• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to footer

Crime Books

Prize-Winning Fiction

  • Home
  • Reference
    • Awards
    • Blogs
    • Reading List
      • The Best of The Best
      • International Crime
      • The Last Laugh
  • Index
    • Authors
    • Titles
    • Tags
  • E-Mail Updates
  • Search
  • Rating
    • ★ 5 Stars
    • ★ 4 Stars
    • ★ 3 Stars
    • ★ 2 Stars
    • ★ 1 Star
    • ★ Not Rated
  • Genre
    • Caper
    • Espionage
    • Historic
    • Legal Drama
    • Locked Room
    • Mystery
    • Police Procedural
    • Private Detective
  • Style
    • Cosy
    • Hard-Boiled
    • humorous
    • Literary
    • Narrative
    • Noir
    • Psychological
    • Pulp
    • Thriller
  • Region
    • British
    • European
    • Japanese
    • Nordic
    • North American
  • Era
    • Early 20th Century
      • 1900s
      • 1910s
      • 1920s
    • Mid 20th Century
      • 1930s
      • 1940s
      • 1950s
      • 1960s
    • Late 20th Century
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
    • Early 21st Century
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
  • Best Crime Fiction

Val McDermid

Recommended Reading

Three of Val McDermid’s books to try:

The Distant Echo by Val McDermid
Get a Copy

The Distant Echo: An evocative tale of St Andrews in the late 1970s, four university students and one dead girl. A crisp, concise thriller and the first to feature the young Scottish detective Karen Pirie. (Review)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime by Val McDermid
Get a Copy

Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime: McDermid returns to her journalistic roots with an examination of 200 years of forensic science. It won the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Critical/Non-Fiction book. (Notes)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.
The Torment of Others by Val McDermid
Get a Copy

The Torment of Others: The 4th of McDermid’s Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan series won the 2006 Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. It is a bit of a nail-biter. (Notes)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.
Val McDermid

Image by Tim Duncan

Biography

Val McDermid was born to a working-class family in Kirkcaldy, Fife. As a child, she excelled at school and was the first person from a Scottish state school ever accepted into St Hilda’s College, Oxford. A far cry from the mining community where she grew up.

“The only social problem I had was that nobody could understand my accent. Once I’d learnt to speak English, I was fine.” (St Hilda’s College)

A Northern Journalist

After graduating, McDermid trained as a journalist and became the Northern Bureau Chief for the Sunday People in Manchester. Here she covered the case of the Yorkshire Ripper and the aftermath of the Moors Murders. She also interviewed Jimmy Savile.

“He was a deeply unpleasant man. He was all smiles and laughter for the audience, but as soon as we were alone, he was different.” (Daily Record)

A Way Out

Journalism wasn’t all she had hoped, and she decided she needed to dig an escape tunnel.

“I found myself sitting outside Julie Goodyear’s house at six o’clock in the morning waiting to see who came out of the back door.” (The Guardian) – Julie Goodyear was barmaid Bet Lynch in the soap opera Coronation Street.

Thirty-plus novels later, Val McDermid’s books have won critical acclaim. She is best known for her DCI Carol Jordan and criminal psychologist Dr Tony Hill series. It became the television show Wire in the Blood. Her novel The Torment of Others won Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. She has written about many other characters, including journalist Lindsay Gordon, private investigator Kate Brannigan, and police officer Karen Pirie. McDermid has also delved into true crime. Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime won the 2016 Anthony award for non-fiction.

Political Views

As an active feminist and lesbian, her worldview comes through in her characters and their perspectives. Lindsay Gordon is a cynical, feminist, socialist, lesbian journalist. There are few of those on bookshop shelves.

Despite her politics, the thing that most underlines her writing is a deadpan sense of humour. She based one of her more sinister characters — Jacko Vance, a TV celebrity fond of underage girls — upon Jimmy Savile.

“People often asked me where I had got the inspiration for the character. They never guessed it was Savile. For a start, Jacko is handsome and charming. I assume Savile didn’t recognise himself in that description.” (Daily Record)

Read more at the author’s website.

Val McDermid’s Books

The Distant Echo by Val McDermid
Get a Copy

The Distant Echo

Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime by Val McDermid
Get a Copy

Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime

Notes

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.
The Torment of Others by Val McDermid
Get a Copy

The Torment of Others

Notes

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Try Another Author

Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith

Volker Kutscher

Volker Kutscher

Tove Alsterdal

Tove Alsterdal

Joël Dicker

Joël Dicker

Hideo Yokoyama

Hideo Yokoyama

Andy McNab

Andy McNab

James Lee Burke

James Lee Burke

Peter James

Peter James

G.K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton

Ellis Peters

Ellis Peters

Joe Gores

Joe Gores

Sara Lövestam

Sara Lövestam

Arnaldur Indriðason

Arnaldur Indriðason

Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block

Martin Cruz Smith

Martin Cruz Smith

Johan Theorin

Johan Theorin

Charles Willeford

Charles Willeford

Natsuo Kirino

Natsuo Kirino

Dominique Manotti

Dominique Manotti

William L DeAndrea

William L. DeAndrea

Jørn Lier Horst

Jørn Lier Horst

Martina Cole

Martina Cole

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

Stephen Leather

Stephen Leather

Ruth Rendell

Rith Rendell

P.D. James

P.D. James

Anthony Price

Anthony Price

Chris Whitaker

Chris Whitaker

Dominique Sylvain

Dominique Sylvain

Philip Kerr

Philip Kerr

Henning Mankell

Henning Mankell

Ian Rankin

Ian Rankin

Roslund and Hellström

Roslund and Hellström

Cameron McCabe

Cameron McCabe

Iceberg Slim

Iceberg Slim

Roberto Perrone

Roberto Perrone

Pierre Lemaitre

Pierre Lemaitre

Georges Simenon

Georges Simenon

John Grisham

John Grisham

Zoran Drvenkar

Zoran Drvenkar

Peter May

Peter May

Fred Vargas

Fred Vargas

Ross Thomas

Ross Thomas

Peter Lovesey

Peter Lovesey

Elly Griffiths

Elly Griffiths

Donna Leon

Donna Leon

John Dickson Carr

John Dickson Carr

Donald E Westlake

Donald E Westlake

S.G. MacLean

S G MacLean

Steve Cavanagh

Steve Cavanagh

J.K. Rowling / Robert Galbraith

Robert Galbraith

Val McDermid

Val McDermid

Mick Herron

Mick Herron

Hannelore Cayre

Hannelore Cayre

Raymond Chandler

Raymond Chandler

Share this:

Subscribe via e-mail


This site contains sponsored links. I receive a small commission if you buy a book after visiting a link.
This doesn’t affect the price you pay. Click here to learn more.


Footer

Follow

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • goodreads
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Reviews

  • Metropolis
  • Trick Baby
  • Dark Winter
  • A Fatal Inversion
  • Other Paths to Glory
  • Out

Best Crime Fiction

Who are the best crime fiction authors? Enter your e-mail address in the box below to find out.

Affiliate Links · Contact · Site Map · Privacy Policy · Log In

This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, read the Privacy PolicyOK