A new book by Val McDermid is always an occasion for excitement. Past Lying is the latest novel in her Karen Pirie series. The action takes place at the height of the Covid pandemic. All the features of lockdown are well-described - empty streets, social distancing, face-masks, claps for carers. Karen and her team work to solve a missing person's case by following the clues in a deceased writer's manuscript. The story is well-paced and the twists in the plot make this an engrossing read. Highly recommended for readers of crime fiction.

I thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for sending me a copy of this book to review. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

‘Past Lying’ by Val McDermid is the seventh book in the DCI Karen Pirie series. Although I have read many novels and series by this author the Karen Pirie series has always remained my favourite. I like the lead character and find the novels to be very entertaining so was really looking forward to this one.

The novel is set in lockdown, April 2020 in Edinburgh and DCI Karen Pirie is investigating a cold case that comes to light when she receives information about documents hidden within the archive of a deceased crime novelist.

This novel is well written and show the author at her very best, full of suspense, great characters and an intriguing plot. I have found some novels set in the lockdown to be a little tedious but this one was a lot better and held my attention throughout.

‘Past Lying’ is an excellent addition to the series and a very entertaining read.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Something is drastically wrong with this ARC! The Formatting is all messed up. Gee I can't believe I need to make sure I write a hundred characters to tell you this

The seventh procedural with DCI Karen Pirie. It`s 2020 and covid lockdown in Britain. A quarantined archive librarian with too much time to think, is pondering the unfinished novel in recently deceased crime novelist Jake Stein’s donated papers, which she’s started cataloguing. The novel bears an uncanny resemblance to a real-life disappearance of a young woman a year earlier, and purports to be a killer’s confession. The librarian is sufficiently bothered to bring the manuscript to the police’s attention, and Pirie with her sidekicks Daisy and Jason starts to unofficially look into if there’s any truth in the story.

This is a classic puzzle whodunnit with. multiple twists and layers. A large part of the book consists of the unpublished ms and other other author’s notes. We’re treated.to a fun portrait of the crime publishing community, with competing authors and wannabees, agents, book shop proprietors, podcasters and influencers. The covid lockdown setting is realistically drawn, but gets old fast - I was so tired at hearing Pirie snarl to people breaking the rules by the end of the book! At almost 500 pages, I thought it might have benefited from some editing to increase the slow pacing, but I did enjoy spending time with Pirie and her colleagues. A well-written, solid read.

I received an advance readingcopy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review..

Big thanks to both Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Past Lying, by Val McDermid.

Expected publication: November 14, 2023

In this latest installment to her acclaimed detective series (Inspector Karen Pirie #7), internationally bestselling author Val McDermid returns with DCI Karen Pirie in a propulsive new thriller of deceit and vengeance, set against the disquiet and investigative challenges of a global pandemic. As the Washington Post wrote: "Val McDermid is one of the bright lights of the mystery field." So true!

This book takes place during the Covid lockdown when a deceased author’s manuscript appears to be a blueprint for an actual crime. I normally dislike books with multiple viewpoints, and I don't know how she does it, but Ms. McDermid is a whiz at tying things together and having it all make sense. I liked getting to know Daisy better - and who doesn't love Jason, with his puppy-dog ways?? There were some things in Past Lying that made me sad and not many that made me smile But still ... I recommend this book and I cannot wait to read the #8 when it comes out!

Wow, this was a good book! I have enjoyed the Karen Pirie series for a long time now, but I think this is definitely her best yet! The problems with Covid lockdown were interesting, but the whole premise of the manuscript describing a murder that appears to have happened a year ago, is intriguing, and different. Loved it! Highly recommend reading this book and all the others in this series.

4 stars

None of us expected it to last a year, let alone just over three. Ah, covid. What a ride.

This book brings it all back, and not in a rewarding way. This book brings back all of the hardships that we all had to suffer. I recall the small tributes that we all tried to do for those who were housebound, and for the hospital staff who had to wade in that miasma daily. I imagine it was, as Ms. McDermid states, just as bad for the police.

I never could understand the run on toilet paper?!?

DCI Karen Pirie receives a possible clue about an old case. It seems the national archives has received the papers of a recently deceased crime novelist. An unfinished manuscript may contain clues to an unsolved cold case.

A person is missing. A murder is committed. This is a story with many layers. Some of the clues were a little easy, but overall a very good read. The plot is somewhat convoluted and the centerpiece is covid. It limits everything.

Ms. McDermid is a remarkable author. I didn’t care for this book as much as her previous Karen Pirie novels. Karen seemed off kilter a bit. Perhaps it was just the drag of the pandemic.

I want to thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Karen Pirie is one of my favorite detectives and overall series, so I was very excited to get this ARC. The pandemic out McDermid in a tough spot, especially with the last book ending in Feb 2020. As an American, I hadn’t realized how much stricter lockdown was in Scotland, which provided both obstacles and opportunities. There were aspects that I liked, but the constant reminders of distancing and quarantine rules started to grate because it still feels so fresh. The mystery was also fairly convoluted (reading a book about a detective reading a manuscript about a writer writing a manuscript is a lot of levels), but the lines between the manuscript and the book’s reality were kept clear, which helped. I did figure out what was going on before Karen, which made me feel frustrated with some of her choices, but I also have the benefit of a curated set of information. Overall, a very interesting story with characters that I love, even if Scotland didn’t play as big a role, since they were all trapped indoors.

`Past Lying is the seventh novel in the brilliant Karen Pirie series by legendary Scottish author Val McDermid. The first novel in the series, 'The Distant Echo' was recently dramatised for UTV/ITV and is well-worth a watch with Lauren Lyle taking on the eponymous role.
Book seven takes the read back to mid-2020 and the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, reading about that nerve-wracking time from the safety of 2023, it was a little disconcerting to recall the time of lock-downs, patrols, closed businesses etc. Not to mention the terrible tole on society. McDermid does not shy away from the facts while Pirie investigates her case and includes many actual events such as 'clapping for carers', 'panic over toilet roll etc. All of these references help to bring the pandemic back to life again. And the restrictions of that time do play a huge impact on the case.
And what is this case? Well, an archivist contacts DS Jason 'The 'Mint' Murray regarding a partially finished manuscript that has been gifted to the library as part of a collection from a renowned Scottish crime author. The storyline in this manuscript bears an uncanny similarity to a recent missing person case and so she has contacted the Historic Crimes team for advice. Now, perhaps the similarities are nothing more than a coincidence but as they currently have no caseload, Karen, Jason and Daisy decide to investigate and so begins one of their more peculiar and twisty cases to date.
If you are uncomfortable with reading about the pandemic then this may not be a book for you as the storyline is weaved around the early days of the lockdown, but it is intriguing to see how the investigation is hampered and the workarounds that the team must find in order to succeed.
Well worth a read and a strong addition to a great series.

I’m an avid reader of Val McDermid and the prospect of a new instalment in the Karen Pirie series had me licking my lips with anticipation. ‘Past Lying’ challenged my expectations, but didn’t disappoint. By setting the novel at the height of lockdown, Val recreates that unreal feeling of trepidation and the draconian conditions that most of us were willing to live under to combat the threat of COVID. Solving a cold case whilst working remotely poses challenges for Karen, but this is a very unusual mystery that focuses on the links between the murder of a student and a short story discovered in the archives of a well known crime writer. At times, the process of solving the crime relies as much on literary as forensic analysis. I did have early reservations at the idea that someone trying to frame a rival for murder would commit the details to print, but then I anticipated where the story was leading and, suffice to say, it all comes together very well.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. It was unreadable on my Kindle but fine in the app, although I wish you could enlarge the type in the app.

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 was an engrossing read, but no fun somehow.

Another cracker from this talented author. Karen Pirie continues to grow as a detective and as a fictional character. Well supported by her team, Pirie takes on another historical case, encumbered by the limitations of Covid lockdown. The author weaves the unusual circumstances into the plot extremely well, giving some insights into the challenges which front line workers faced. The plot itself is a fascinating one, although perhaps more obvious than previous books.

The ARC was unreadable on kindle but fine on the NetGalley app.