THE FIRST IN A THRILLING NEW SERIES FROM THE NO.1 BESTSELLER

Karen Pirie returns . . . Pre-order Past Lying, the eagerly-awaited new Karen Pirie thriller, publishing October 2023
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She's on the hunt for a killer story . . .

1979. It's the winter of discontent, and Allie Burns is chasing her first big scoop. One of few women in the newsroom, she needs something explosive for the boys' club to take her seriously.

Soon Allie and fellow reporter Danny Sullivan are making powerful enemies with their investigations - and Allie won't stop there. When she discovers a terrorist threat close to home, she devises a dangerous plan to make her name.

But Allie is a woman in a man's world . . . and putting a foot wrong could be fatal.
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'A supremo of the genre at the height of her powers' PETER JAMES

'The Queen of Crime has delivered another masterpiece' DAVID BALDACCI

'Allie is a fabulous character, I'll go wherever she takes me' MARIAN KEYES

'A thrilling snapshot of a fascinating era' JANE HARPER

'McDermid at her nail-biting, heart-rending best' CHRIS WHITAKER

'Her best book in years' THE TIMES, BOOK OF THE MONTH

'Allie Burns is off to a flying start, and well worth following' SCOTSMAN

'A perfect snapshot of the social and political issues of the time' LINWOOD BARCLAY

'Full of wit, thrills and incisive social observation and features a marvellous new character' MICK HERRON

'I have been reading Val McDermid for twenty-five years, so I am really saying something when I tell you I enjoyed this novel the most' CHRIS BROOKMYRE

'The good news is that this excellent novel marks the start of a new series' GUARDIAN

'Brilliant characters, masterful plotting' CHRIS HAMMER

'An excellent opener to what promises to be an outstanding series' SPECTATOR

'The fast-paced storytelling flows irresistibly' IRISH TIMES

'Riveting' DAILY EXPRESS

'Sensational. One of Britain's most accomplished writers' SUNDAY EXPRESS

'A nail-biting new series' OBSERVER

"Praise for 1979" - -

"

McDermid is at her considerable best here . . . The good news is that this excellent novel marks the start of a new series

" - Guardian

"

While "gripping" is an adjective over-used in book reviews, it's a fitting description of a sensational novel. A surefire bestseller from one of Britain's most accomplished writers

" - Sunday Express

"McDermid can do edge-of-seat suspense better than most novelists . . . An excellent opener to what promises to be an outstanding series" - Spectator

"A nail-biting new series" - Observer

"A fast-paced triple whammy of a thriller, with all three plots, each credible, running simultaneously. It uses all the crime-writing skills she has honed over the years, and adds something else - a pin-sharp portrait of tabloid journalism in its messy, misogynistic 1970s heyday. Allie Burns is off to a flying start, and well worth following down the decades" - The Scotsman

"A fast-paced triple whammy of a thriller, with all three plots, each credible, running simultaneously. It uses all the crime-writing skills she has honed over the years, and adds something else - a pin-sharp portrait of tabloid journalism in its messy, misogynistic 1970s heyday. Allie Burns is off to a flying start, and well worth following down the decades" - The Scotsman

"Val McDermid was a newshound at the time and it shows . . . This is her best book in years" - The Times, Book of the Month

"Allie is a gratifyingly multi-faceted character, and the sociopolitical elements here add a frisson" - Financial Times

"The work of a writer at the peak of her powers" - Herald

"The fast-paced storytelling flows irresistibly, and McDermid marshals a wide-ranging cast of characters with aplomb" - Irish Times

"Her evocation of the Winter of Discontent is spare and skilful . . . allowing the characters, not the period, to take centre stage" - Scotland on Sunday

"Captures the bleakness and misery of the era with pitch-perfect accuracy" - Irish Independent

"A superb evocation of the humiliations and triumphs of being a junior reporter, set against the backdrop of the broken Britain of 1979 . . . Riveting" - Daily Express

"A novel as touching as it is gripping" - Big Issue

"There are all sorts of reasons to love this book, from the unvarnished truth about newsrooms in the late 70s, to glimpses into social history . . . Engrossing" - The i

"An engrossing read" - Sunday Post

"A delightful throwback . . . McDermid looks back in anger - and with some measure of affection - at the vexed era she lived through that gave rise to her socially engaged mysteries" - Washington Post

"The Crime Queen has done it again and created a character we will all come to know and love. A masterpiece" - Daily Record

"A pacey read" - Daily Express