Out of Bounds: A Karen Pirie Novel
"Tightly plotted . . . McDermid applies her formidable intelligence and muscular style to the kind of urban crime novel that gives Scotland its tough rep and vigorous lingo . . . [A] superior series."--Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
When a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car and ends up in a coma, a routine DNA test reveals a connection to an unsolved murder from twenty-two years before. It's a cold case that should be straightforward. But it's as twisted as the DNA helix itself. Meanwhile, Karen, mired in grief after the death of her partner, finds herself irresistibly drawn to a mystery that has its roots in a terrorist bombing two decades ago. Karen's intuition is telling her something doesn't add up. But is she onto something? Or has she, as her boss has been waiting for, gone too far this time? An enthralling, twisty read that takes Karen into the vagaries of privacy law, the history of the Northern Irish Troubles, and right into the heart of power in London, Out of Bounds reaffirms Val McDermid's place as one of our finest crime writers.
"A thriller as steely and superlative as its heroine." --O, The Oprah Magazine
"There are few other crime writers in the same league as Val McDermid . . . Another terrific and intricate suspense novel by a writer who has given us 30 of them."-- Washington Post
"Exciting . . . [McDermid] balances the intense character studies in Out of Bounds with an inside view of the Scottish legal system and again shows her acuity in producing intelligent thrillers."-- Associated Press
"Thirty books in, most crime writers start to flag, but not Val McDermid . . . McDermid's work always slashes like a knife."--The Globe and Mail (Canada)
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Praise for Out of Bounds
"McDermid balances the intense character studies in Out of Bounds with an inside view of the Scottish legal system and again shows her acuity in producing intelligent thrillers." --Associated Press
"There are few other crime writers in the same league as Val McDermid." --Washington Post
"A thriller as steely and superlative as its heroine." --O, The Oprah Magazine
"McDermid applies her formidable intelligence and muscular style to the kind of urban crime novel that gives Scotland its tough rep and vigorous lingo . . . It's the brawny characters and their beefy dialect that really keeps us coming back to this superior series." --New York Times
"Readers will easily connect with Karen, whose unwavering confidence is tempered by a strong dose of kindness and sense of justice . . . Satisfying investigative detail, swift pacing, and realistic mysteries steeped in the intricacies of Scottish law; a sure fit for fans of Tana French and of Denise Mina's Alex Morrow series." --Booklist (starred review)
"Engaging . . . Pirie, a tough heroine cut from the same cloth as McDermid's other fictional stalwart, Carol Jordan, never backs down from a thorny question or a seemingly impossible case." --Publishers Weekly
"Karen's refusal to suffer her foolish superiors gladly is very appealing. As is her winning combination of being both brooding and no-nonsense. This . . . entertaining mystery has the grace of a heroine on the verge of coming into her own as a character whom readers will want to spend time with." --Kirkus Reviews
"McDermid's expertly juggled plotlines and masterful handling of pace and tension tick all the best boxes, but what makes this book a real cracker is Pirie herself--grieving, insubordinate and dogged in her pursuit of the various culprits" --The Guardian (UK)
"What superlatives are there left to describe the phenomenon that is the multi award-winning McDermid? . . . Told with McDermid's legendary verve and eye for detail, it grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go." --Daily Mail (UK)
"[An] engaging new novel...McDermid's 30th novel offers fascinating insights into the ethical dilemmas thrown up by advances in forensic science" --Sunday Times (UK)
"On her 30th novel . . . none is more deserving of the queen-of-crime mantle than Val McDermid . . . I would like to see a great deal more of DCI Pirie" --Irish Times
"McDermid concocts complex plots with plenty of twists and red herrings. At times the tension is palpable and there are genuine surprises . . . McDermid is a dab hand at creating enough plausibility to make her contributions to the genre intensely readable" --Glasgow Herald
