Product Description

The terrifying new psychological thriller featuring Tony Hill, criminal profiler and hero of TV's Wire in the Blood. The race is on to uncover the identity of a murderer with nothing to lose -- and everything to kill for. When Robbie Bishop, star midfielder for the Bradfield Vics, is poisoned by a rare and deadly toxin, profiler Dr Tony Hill and trusted colleague DCI Carol Jordan have their work cut out for them. Robbie was adored, so the public want answers -- but the answers aren't coming, and trails are running cold. Then a bomb explodes in the football stadium, causing massive casualties -- and another man dies from poisoning. Is there a link between the cases? And what are the motives for these crimes? The clock is ticking for Tony and Carol -- and the death toll keeps rising!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4567 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Amazon.co.uk
It seems hard to believe now, but there was a day when Val McDermid was just another crime writer. True, her Kate Brannigan novels were highly accomplished and well-honed pieces of work, and if McDermid had written nothing else, they would have assured her a solid place in the history of the genre. But Beneath the Bleeding (as with most of the other work the author has done more recently) is a much more ambitious and considerable novel, written on a grander scale, tackling pertinent social issues and (most importantly) developing two highly memorable characters: forensic profiler Tony Hill and his police ally DCI Carol Jordan.

The new book, as disturbing as it is compulsively readable, continues to add new levels to the psychological thriller -- something that McDermid seems able to do in every new book. A star footballer has been murdered in the city of Bradfield. Shortly after, an explosion rocks the town's football stadium, wreaking mass carnage. In the current climate of fear regarding home-grown terrorism, it is inevitable that suspicion falls in this direction – but is money -- or something else -- involved here? Such as a bloody working out of some kind of revenge scenario against the football team? Needless to say, this is quite a different case from those that Tony Hill and Carol Jordan have previously been involved with, and the customary relationship (swinging between confrontation and admiration) is worked out with all the rigour that we expect from McDermid. Of course, this is an author who always has more fish to fry than the simple exigencies of the crime novel, and astringent commentaries on many aspects of British society are provocatively incorporated here (always, though, inter alia -- never at the expense of a forward-moving narrative). If you're a fan of the Wire in the Blood TV series, you should do yourself a favour and investigate the original novels – such as Beneath the Bleeding. They offer a considerably more involving experience. --Barry Forshaw

Review
Praise for Beneath the Bleeding: 'All the craft, panache and pace that we have come to expect from this outstanding writer! Vintage stuff: unplug the phone, lock the door and prepare to read in a sitting' Guardian 'Another intelligent and absorbing offering from one of crime fiction's most consistent performers' The Times 'The queen of British crime! Hill and Jordan are compelling creations and their encounters fairly crackle. McDermid is a consummate plotter so there are pleasing twists and turns in this first-rate story' Observer 'A great, topical read' Metro 'McDermid is at the peak of her murderous craft! on the page, McDermid makes criminal profiler Hill every bit as engaging as [Robson Green]' Daily Mirror 'Peerless!one of the world's finest crime writers, McDermid is currently at the top of her game' Glasgow Herald 'The Queen of serial killers in this country keeps her end up!. few can scoop Val on throat-clutching narrative! marvellous' Daily Mail 'A very good contemporary crime novel in terms of excitement, topicality and its sense of authenticity. but it delivers more than this: the complex and unpredictable relationship between Hill and Jordan lies at the heart of the series and is one of its greatest strengths. McDermid's writing gets better and better' Spectator 'McDermid's usual ingredients of fear, revulsion, ingenuity and heroism! this book is all the more gripping because some holds are barred' Literary Review 'McDermid is up there with the best' Good Reading 'Nail-biting' Woman & Home 'Skilfully plotted! highly recommended' Diva Praise for the Tony Hill thrillers: 'No one compares to McDermid' Guardian 'One of McDermid's finest, which is saying a lot' The Times 'This is McDermid on top form -- pass the Valium' Daily Mail 'Gripping, intelligent stuff' Mail on Sunday 'Val McDermid is an intelligent, supremely talented novelist and with this latest tale, she is writing at the height of her power. Utterly compelling' Glasgow Herald 'Serial killers, though meat and drink to crime writers, are thankfully rare. It is a tribute to the power of Val McDermid's imagination that she made this one seem so believable' Daily Telegraph 'Complex, combative and nuanced' Express 'Val McDermid, as ever, is adept at engendering irresistible suspense, as the fearsome attractiveness of the ever more benighted and bloody predicament works its effect on readers' Times Literary Supplement 'Stunningly exciting, horrifyingly good' Ruth Rendell 'Compelling and shocking' Minette Walters

The Times
`Another intelligent and absorbing offering from one of crime fiction's most consistent performers'