Smart Crime Fiction

Although I'd never recommend Val McDermid for the faint of heart, the author is one of the best crime fiction writers on the market. It was a no brainer to pick up A Distant Echo, and while it's become a bit dated since its publication twenty-two years ago, it still kept me absorbed right up to the end.

The novel is told in two timelines. First 1978, when the body of a young barmaid is discovered by four uni students in a Scottish cemetery. The only suspects in her brutal murder end up being the four boys who found her, and they all suffer greatly because of the incompetence of the police and the viciousness of the barmaid's brothers. All of them are changed forever by the incident. No one is ever charged with the murder.

The second timeline is 25 years later, when the murder is reopened as a cold case. The four uni students are now grown men with careers and families; one has a pregnant wife. When two of them are murdered, it seems like the past has finally caught up with them, and it wants blood for blood.

Problems and pluses: I will say up front that early on in the book I correctly guessed who the killer is, but writing is my day job, and it's pretty hard to distract me. :) It's not an easy guess, however, and don't be upset if you miss the subtle tells. I think the characters, scathingingly protrayed as they sometimes are, and the sheer velocity of the plot when it picks up speed, are excellent. By the time you get to the solution of the puzzle you might feel like you've run a marathon. There is some quite frightening child endangerment toward the end, and that may be upsetting, particularly for new mothers.

I really enjoyed A Distant Echo, and I recommend it if you're looking for something more intelligent and engaging than the usual mindless serial killer gorefest that passes as crime fiction these days.