The Distant Echo Book Reviews

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The Echoing Effect of Crime. Val McDermid’s The Distant Echo opens in 1978 as four college friends, nicknamed after Bowie and Pink Floyd songs, stumble upon the body of a barmaid Rosie Duff in the snow while headed back to St. Andrew’s in Fife after a night of partying. The police investigation centers on one or more of the group as being responsible, however the case goes cold. Twenty-five years later the case is reopened as part of a cold case review and assigned to DC Karen Pirie overseen by ACC Lawson, an officer who was on the original investigation. This is a wonderfully engaging tale of the echo-effect of one crime on the lives of the four friends, the victim’s family, and a small town police force. McDermid’s writing is steady with bursts of action keeping the reader gripped as it builds towards its resolution. The book’s structure, 1978 and 2003, and its pace is brilliant, allowing the reader the time to connect with the characters and better feel the impact of the crime...and the story twists...wow, enough said. The irony is while this is the first of McDermid’s Pirie series, the DC remains a side character, somewhat of a mystery, but with just enough that you want to read so much more about her. I gave the book a 4.5 because of a few minor editing quibbles.

All wind up, no punch. Like all her books, this one is well-written and a delight to read. But unusually, in this instance McDermid doesn’t deliver. The story is overwrought, too many loose threads get pulled together at the end by narration as opposed to narrative (in other words, all the unanswered questions are explained in a few paragraphs at the very end). Very disappointing.

A Disappointment. After relishing ALL of McDermid’s Carol Jordan-Tony Hill novels, I was looking forward to this stand alone offering. Bad decision. Too slow, drawn-out plot development, and a conclusion/summation filled with revelations not hinted at in the book. Unfair to the reader, and not even cleverly presented. I’ll stay with the memories of the “Wire in the Blood” series….

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