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

Soon Allie and fellow journalist Danny Sullivan are exposing the criminal underbelly of respectable Scotland. They risk making powerful enemies – and Allie won’t stop there. When she discovers a home-grown terrorist threat, Allie comes up with a plan to infiltrate the group and make her name. But she’s a woman in a man’s world . . . and putting a foot wrong could be fatal.

This is the atmospheric, heart-pounding first novel in a gripping new series by the Queen of Crime Val McDermid.

Scotland, 2025. When torrential winter rain causes a landslide on a  motorway, it dislodges more than mud and asphalt – it reveals a skeleton, concealed when the road was built eleven years prior.

Sam Nimmo, an investigative journalist who’d been poking his nose into the murky politics of the Scottish independence referendum, had become the prime suspect in the brutal murder of his girlfriend when he vanished. Now he’s reappeared, buried under the motorway.

It’s the perfect cold case for DCI Karen Pirie, chief of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit. What was Nimmo investigating that was worth killing over? Or was it revenge for murdering his girlfriend? Meanwhile, an allegation of murder has surfaced over the supposedly accidental death of a hotel manager. It may have links to another accident on a remote Highland road. It’s a series of puzzles that tests Karen and her team to their limits. And possibly beyond . . .

A darkly propulsive thriller of secrets hidden at the core of a Scottish Highlands town, Silent Bones reaffirms Val McDermid as a crime writer of inimitable power.

""But down these mean streets must go a man who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished or afraid."" When Raymond Chandler wrote these words in his classic The Simple Art of Murder, he drew a blueprint for the male private eyes who descend from Philip Marlowe to populate the world of crime fiction.
But what if the private eye is a woman? And what if she is not a character in a novel but a real, working investigator testing not only the meanness but the absurdity of life on seamy streets? Who will tell her story?

Enter Manchester's Val McDermid, herself a skilled writer of the P.I. novel but for years a professional journalist. In an effort to plumb the real world of working women--and throw new light on her own craft--she has interviewed women private eyes from both sides of the Atlantic and assembled their stories with an eye for the absurd and a keen grasp of the gritty nuts and bolts of the profession.

As fascinating as fiction, A Suitable Job for a Woman is, in the words of Edgar-winning author Nevada Barr, ""a concise and eye-opening trek through the competence, humor, and humanity of women.""

THE SECOND THRILLING NOVEL IN VAL MCDERMID'S NEW SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES There's nothing like a killer story . . . 1989. The world is changing, and Allie Burns is still on the front line, covering the stories that count. Although Allie is no longer an investigative journalist, her instincts are sharper than ever. When she discovers a lead about the exploitation of society's most vulnerable, Allie is determined to give a voice to those who have been silenced. As Allie edges closer to exposing the truth, she travels behind the Iron Curtain, to East Berlin on the brink of revolution. The dark heart of the story is more shocking than she ever imagined. And to tell it, Allie must risk her freedom and her life . . . The latest Allie Burns thriller, set a decade after the bestselling first novel in the ground-breaking, iconic new series. Praise for 1979 'McDermid is at her considerable best' GUARDIAN 'Irresistible' PATRICIA CORNWELL 'A brilliant novel by a supremo of the genre' PETER JAMES 'Outstanding' SPECTATOR 'Another masterpiece' DAVID BALDACCI 'Sensational. One of Britain's most accomplished writers' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'A thrilling snapshot of a fascinating era' JANE HARPER 'Allie Burns is off to a flying start, and well worth following' SCOTSMAN 'A brilliant thriller' LINWOOD BARCLAY 'A nail-biting new series' OBSERVER 'Full of wit, thrills and incisive social observation' MICK HERRON 'Her best book in years' THE TIMES

In this superb new addition to Val McDermid’s masterful crime series, DCI Karen Pirie returns in a propulsive thriller of deceit and vengeance, set against the disquiet of a global pandemic.

Britain’s reigning “Queen of Crime” (The Scotsman), Val McDermid is the award-winning, internationally bestselling author of over thirty novels. The long-awaited seventh novel in the acclaimed series that has captivated audiences for twenty years, both on the page and now in the Edgar Award–nominated ITV/BritBox show, Past Lying is a full tilt novel of ego, retribution, deceit, and just how far one will go to settle the score.

It’s April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hot—the streets all but empty, an hour’s outdoor exercise the maximum allowed—but a mere pandemic doesn’t mean crime takes a holiday. When a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie’s team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems it’s game on again. At the center of it, a novel: two crime novelists facing off over a chessboard. But it quickly emerges that their real-life competition is drawing blood. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, and as Karen and her team attempt to disentangle fact from fiction, it becomes clear that their investigation is more complicated than they ever imagined.

A tense, atmospheric page-turner, Past Lying reaffirms McDermid as one of the most talented crime writers of her generation.

A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors. This collection of twelve original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery. · Naomi Alderman · Leigh Bardugo · Alyssa Cole · Lucy Foley · Elly Griffiths · Natalie Haynes · Jean Kwok · Val McDermid · Karen M. McManus · Dreda Say Mitchell · Kate Mosse · Ruth Ware Miss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.

Past and present intertwine in this brilliant exploration of loyalty and greed from bestselling mistress of suspense Val McDermid.

"Fife, Scotland, 1984." Mick Prentice abandons his family at the height of a politically charged national miners' strike to join the strikebreakers down south. Despised and disowned by friends and relatives, he is not reported missing until twenty-three years later.

"Fife, Scotland, 1985." Kidnapped heiress Catriona Maclennan Grant is killed and her baby son vanishes when the ransom payoff goes horribly wrong. In 2008, a tourist in Tuscany stumbles upon dramatic new evidence that reopens the investigation.

Already immersed in the Prentice affair, Detective Karen Pirie, newly appointed head of the Cold Case Review Team, wants to make her mark with this second unsolved 1980s mystery. But two decades' worth of secrets are leading Pirie into a dark domain of violence and betrayal--a place darker than any she has previously entered.

The first novel in the bestselling Karen Pirie series The award-winning Number One bestseller and Queen of crime fiction Val McDermid carves out a stunning psychological thriller. The past is behind them, but what's still to come will tear them apart... From the creators of Line of Duty and Bodyguard, KAREN PIRIE is now on ITV, starring Lauren Lyle (Outlander) Some things just won't let go. The past, for instance. That night in the cemetery. The girl's body in the snow. On a freezing Fife morning four drunken students stumble upon the body of a woman in the snow. Rosie has been raped, stabbed and left for dead in an ancient Pictish cemetery. And the only suspects are the four young men now stained with her blood. Twenty-five years later the police mount a 'cold case' review of Rosie's unsolved murder and the four are still suspects. But when two of them die in suspicious circumstances, it seems that someone is pursuing their own brand of justice. For the remaining two there is only one way to avoid becoming the next victim - find out who really killed Rosie all those years ago...

The second gripping thriller in the Kate Brannigan series, from No.1 Sunday Times bestseller Val McDermid. 'No one can plot or tell a story like McDermid' Express PI Kate Brannigan is hired to investigate a series of strange financial scams across Manchester. At first it looks like a discrepancy with the paperwork, but the deeper Kate digs, the murkier the case becomes. Before long she's up to her neck in crooked land deals - and murder - and her own life is on the line...

The first woman to be elected First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon's impact on the future of Scotland and the United Kingdom makes her words essential reading. Independently selected by editor Robert Davidson, this collection of speeches from her time as First Minister addresses such crucial matters as the climate crisis, education, human rights and the European Union. Women Hold Up Half the Sky depicts a leader tackling not only immediate, pressing concerns but also mapping out a progressive agenda for the future.

Christmas Eve. While the world sleeps, snow falls gently from the sky, presents await under the tree ... and murder is afoot. In this collection of ten classic murder mysteries from the best crime writers in history, death and mayhem take many festive forms, from the inventive to the unexpected. From a Santa Claus with a grudge to a cat who knows who killed its owner on Christmas Eve, these are stories to enjoy - and be mystified by - in front of a roaring fire, mince pie to hand.

The ferociously readable, #1 bestselling crime thriller that led to the much-loved ITV show... 'Wholly satisfying' Ian Rankin Young girls are disappearing nationwide Dr Tony Hill sets his team a task: find a link between the cases. Only one officer comes up with a theory, but it's too wild... that is, until one of their number is murdered and mutilated. Tony has started a game - one where hunter and hunted can all too easily be reversed. He has baited an aggressor whose charming manner hides a warped and sick mind... When a killer is hiding in plain sight Who can stop them? 'Truly frightening' The Times 'Sly and sophisticated, weaving the mundane with the stomach-churningly depraved' Express

Josephine Tey was the pen-name of Elizabeth MacKintosh (1896-1952). Born in Inverness, MacKintosh lived several lives: Best known as Golden Age Crime Fiction writer Tey, she was also successful novelist and playwright Gordon Daviot. During her exceptional career, she had plays on simultaneously in the West End in London and on Broadway, and even wrote for Hollywood, all from her home in the north of Scotland. Celebrating the 125th anniversary of MacKintosh's birth, this updated edition of the definitive biography includes a new preface.

The dead talk. To the right listener, they tell us all about themselves: where they came from, how they lived, how they died - and who killed them. Forensic scientists can unlock the mysteries of the past and help justice to be done using the messages left by a corpse, a crime scene or the faintest of human traces. Forensics draws on interviews with top-level professionals, ground-breaking research and Val McDermid's own experience to lay bare the secrets of this fascinating science. And, along the way, she wonders at how maggots collected from a corpse can help determine time of death, how a DNA trace a millionth the size of a grain of salt can be used to convict a killer and how a team of young Argentine scientists led by a maverick American anthropologist uncovered the victims of a genocide. In her novels, McDermid has been solving complex crimes and confronting unimaginable evil for years. Now, she's looking at the people who do it for real. It's a journey that will take her to war zones, fire scenes and autopsy suites, and bring her into contact with extraordinary bravery and wickedness, as she traces the history of forensics from its earliest beginnings to the cutting-edge science of the modern day.

THE FIRST IN A THRILLING NEW SERIES FROM THE NO.1 BESTSELLER Pre-order Val McDermid's explosive new novel, 1989, now! ____________________ 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. ____________________ '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

1989. The world is on the brink of revolution and journalist Allie Burns is a woman on a mission. When she discovers a lead about the exploitation of society's most vulnerable, Allie is determined to investigate and give voice to the silenced.

Elsewhere, a ticking clock begins the countdown to a murder. As Allie begins to connect the dots and edges closer to exposing the truth, it is more shocking than she ever imagined.

Don't miss the series that inspired the major ITV drama, Karen Pirie, starring Lauren Lyle - Still Life is the sixth Karen Pirie thriller Read Val McDermid's masterful new novel, 1989, now and pre-order the eagerly awaited New Karen Pirie Thriller, publishing October 2023 'No one can tell a story like she can' Daily Express 'The queen of psychological thrillers' Irish Independent ____________ 'The bodies never stay buried forever . . .' On a freezing winter morning, fishermen pull a body from the sea. It is quickly discovered that the dead man was the prime suspect in a decade-old investigation, when a prominent civil servant disappeared without trace. DCI Karen Pirie was the last detective to review the file and is drawn into a sinister world of betrayal and dark secrets. But Karen is already grappling with another case, one with even more questions and fewer answers. A skeleton has been discovered in an abandoned campervan and all clues point to a killer who never faced justice - a killer who is still out there. In her search for the truth, Karen uncovers a network of lies that has gone unchallenged for years. But lies and secrets can turn deadly when someone is determined to keep them hidden for good . . . ____________ Praise for Val McDermid: 'Brilliant . . . Sensational . . . Unforgettable' Guardian 'Compulsively readable' Irish Times 'As good a psychological thriller as it is possible to get' Sunday Express 'It grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go' Daily Mail 'One of today's most accomplished crime writers' Literary Review

Nearly 10,000 young people in Scotland are homeless. Some we see on the streets, thousands more are 'hidden' - sofa surfing, in B&Bs and living in unsafe homes. Every one of them has their own story to tell. For 30 years Rock Trust has been listening to their stories and helping them find a home. In All the Way Home, some of Scotland's leading authors have come together with young people to mark this anniversary of Rock Trust's urgent, ongoing work. Across first-hand accounts, poetry and fiction, this anthology brings to life the visible and invisible realities of home and homelessness, of family and belonging.

"Val McDermid is one of the bright lights of the mystery field."--"The Washington Post"

"She's the best we've got."--"The New York Times Book Review"

Barred from practice, disgraced psychiatrist Charlie Flint receives a mysterious summons to Oxford from an old professor who wants her to look into the death of her daughter's husband. But as Charlie delves deeper into the case and steps back into the arcane world of Oxford colleges, she realizes that there is much more to this crime than meets the eye.

Val McDermid has published twenty-four novels. An internationally best-selling author, her books have been translated into thirty languages. She has won more than a dozen major awards, most recently the 2010 Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for outstanding achievement in the field of mysteries.

KAREN PIRIE RETURNS IN 2023. A MASTERFUL THRILLER BY THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER VAL MCDERMID PRE-ORDER THIS HEART-POUNDING NEW NOVEL IN THE KAREN PIRIE SERIES, NOW A MAJOR ITV SERIES STARRING LAUREN LYLE __________ Edinburgh, haunted by the ghosts of its many writers, is also the cold case beat of DCI Karen Pirie. So she shouldn't be surprised when an author's manuscript appears to be a blueprint for an actual crime. Karen can't ignore the plot's chilling similarities to the unsolved case of an Edinburgh University student who vanished from her own doorstep. The manuscript seems to be the key to unlocking what happened to Lara Hardie, but there's a problem: the author died before he finished it. As Karen digs deeper, she uncovers a spiralling game of betrayal and revenge, where lies are indistinguishable from the truth and with more than one unexpected twist . . . The Queen of Crime Val McDermid is at the top of her game in her most gripping and fiendishly clever case yet. Praise for Val McDermid 'McDermid is at her considerable best' GUARDIAN 'Irresistible' PATRICIA CORNWELL 'A brilliant novel by a supremo of the genre' PETER JAMES 'Outstanding' SPECTATOR 'Another masterpiece' DAVID BALDACCI 'Sensational. One of Britain's most accomplished writers' SUNDAY EXPRESS

Buy Val McDermid's masterful new thriller, 1989, now! 'One of the most surprising twists you'll read this year. Outstanding' Irish Independent 'Engrossing . . . a colossal reminder of just why McDermid has been the queen of crime for three decades' Heat 'Murdered people don't kill themselves . . .' A quiet night on a country road. The stillness shattered by a car engulfed in flames, and a burned body discovered in the driver's seat. As the investigation unfolds, DCI Carol Jordan and psychological profiler Tony Hill quickly realise that this is more than just a tragic accident. And so begins the hunt for a truly terrifying killer, someone who believes he is invisible, untraceable and untouchable. As other victims are found to have met the same terrible fate, and with more women at risk, Tony and Carol are drawn into a dark and twisted web of fear and revenge that will force them to question their own ideas of justice . . A pulse-pounding mystery from the number one bestseller. ___________________ Praise for Val McDermid: 'It grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go' Daily Mail 'So gripping it puts your life on hold' The Times 'As good a psychological thriller as it is possible to get' Sunday Express 'One of today's most accomplished crime writers' Literary Review 'McDermid remains unrivalled' Observer 'No one can tell a story like she can' Daily Express This is the tenth book in the bestselling Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series.

A gritty, dark tale of infectious disease gone wrong - the timely graphic novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Val McDermid, stunningly illustrated by Kathryn Briggs 'A brilliant and timely story, told with McDermid's verve, style and passion. I couldn't stop turning the pages, even when I could barely take the tension. Wonderful.' Denise Mina It's the summer solstice weekend, and 150,000 people descend on a farm in the northeast of England for an open-air music festival. At first, a spot of rain seems to be the only thing dampening the fun - until a mystery bug appears. Before long, the illness is spreading at an electrifying speed and seems resistant to all antibiotics. Can journalist Zoe Meadows track the outbreak to its source, and will a cure be found before the disease becomes a pandemic? A heart-racing thriller, Resistance imagines a nightmare pandemic that seems only too credible in the wake of COVID-19. Number one bestseller and queen of crime Val McDermid has teamed up with illustrator Kathryn Briggs to create a masterful graphic novel. 'One of today's most accomplished crime writers' Literary Review 'A powerful, unique look at the benign origins of catastrophe' Kirkus Reviews

The Number One bestselling crime series featuring Dr Tony Hill, hero of TV's Wire in the Blood, written by the award-winning Val McDermid. The hunt for a serial killer leads from Britain through Europe in this terrifying psychological thriller. A twisted killer targeting psychologists has left a grisly trail across Europe. Dr Tony Hill, expert at mapping the minds of murderers, is reluctant to get involved. But then the next victim is much closer to home... Meanwhile, his former partner DCI Carol Jordan is working undercover in Berlin, on a dangerous operation to trap a millionaire trafficker. When the game turns nasty, Tony is the only person she can call on for help. Confronting a cruelty that has its roots in Nazi atrocities, Tony and Carol are thrown together in a world of violence and corruption, where they have no one to trust but each other.

The award-winning and Number One bestselling Val McDermid crafts an electrifying psychological suspense thriller that mixes history, heritage and heinous crimes. A 200 year-old-secret is now a matter of life and death. And it could be worth a fortune. It's summer in the Lake District and heavy rain over the fells has uncovered a bizarrely tattooed body. Could it be linked to the old rumour that Fletcher Christian, mutinous First Mate on the Bounty, had secretly returned to England? Scholar Jane Gresham wants to find out. She believes that the Lakeland poet William Wordsworth, a friend of Christian's, may have sheltered the fugitive and turned his tale into an epic poem - which has since disappeared. But as she follows each lead, death is hard on her heels. The centuries-old mystery is putting lives at risk. And it isn't just the truth that is waiting to be discovered, but a bounty worth millions ...

"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)