THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Karen Pirie returns . . . Pre-order Past Lying, the eagerly-awaited new Karen Pirie thriller, publishing October 2023
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1989. The world is on the brink of revolution and journalist Allie Burns is a woman on a mission. When she discovers a lead about the exploitation of society’s most vulnerable, Allie is determined to investigate and give voice to the silenced.
Elsewhere, a ticking clock begins the countdown to a murder. As Allie begins to connect the dots and edges closer to exposing the truth, it is more shocking than she ever imagined. There’s nothing like a killer story, and to tell it, Allie must risk her freedom and her life . . .
The brand-new unmissable, heart-stopping thriller from number one bestseller, Val McDermid
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Praise for the Allie Burns series
‘McDermid is at her considerable best’ GUARDIAN
‘Irresistible’ PATRICIA CORNWELL
‘A brilliant novel by a supremo of the genre’ PETER JAMES
‘Outstanding’ SPECTATOR
‘Another masterpiece’ DAVID BALDACCI
‘Sensational. One of Britain’s most accomplished writers’ SUNDAY EXPRESS
‘A masterly setter of scene’ SCOTSMAN
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Reviews
A book of many parts . . . [McDermid is] subverting the crime genre to her own ends. How the remaining three volumes will turn out is anyone's guess
Studded with a wealth of period detail . . . It whips along like bushfire
Packed full of Val McDermid's trademark brilliance, 1979 is a thrilling snapshot of a fascinating era
There is a great deal to enjoy in this novel . . . McDermid remains a masterly setter of a scene and developer of a storyline. There is an agreeable warmth to much of the book, and the evocation of the world of journalism and politics of the late 20th century is convincing . . . [A book] that will be deeply enjoyed
A nail-biting new series
1989, by reigning queen of UK crime Val McDermid, is a sequel to her change-of-pace 1979 , the memorable beginning to a quintet of books set in a Glaswegian tabloid office . . . This is every bit as accomplished as its predecessor, with the same crisp sense of an increasingly distant era
While "gripping" is an adjective over-used in book reviews, it's a fitting description of a sensational novel. A surefire bestseller from one of Britain's most accomplished writers
Allie Burns is off to a flying start, and well worth following down the decades
McDermid is at her considerable best here
One of Britain's most successful crime novelists . . . The novel evokes glorious nostalgia for those who recall mobile phones like house bricks and laptops the size of suitcases
A tour-de-force . . . The Queen of Crime has delivered another masterpiece
A new series from Val McDermid promises to be an event - and 1979 delivers . . . A marvellous new character to follow through the years to come
McDermid can do edge-of-seat suspense better than most novelists . . . An excellent opener to what promises to be an outstanding series
The Queen of Crime has done it again . . . Irresistible
A supremo of the genre at the height of her powers . . . An unmissable new series
Allie is a fabulous character, I'll go wherever she takes me and I'm dying to see what she does next
McDermid convincingly recreates the grim era of AIDS, Lockerbie and Hillsborough while providing several juicy mysteries for the reader to gnaw on
Praise for 1979
