When I clicked the read now button on NetGalley, my original plan had been to read the first books in the series and then this one, as I usually try to avoid reading books out of publication order. Very often, books in a series cannot be read as stand alone titles. This is an exception. While I am sure having all the history from the first four books would provide a richer experience, I never felt like I was missing out. In fact, Val McDermid did an excellent job of providing background without it feeling like there a massive info-dump.

I really like DCI Karen Pirie and her subordinant, Jason.. She's skilled, intelligent, and passionate about her work and Jason is a great sidekick. There are multiple cases that crop up in Broken Ground and McDermid does an excellent job of pacing, never letting the reader get bored or overwhelmed. I will absolutely be going back to read the beginning of this series.

My favorite McDermid books have always been the Tony Hill novels, but she manages to grip me with the intricate details whenever any new characters are introduced. I hope we see more frequent books in the future.

Set in Scotland Karen Pirie a cold case detective works to bring a semblance of closure to the loved ones of gone but not forgotten victims. DCI Pirie is working several cases that confound and intrigue, while locking horns with her contentious superior. An enjoyable book, that entertains from the first page to the last.

This mystery set in Scotland is part of a series though I've not read the previous books in the series. I think it works well as a stand-alone, though. There are lots of twists as they try to solve this cold case. It's an entertaining read.

Broken Ground – Val McDermid

Wow just Wow!! Val McDernmid you grabbed me by the short and curlies and took me such a gallop through this book I could almost feel the wind in my hair! I just love her books; I’ve not read one yet that didn’t grab me in the same way. This is the fifth novel in the DCI Karen Pirie series set in Edinburgh; Karen has a dry sharp wit and a tenacious streak a mile wide and her trusty sidekick DC Murray.

In my opinion this can be read as a standalone as the author gives us enough information regarding the team and their background but I feel that it might be better to read the other four just to get a feel for the team dynamics. There’s also a new member of staff that Karen doesn’t trust and sees as a cuckoo in the nest.

Weaving three plots together seamlessly and drawing them to a satisfactory conclusion is a talent, a talent that very few authors can manage so it’s hats off to the author. Broken Ground shows us just how the well preserved the male body in a peat bog, two nineteen forty-four motorbikes and a cold case rape crime can be solved in a well-written way

It turns out the body had been buried after the motorbike; the Nike shoes and the bullet speak for themselves. Leading the team to wonder the usual who, where, why and when? Its not easy when you’re relying on decade old memories and your boss is breathing fire down your neck. Karen isn’t happy to be playing politics in her opinion they get in the way of solving cases.

I can’t recommend this enough, I’ve told family and friends to buy a copy.


Read for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly Press.

With her 32nd novel, Val McDermid continues a long winning streak of first-rate Scottish crime fiction. Cold case detective Karen Pirie is called to a remote Highland peat bog where two well preserved vintage motorcycles were found, along with a dead body. Pirie investigates, with the help of “The Mint,” but is targeted and sabotaged by her new boss “Dog Biscuit” and her lapdog McCartney. (Such great nicknames!) One of the things I appreciate most about McDermid is her accurate descriptions of forensics and her well-developed characters. Pirie is doggedly determined to do everything she can to solve cold cases and believes that “in my unit we try to treat each life as equally valuable.” (Much like Harry Bosch’s philosophy in Michael Connelly’s novels “everybody matters, or nobody does.”) Although Broken Ground is not as impressive as some of the other books in this series, it is a worth-while read.

was a gripping thriller that took you to every aspect of trying to figure out what was really going on and what was going to happen next! This was such an amazing book and I can’t wait to see what else is released from this author!

This was another exceptional book by Val McDermid. Detective Karen Pirie begins work on another cold case, this one discovered completely by accident. The Somervilles are looking for a long buried "inheritance" from Alice's grandfather in the Highlands. When the inheritance, two Indian motorcycles from WWII, are finally found and dug up, there is also a dead body in the hole. At this point Detective Pirie and her staff begin their investigation into the decades old murder of a man who had no real link to the motorcycles or the Somervilles. Meanwhile, Karen, still mourning her dead lover, finds herself getting a bit interested in a new man she meets during the course of the investigation. A great read, very strongly recommend.

This was a good quick read. The story had some twist and turns that kept it interesting. I think it would be a good beach read series. This was the first book in the series that I read and didn't feel like I was missing anything by not reading the first 4 books. This will make me want to go back and learn more about Karen's background and how she became part of the HCU.

This is the 5th book in a series but I had not read the previous ones when I came across the ARC of this. It ended up working well as a standalone. The story is set in Scotland and Inspector Pirie is working three different cases throughout the book.

I thought the pacing was good and I enjoyed all of the mysteries she was working to solve. I also liked Pirie a lot. She has a passion for the victims of the cases she works and she believes that all should be treated equally.

I enjoyed this enough that I will carry on with this series and I will also be going back and reading the previous four books.


**ARC provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

Val McDermid continues the Karen Pirie police procedurals. Cold Case detective Pirie is investigating a dead man discovered in the Scottish peat who died in 1995, but whose case has echoes from the 1940's. Broken Ground conveys the dysfunctional police politics, the complicated connections between her case files and her intellectual efforts to solve her current case load. Enjoy.

Val McDermid really is at the top of her game. She once again delivers a really nuanced portrayal of characters who are often conflicted. For me, the external mystery often takes a backseat to the fascinating interior landscape of the personalities. Highly recommend for readers who enjoy digging into interior lives.

Thank you Grove Atlantic for a copy of Broken Ground for review. Broken Ground is the 5th book in Val McDermid's Karen Pirie series.

Broken Ground is only the second DCI Pirie book I have read in the series but I was never lost. What I love about Val McDermid's writing, especially in her longer series, is she drops hints along the way of important events in the character's past that may be affecting them now, but she does it in a way that feels organic. So whether you have read them all or remember all the characters, you can enjoy each book as they come along and don't need a reference book to follow along like some series writers.

DCI Pirie is the head of the HCU (historical cases unit) which is pretty low on the food chain but she brings the proper strength behind it. Cold cases are harder to solve and require a lot of faith but DCI Pirie and her team treat them with the tenacity and intelligence needed.

It is no surprise that I love this much given how much I respect and enjoy the author's other series with Carol Jordon and Dr. Tony Hill, but I am a big fan of this one as well now. I think she writes varied and interesting police officers with complicated personal lives as well some some more complicated crimes in each book she writes. Broken Ground is no exception and any fans of police procedural series will enjoy this one, especially with the usual aspect of solving cold cases.

While I have read stand alone novels from McDermid in the past and enjoyed them, this is my first time venturing into her series. (Well, I did watch the Wired in the Blood series on TV based on her Tony Hill novels but never read the books.) Now I find I have been missing out on the Karen Pirie series, but better late than never.

Broken Ground, the fifth in this series, begins with a variation on a treasure hunt in contemporary Scotland, with its origins in WWII. What begins for a local couple as a search for a vitage pair of motorbikes ends with the discovery of a bog body! Karen Pirie is the head of the Historic Crimes Unit out of Edinburgh, currently involved in an old case of multiple unsolved violent rapes. Soon she will have this new case on her hands which will show how she and her team work. Sadly, her team has been “corrupted” by being saddled with a new member, an apparent spy for Karen’s superior officer who is determined to force her out.

Even though this is the fifth book in the series, I had no difficulty getting to know the characters and their backgrounds. And the portraits of the cities and countryside made me want to see them first hand, even in the seemingly frequent rain.

The forensics aspect of this novel is strong and figures prominently in the pursuit of possible criminals. And it also seems realistic in terms of its limitations. There are old crimes, and some new ones here, and their solutions are well done though by no means easy. Definitely recommended.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher Atlantic Monthly Press, the author Val McDermid, and NetGalley from providing an ARC in exchange for my candid review.

This is a great series of books, although this is the 5th in the series. While it is a series, I found it easy to jump into the story lines of all of the characters. It is a multi-thread book taking part in modern times, as well as the aftermath of the end of World War II. The characters work for Scotland Yard in the Cold Case area. The characters are quirky and very serious, but I found them appealing.

I will be going back to start the series from the beginning. It is a nice new series.

Val McDermid never disappoints. This is a fast paced mystery and the various characters are interesting. DCI Karen Pirie is in charge of the Historic Case Unit and is called in when a body is
found in a peat bog. The body is that of a professional athlete who went missing in 1995 and how
they determine the killer is worth your time. There is also a subplot about an abused wife. This is
the first book I have read with DCI Pirie in but certainly will not be my last.
Thank you Little, Brown and NetGalley for an excellent book.

In Val McDermid's Broken Ground (Grove Atlantic, digital galley), the search for buried treasure in a peat bog leads to a perfectly preserved body and thus a case for Karen Pirie of Police Scotland's HCU -- Historic Crimes Unit. McDermid deftly splices scenes from World War II into the layered narrative as Pirie digs into the past, bucking her present control-freak boss, irritating the treasure hunters and getting to know a kilted Highlander named Hamish.

This is book #5 in the Inspector Karen Pirie series. I haven't read any of the others, but I thought this book functioned well enough as a standalone. I was given enough background info to know what happened before, but it wasn't an info dump, which I appreciated. I will definitely be checking out the other books in this series.

I loved the MC, Karen, who does not let anyone tell her what to do. I liked the complexity of the plot (3 cases to solve!) and the barest hint of romance.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for a copy of the ARC.

I liked Broken Ground because it's historical fiction and a contemporary mystery. The story lines are nicely tied together, and the story is cohesive. The characters are engaging and relatable. It's an intriguing read that's interesting from beginning to end. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Broken Ground' is a solid, engaging procedural mystery
By Sandy Mahaffey For The Free Lance–Star Jan 5, 2019
I enjoy a good police procedural, but there are caveats. The characters need to be well-developed, the plot intriguing, and any violence should take place off page, with only the necessary details given (I don’t enjoy reading gruesome prose). Sound impossible? Well, I certainly found that with Val McDermid’s “Broken Ground.” Another confession: It’s the first of her more than 30 books I’ve read, but it won’t be the last.
My research has shown the prolific Scottish author has multiple series going. This one centers around DCI Karen Pirie, head of a small Historic Cases Unit (cold cases in the U.S.) McDermid gives enough backstory on Pirie for this newcomer to be able to jump right in. Pirie is still reeling from a devastating loss in her personal life and her supervisor is determined to ruin her career for reasons unknown. Her unit consists of herself, a rather green assistant and now an unrequested third member foisted upon her by her antagonistic boss. She has supportive friends and is determined to work within the law. She’s not perfect, but her heart and motives are in the right place. She is a realistic detective who juggles more than one case at a time, but is determined to solve them.
The HIC cases combine mysteries, some history, old grudges and modern forensic science to create plenty of intrigue and tension in the plot. Pirie is pulled away from trying to solve old serial rapes to head out to a newly uncovered cold case, literally. A young couple attempting to find a buried inheritance from her grandfather, with nothing but a vague map, find more than they expected. Namely a corpse buried in a peat bog. The Scottish countryside, its culture and the wonderful characters add flavor, humor and a realistic feel. The “treasure” itself dates back to the end of World War II, but the Nikes worn by the victim are from about 1995, creating a bit of a snarl in the investigation.
While sitting in a coffee shop working on the peat bog case, Pirie overhears a discussion between female friends about one’s pending divorce and the husband’s aggressive behavior. Unfortunately, this pulls the detective into another case, not historic, but the overheard discussion pulls her into the midst of it.
McDermid gives the reader a good feel for the steps used in the investigation process without becoming tedious. I was always engaged in the plot and got a good picture of the characters with all their quirks, strengths and weaknesses. Personal relationships also play a major role.

If you’re in the mood for a solid detective story with well-developed characters and a beautiful Scottish landscape, this is the book for you.