"It's April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hot-the streets all but empty, an hour's outdoor exercise the maximum allowed-but a mere pandemic doesn't mean crime takes a holiday. When a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie's team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems it's game on again. At the center of it, a novel: two crime novelists facing off over a chessboard. But it quickly emerges that their real-life competition is drawing blood. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, and as Karen and her team attempt to disentangle fact from fiction, it becomes clear that this case is more complicated than they ever imagined."--
DCI Karen Pirie investigates in a new thriller of deceit and vengeance, set against the disquiet and investigative challenges of a global pandemic.
Pre-order the twisty new Karen Pirie thriller, now a major BritBox series.
In this latest installment to her acclaimed detective series, 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
Hailed as Britains Queen of Crime (Scotsman), Val McDermid is the award-winning, internationally bestselling author of over thirty novels that have enthralled readers for the past three decades. The long-awaited seventh novel in McDermids acclaimed Karen Pirie series, Past Lying is a breakneck collision of ego, retribution, and just how far one will go to settle the score.
Its April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown, but that doesnt mean crime takes a holiday. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hotthe streets all but empty, an hours outdoor exercise the maximum allowedbut when a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Piries team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems its game on again. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, but no one quite expects how many twists it will turn out to have.
Tense, atmospheric, and relentlessly captivating, Past Lying is another winner from Val McDermid, and new and longtime readers alike will delight in this triumphant return to a stellar series.
