Past Lying - Val McDermid

 Past Lying - Val McDermid

Publication Date: Nov.14, 2023

She read

In this, the seventh in the DCI Karen Pirie police procedurals, it is 2020 and Pirie’s Historic Cases 3 person team joins other Scots in Covid lockdown.  They are called back into action when a librarian contacts one of them because a manuscript in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist seems provide an answer as to what happened to a young woman who went missing a year ago.  Struggling to comply with lockdown rules and also avoid Pirie’s dreaded superior, “Dog Biscuit”, the team unravels a story of jealousy, deceit, retribution.

This is a clever plot that utilizes the intriguing technique of a book within a book combined with Covid lockdown and the pain many people faced with separation and loss. McDermid paints a vivid picture of Edinburgh and I enjoy her ongoing story of the plight of Syrian refugees in the city.  Kudos to her for continuing to shed light on them. 

I really like the main character. Pirie is strong, intelligent, empathetic, vulnerable. In her quest for truth and justice for victims’ families, Karen often makes no friends. Constable Jason is endearing.  Sargent Daisy can be both earnest and flippant, and I wouldn’t turn my back around her.  

This reads well as a stand alone, but reading the prior Pirie books may  provide more context.  Plus, they are a joy to read. They are among my favorites and are a “must read” for me. Incidentally, Karen Pirie is also a Britbox series. 

*****