This was not my favourite book by Val McDermid but was enjoyable. McDermid does a great job of writing a story where an investigation is occuring during lockdown measures which was interesting. There is a lot going on in the book and I think that is why I struggled a little with trying to understand everything but this is more a personal comment than a comment on the author's writing style.

Good read.

As a police procedural set during lockdown, the tone of this reflects the isolation and desperation of that time making the story tight and a tad anxious. The levels of twist upon twist are staggering. Taut and totally entertaining. And McDermid's masterful ability to use her setting as almost a character adds an intensity to the story.

Scottish Val McDermid is the master of the police procedural, being the queen of the so-called “Tartan Noir.” Her latest in the Karen Pirie series is again set in Edinburgh –though this outing deals completely, and incorporates the plot wholly, into the beginning of the 2020 pandemic with quarantines and serious rules about distancing. How to solve a murder when everyone is locked up at home and no one is supposed to talk to each other?!

I have been waiting for authors to be able to tell the pandemic murder story, and apparently time has allowed for McDermid to use the uniqueness of those times as part of the setting. I love McDermid’s writing, but truthfully, this series with DCI Pirie is my favorite. This heroine is smart, witty and full of swagger, though only small in stature, and of course, a female in a male world. The feminist DCI Pirie heads up the Historical Murders Unit, and with her two quirky underlings moves around Edinburgh against Covid rules trying to find out what happened to a missing woman.

A dead author has in his archives an apparent confession to killing the missing woman but died before he could finish his confession. Evidence is difficult to find given the Covid issue, while the police team’s family members are in hospital on ventilators. McDermid also brings into the rich setting the very real issue of immigrants in the city as natives holed up inside their homes.

Britbox has approved a season 2 for the TV show Karen Pirie which I have not seen yet. Season One deals with the first book in the series, “The Distant Echo.” “Past Lying” is the seventh of this series, but can easily be read without reading the other six first. Though if it were me, I would indeed read the first six and then sit back to thoroughly enjoy the seventh. My rating: 5 of 5

This ARC title was provided by Netgalley.com at no cost, and I am providing an unbiased review. Past Lying will be published on November 14, 2023.

McDermid has written several varieties of crime fiction over the years, both in multiple series and in standalone novels, and has won a number of awards doing it. She’s especially good at police procedurals, all set in and around Edinburgh, with emphasis on “procedural.” She does a first-rate job in her deceptions of the detectives of Police Scotland, both junior and senior, doing their day-to-day jobs, while the reader follows along behind, observing. My favorite of her series is the one featuring DCI Karen Pirie, a rather hard-nosed and occasionally prickly searcher-out of truth. She doesn’t suffer fools, which has gotten her in trouble with some of her less talented and more bureaucratic superiors, and which has now ended up with her running the Historical Cases Unit (what are called “cold cases” in the U.S., but Karen doesn’t think of them as “cold” at all). That was meant to be a punishment, since it was just her and a somewhat feckless young Detective Constable --they added a very sharp Detective Sergeant in the last book -- but Karen’s string of successes with older cases has given her a great deal of satisfaction, as well as making her popular in the press.

So, it’s the spring of 2020 and the pandemic lockdown has just begun in Scotland, where everyone is taking it far more seriously than was the case in much of the U.S. The government has issued -- an is enforcing -- very tight regulations regarding staying at home and off the streets (you’re allowed one hour of outside exercise each day, period), there is virtually no traffic, Edinburgh has become startlingly quiet, and even the police are very restricted in their movements. Karen and her new sergeant, Daisy Mortimer, have decided to share a “bubble” together because Karen’s semi-wealthy boyfriend, Hamish, is off mining his sheep business (his chain of coffee shops are all closed, of course) and he has lent the two women his large, fancy flat in the city. Looks like it’s going to be a dull time until the COVID goes away, which they hope will be only a month o two.

Then Jason, the young constable on the team, who is a little nervous about Daisy (because she outranks him), and who is bubbled up with his girlfriend, receives a call from an archivist he knows at the National Library. (He freely admits to having a way with women of a certain age.) His contact has been sorting through a recent bequest, the papers of a famous and recently deceased crime novelist, among which she has found the draft of a manuscript that appears to closely follow the events of the disappearance (and what the police assume was the probable death) of a female university student almost a year before. If fact, the story in the draft seems more like a blueprint for a murder, or perhaps a confession. Jason gets on the phone to his boss, who asks him to get them a copy of the document (though the archivist’s own boss isn’t very cooperative at first about turning loose of papers that haven’t even been calendared yet), and suddenly the lockdown is taking second place to an unsettling new case. Because Karen believes that not a day should be wasted in pursuing the facts, even when a victim has been dead or missing for a long time. It’s still very much a “live” case to the family.

The author has a tendency for sneakiness in her plots. You’re watching things develop, and nodding your head as the team uncovers clues and attempts to figure what they mean and how it all fits together, . . . and you never notice that you’re being cunningly led astray. (You’ll be thumping yourself in the forehead later on.) The personal lives of the main characters continue to have a role in the plots, too, including the Syrian refugees whom Karen has taken under her wing as they try to built news lives in a very different land, and as she continues to heal from the murder a couple of years before of her partner and lover (and who was rather idolized professionally by Jason, so he has felt the loss, too). Nearly all of McDermid’s books are first-rate, even though I find certain of her series protagonists more interesting than others. She has become an “automatic” author for me. I don’t even have to read the reviews; anything she writes, I want to read.

It’s April 2020, the third week of a pandemic lockdown in an eerily quiet and empty Edinburgh. Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit has hunkered down with Detective Sergeant Daisy Mortimer in a “quarantine bubble” in her boyfriend Hamish’s spacious New Town apartment while he isolates up in the Highlands. There are no active cold cases to occupy the two officers, and Karen is languishing while longing for something meaningful to investigate. She fights her restlessness with her daily one-hour walks, the maximum allowed under tight restrictions. But when DC Jason Murray receives a call from a contact at the National Library about an unfinished manuscript in the archives of a recently deceased crime novelist, the team may have stumbled upon a connection to the cold case of a young woman who disappeared a year earlier. But how do they investigate a crime while trying to stay within COVID protocols? A determined Karen finds herself “making mincemeat” of the regulations, but as she tells a colleague, “I have to be out on the streets doing what I do. Because I want the world to still be a decent place when we come out on the other side.” In her seventh atmospheric series thriller, McDermid skillfully combines a twisty plot of murder and vengeance with the personal dramas of her detectives, set against the dramatic backdrop of a global pandemic. By the novel’s end, no one has been left unscathed by this traumatic time. In her acknowledgments, McDermid notes that she penned this novel only in 2023, needing the distance of time to write about those frightening early days. I suspect her book is the first of many crime novels that will explore the impact of COVID on the human psyche.—Willy Williams

The year is 2020. Edinburgh has been closed because of the first lockdown. The world is just beginning to fight the coronavirus. Right now, no one expects a cold case file to be opened. Pirie's team is approached by a librarian who works with the archives. The belongings of a deceased writer have come to her, and one of his manuscripts is eerily reminiscent of an unsolved murder. Karen, Daisy and Jason will follow the trail as they try to navigate their actions under the rules of the lockdown. In addition, the three have personal problems, and Karen herself tries to help a person in need.

The author did not disappoint. I love her writing style. Her plots often involve more than one case, and the characters have personal problems that actually make the story more real. I really liked how the book was structured. The things they had to do to find evidence had me sitting on the edge of my sit. Together with them, we also read the manuscript, which is actually the main clue. I actually managed to guess one of the twists, but the motive was lost on me. This is one of those books that keeps you saying "one more chapter". Ah, the fact that it describes those times when we were all closed in our houses and scared really made me sympathize with the characters. Val McDermid quite skillfully guides us through those dark times while distracting us with a brilliant plot. I strongly recommend!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC of the book.

Fantastic book. A book within a book device that worked remarkably well. Believable characters an intricate plot, a good description of life under covid and a great mystery. One of the best books I’ve read in quite a while.

Well written detective story. I like the relationship between DI Karen Pirie and her team. Will certainly read the next one in the series.

Thank you to Val McDermid, NetGalley and Grove Atlantic—Atlantic Monthly Press for the arc of this book

DCI Karen Pirie is back with her historic crimes unit to investigate a cold case. This time they are looking into the disappearance of Lara Hardie. During the lockdown in 2020 the Jason Murray is contacted by a friend in the National library to alert him to something strange within a crime writers archive. Does the story found in the archive reveal what happened to Lara and where her remain will be discovered or is it just a coincidence? Lockdown makes it harder for the team to investigate and they have to find ways to get around the new rules in order to solve the crime.
Another great story by Val McDermid, queen of crime! I love all the forensics details she inserts into her books.

Karen Pirie has been my favorite of the sleuths that Val McDermid has created and shared over the last decade. I've been intrigued by how effectively she has woven the complexities of the immigrant experience into Karen's personal and work worlds as well as how clearly grief and trauma show up without derailing the narratives. The most recent book leans more heavily into these themes as it takes place during the pandemic, when we are all strangers in a very strange world. Karen ends up working on a case that emerges because there is time and space in lockdown for records to be reviewed differently and questions to be raised that might have been overlooked. The death of a crime novelist tugs at the teams own experiences and send them searching to see if the answers have already been written. Their investigation is hampered by the rules of isolation and the pressures it puts on everyone to define acceptable risk for themselves and for others, in their work and personal worlds. The pandemic colors every aspect of this story, effectively bringing us back to the moment that everything abruptly changed and we were all asked what we would do to balance safety and justice for ourselves and those we love. A highly recommended read!

Past Lying by Val McDermid is a superb read and well worth the time spent! Great plot and characters.

I have to be honest: at this point I think the only way Val McDermid could write a bad book is if she actively tried. However, even by her consistently high standards, “Past Lying” is a stand out crime novel. While further developing some on-going characters, McDermid presents the reader with both a fascinating crime puzzle and some strong social commentary.

The novel begins in April 2020, as the world locks down because of COVID, at the time the disease is a fearful and little understood thing. Most post-pandemic novels I’ve read have been set after this enormous social upheaval. Instead, McDermid deals head on with the challenges of policing at that time, as well as the social and personal strains. I found this a fascinating underpinning for the novel. It’s an original angle, and with that time still vivid in the memory, really grounds the novel.

The Cold Case unit Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie leads isn’t exactly considered essential policing during a lockdown. But Karen and her team are restless and need something to do; and Karen believes strongly that survivors still deserve answers as promptly as possible.

One of DC Jason Murray’s contacts at the National Library has been cataloging the papers of a recently dead crime writer, and is disturbed by what she’s found. There’s an incomplete manuscript which mirrors a fairly recent unsolved disappearance – and it appears to detail who committed the crime and how.

Karen and her team – Jason and recent recruit Detective Sergeant Daisy Mortimer – investigate a little disbelievingly at first, almost out of boredom, and then with energy and focus when initial inquiries suggest this might indeed be a description of a real crime, and a path to a real perpetrator and a real solution.

As always, McDermid shows the painstaking research and investigation, and unique challenges, of a cold case in considerable detail. The enthusiasm and personal commitment of the investigators – notably Karen Pirie – makes this not just readable, but compelling. This particular plot was mesmerizing – it’s a high-concept thriller type idea, but as the investigation progresses, it seems more and more grounded and plausible.

This novel is part of a continuing series featuring Karen Pirie. She’s a highly empathetic character. She’s very much an ordinary person in a tough job, and she’s been through some personal tragedy. Continuing readers care about her a lot, and will be pleased to know that McDermid also advances her personal life and personal growth in a believable way.

I was particularly engaged by the lockdown setting and the difficulties of investigation during that strange time. I can understand why other crime writers have avoided it – it’s not easy to investigate a crime while keeping your distance from everyone and respecting lockdown rules. However, that just added depth and texture to both the investigation and the characters.

I am, it’s true, a long time McDermid fan. Others like me are going to love this. McDermid shows off all her strengths and well honed writing skills. Readers who are new to McDermid will find this a fascinating puzzle, well told, with compelling characters. Enough background is provided about the characters to ensure new readers can engage with them strongly.

This is a treat for crime readers, whether they’re established McDermid fans or new to her writing.
NOTE: I will post this review online closer to the publication date and will return to add links

I received a free copy of, Past Lying, by Val McDermid, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book number seven in the Inspector Karen Pirie series. Its 2020, or the year of lockdown,in England, as we know it. Inspector Karen Piries is notified about a cold case that is heating up. Murder, intrigue, suspense, this book has it all, an enjoyable read.

It’s April 2021, DCI Karen Pirie is in lockdown because of Covid. She is living with Daisy in Hamish’s apartment while he is away. In their quarantine “bubble” Daisy and Karen are getting to bettter know each other. But then crime takes an unlikely turn. A newly discovered manuscript, detailing a murder with possible links to real crime emerges. It is from a deceased novelist, but it sparks a sudden interest in an employee at the National Archives. She is Jason’s friend. He brings the far-fetched scenario to Karen’s attention. Could this possibly be the actual plan of a past crime?

McDermid has lots of elements to juggle here and does all of them exceedingly well. There is getting around Covid protocols to investigate. There is personal drama in the separate lives of Karen, Daisy, and Jason. There is the book within in a book manuscript. And there is even a subplot going back to Karen’s relationship with the Syrian refugee community. McDermid juggles all these elements with skill. Readers will be challenged but will want to keep up to learn how she pulls this off. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

The plot was good though predictable. The over emphasis on COVID protocols and the constant mention of masks, bubbles and social distancing with Pirie giving scant regard to them while climbing the moral high horse when it comes to others feel outdated and less to my liking.

This had a devious and complicated plot, involving a dead writer whose archive material contains a story which might explain what happened to a real life missing person. I found Karen completely humourless in this book - it has been a while since I read the previous instalment, but I don't remember it bothering me before. I would also caution you not to read this book if you're unwilling to immerse yourself in the circumstances of the first Covid lockdown. It was all there - no one going to work, one hour's exercise, trying to interpret the rules in specific situations, people getting sick. I found it made me anxious.

I guessed one of the twists, and felt that part of the solution was unfairly predicated on one character's writing abilities turning out to be completely different from what we had been told.

This reader has long awaited this seventh novel in McDermid’s acclaimed Karen Pirie series, And the wait was totally worth it. Past Lying is a breakneck collision of ego and retribution.

It is April, 2020, and the world is on lockdown. A source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie’s cold case team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, seemingly confessing to the murder of a young college student., What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, but no one quite expects how many twists it will turn out to have.

Many writers have incorporated the Covid pandemic into their latest novels, but usually with a few mentions of masks and vaccines. Val McDermid brings that time to the forefront of this police procedural, and Past Lying is the richer for it. How do you solve crimes when you're only allowed out of your house for an hour's exercise per day? The limitations created a tense and captivating thriller, s Karen and her team work through and around the restrictions.

Past Lying is Val McDermid at the top of her game. I urge all mystery/thriller fans to grab this novel as soon as they can. Highly, highly recommended. #PastLying #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthorSeries

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for allowing me to read an ARC of Val McDermid's book.

I am biased. I'm a huge Val McDermid fan. I approach each book knowing I will love it. It will take something so badly written or so not understandable for me to be disappointed. So far I've been right. I loved the Wire in the Blood books and the BBC series. It was a bit of a change to be introduced to Karen Pirie and her team in Edinburgh. I've adapted. This book, Past Lying, is the sixth book in the Karen Pirie series. It takes place in the first months of the Pandemic when the work was in confinement, the streets were empty, and one only went out in necessities. The polis and investigations are necessities. Karen and her lieutenant, Daisy, are staying in place in Hamish's flat while he is away making money. Her other lu is contacted by the Archives of Edinburg wondering if something she has discovered is worthy of police time and investigation. Bored and wanting action, Karen, Daisy, and Jason are given an unpublished manuscript that seems to detail a possible murder. What follows is brilliant writing. Reading the manuscript, making jumps to real life, and trying to figure out how to go about unraveling if any part of it is true, is compelling reading. Just a normal writing day for Ms. McDermat.

There are two side stories. Karen and her boyfriend, Hamish. and another Syrian refugee fleeing his country and in danger of being murdered. Karen has helped the Syrian refugees that she met under a bridge during her long night walks (an earlier book) by providing work and homes. She has become a treasured part of their community.
Hamish, rich and entitled, shows his true colors by believing that Confinement rules do not apply to him. He's special. The two come to blows.

McDermat weaves these stories seamlessly into the main story. Though a part of the ending is obvious about halfway through, how the team gets there is mystery writing at its finest.

If you haven't yet discovered Val McDermat, you are in for a treat. If you are a fan as I am, you will be grateful that her books come out as often as they do. McDermat falls under mystery literature. She is a fine, fine writer.

This is a psychological thriller wrapped in an intriguing mystery about a missing woman. Clues to what happened to the missing woman *may* exist in an unpublished manuscript found among a dead author's notes. You kind-of get two books in this one - the manuscript and the investigation of the missing woman. The manuscript follows a code that can be linked to real people, places and occurrences. But is the manuscript a blueprint for murder, or just another tale of fiction by this famous author? Is it even written by this author? All of the clues are masked but definitely point to a specific perpetrator. The main people of interest are mystery writers, so they spin tales of deception by profession. And the investigation occurs during the beginning period of the COVID lockdown, when people were most scared and untrusting. DCI Karen Purie, Jason and Daisy have their strong points and work well together to chase down information. The book portrays the difficulties of working an investigation during the severe restrictions required during lockdown - it also portrays the way relationships were strengthened or broken during this time. There were so many genius moments in this tale, but it was also heartfelt and poignant. The tale is so complex with many levels of treachery - really keeps you on your toes! I'm sure that if I read it again right now, I'd find things that I missed the first go round! I highly recommend it!!

It was so good to meet Karen Pirie again and as usual, Val McDermid gives the reader a layered mystery with heart. This case begins in April 2020, just as the lockdown in Scotland is beginning. Karen is a mirror for all of the uncertainty and fear at the time which was somehow both validating and very unsettling as a reader. (If you aren’t quite ready to revisit 2020, I suggest you set this book aside for another time.)

Karen and her team use their time in lockdown to investigate the unsolved disappearance of a young woman from a year earlier. It’s not a cold case but just a case that’s sort of been unattended. The evidence? Well, it’s all in an unpublished manuscript left behind when a famous crime writer dies.

The plot is very meta - with a crime book tucked into a crime book, and there’s quite a lot to follow. The players are all authors, both fictional and actual, which feels playful and is a treat to readers. I really enjoyed that so much of this mystery is set against a backdrop of the literary world.

The whodunnit of it all is predictable, particularly for readers well acquainted with this genre, but it’s okay. There is more telling than showing when it comes to the team connecting evidence and proposing theories, and it feels a rushed at the end. This version of Karen is very flat, which is understandable given what the world felt like in April 2020 and her grief, but I missed her. The connection between Karen and her sergeant Daisy is a good one, and engages the reader when the plot feels otherwise thin. There are some excursions from the central investigation that seem unnecessary but actually create context for what Karen is experiencing during such an uncertain time.

Is it Karen’s very best outing? No. But who among us was at our best in April 2020 when things went to pieces? I’d recommend it gladly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.