Karen's boss, ACC Ann Markie (aka "The Dog Biscuit") has embedded one of her minions, Detective Sergeant Gerry McCartney, into the HCU to keep track of Karen Pirie's doings. It seems that Karen doesn't always go by the book even though she is generally successful, and The Dog Biscuit wants some dirt on Karen so as to remove her and retain greater glory for herself, or something.

There's also the complication that Karen finds herself attracted to the crofter, Hamish, although she's not sure he's to be trusted. Then too, Karen overhears two women talking in a coffee shop about the husband of one of them. They way they're talking, it sounds like one of them could get embroiled in some serious domestic violence. So Karen warns them. Naturally, one of the women along with the husband of the other woman get murdered. Thus, Karen is involved, even though she should not be: more grist for The Dog Biscuit's mill, so to speak.

The story line moved back and forth between events as they occurred in the past and events as DCI Pirrie worked to unfold the history. A rather interesting touch.

This book is the fifth in a series of books about DCI Karen Pirie, and I'm likely to check out a few of the earlier books. Actually, I've already placed a hold on the first in the series.

Very disappointed in this book. There are tons of words that I didn't know and my kindle stated it didn't know the definition. So I guessed. There are a couple of stories going on at the same time. It flashbacks to an earlier time and then present time. Just not a book for me, unfortunately.

Interesting story line with enough twists and turns to keep you going to the next page. Sad and unfortunate in places that you wish you could change for the characters.

an expert in historical moody fiction. She captures the mood and time with atmosphere and suspense. A true legend.

Val McDermid always manages to keep you enthralled with her stories. Atmospheric, interesting characters, and an intriguing storyline.