The Distant Echo

I picked this novel up a couple of weeks back at the local Borders without knowing what type/kind of thriller this would turn out to be, especially after reading some crappy thrillers for the last couple of months (with all of them marked as either "National Bestseller" or "International Bestseller"). But this one really turned out to be a very good one, not only the overall story line, but all the major characters were very well chosen, extremely fighting fit portrayed and all the facts/events superbly interwoven. Moreover, the whole thing is so finely written and easily readable stuff. I especially liked the way the author managed to delineate the fact how sometimes even trying to help innocently can prove disastrous. Anyway, overall 5 stars!!! Subhasish Ghosh 5th Jan 2006 St. Cross College University of Oxford

THE DISTANT ECHO is one of the best stories I've read in months! It grabbed me on the first page and I kept reading it page after page. Val McDermid tells a definately compelling story with deep insight into her characters. It is filled with suspense and it gallops along. Wow! I look forward to reading all of her 5 star books!

Val McDermid returns to fine form with an absolutely sensational thriller and an utterly compelling page-turner. I was somewhat disappointed with A Place of Execution; although good, it was rather long, and lacked the tightly driven plot and dramatic tension that is usually synonymous with McDermid's work. The actions of the past and how much these dealings come back to haunt us are woven through A Distant Echo, as throughout the first half of the book, the reader is catapulted back to New Year's Eve in 1978 and then, in the second half of the book, bought forward to 2003 where redemption and truth are finally revealed. McDermid creates a solid and chilly atmosphere as she describes bleak and cold Scottish winters in the town of Kirkcaldy and in the University Town of St, Andrews, where our four main protagonists live. On a frosty, icy night four young students Tom, Alex, David, and Sigmund, full of optimism and idealism about their lives and careers, find the blood soaked body of Rosie Duff, a local girl, who has been brutally stabbed. What happens next turns into a riveting tale of recrimination and blame, as the boys faced with a seemingly, disinterested and inadequate local police force, face a life branded as killers. A Distant Echo, in classic whodunit style really keeps you guessing, and the tension and suspense never ceases as time periods are transcended and the real killer is gradually revealed. McDermid, to her credit, infuses the narrative with lots of things Scottish. References are constantly made to homemade shortbread, nappies, black bun, sultana cake, Scottish country dancing, grouse, and whiskey. You really get a sense of familiarity, and that McDermid is completely passionate about her roots. She also raises lots of issues to do with gay bashing, hate crimes, and religious intolerance, so the story always has a sense of propinquity, immediacy, and relevance. A Distant Echo is a superbly crafted thriller and well worth the wait. And it without doubt reflects Val McDermid's unique talent as a one of the world's most pre-eminent mystery writers. This is a must read for fans of murder mysteries.Michael

Ms. McDermid has delivered another taut and intelligent mystery for her legions of devoted fans, which I count myself a proud member.I will leave it to others to give a plot and character overview, but believe a reader new to her work will be drawn to how well she constructs her plots and characters. Also, she's very fair in how she places clues in the story for those of us who like to work out the "who done it" before the final exposition.If you are looking for a book to burn the midnight lamp over, this will keep you engrossed.My only criticism was a minor character (deviant, bad guy)was named Brian !!

It?s December 1978 in St Andrews, Scotland, and the town is held in the smooth grip of a blanket of snow. Four young men are stumbling home from a party, taking a shortcut over Hallow Hill, when one of them discovers, half-buried in the snow, the body of young barmaid Rosie Duff, bleeding profusely and barely alive. Unfortunately, she dies before any help can arrive, and the four lads become, for lack of any contrary evidence, the only suspects. Fast-forward 25 years. Now, Fife police have set up a cold-case review team, to apply new techniques to unsolved cases. And one of the cases they will be looking into the notorious Rosie Duff murder. The original quartet of suspects has now been scattered to the four winds. Their bond has been strained almost to breaking by the suspicion that they had to bear, and all their lives have been fundamentally changed by what they uncovered that evening. Then, one of them dies in a suspicious fire, and the four remaining friends are brought together again with a crash. But, soon, further events conspire to make it abundantly clear that someone is wreaking vengeance or Rosie Duff. Someone who is determined to see that the most harsh of justice is finally meted out to those who killed her?It?s rather clear, even from just reading a brief synopsis, that Val McDermid?s latest book is going to be very, very good. The Distant Echo returns McDermid to the dizzying heights of A Place of Execution (which, really, is so good that it must be placed outside the genre of ?crime?), while retaining all the sheer enjoyability factor of other successes such as Killing the Shadows. It?s an excellent book, destined for great success. It?s an intense examination of how suspicion can affect lives, tear them apart, and of the bonds that tie people together, and what it takes to break them. It?s excellently written, and the plot is original and fascinating, and plenty of twists are provided along the way to keep the reader satisfied and interested. There?s enough atmosphere to convince the reader that McDermid is far more than just going through the motions, and the characters are well drawn and real enough to care about. The Distant Echo is a triumph, and a prime example of why McDermid is one of the best thriller writers we have.