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The Detective Inspector Karen Pirie Series

This gripping crime series follows a tenacious detective operating out of Scotland's historic Fife region. Each installment presents a new complex case, delving into dark secrets and intricate plots. The author expertly crafts atmospheric settings and compelling character studies. Readers who enjoy challenging mysteries and the moody ambiance of the Scottish coast will find much to savor.

Broken ground
Still Life
The Skeleton Road
Out Of Bounds
A Darker Domain
The Distant Echo

Recommended Reading Order

  1. 1

    The Distant Echo

    • 576 pages
    • 21 hours of reading
    4.0(371)Add rating

    Twenty-five years after an unsolved rape and murder, four friends, having been falsely accused of the crime, find themselves targeted by someone who still believes that they are guilty, prompting a search for the real killer.

    The Distant Echo
  2. 2

    A Darker Domain

    • 400 pages
    • 14 hours of reading
    3.8(454)Add rating

    The second riveting crime novel in the Karen Pirie series, from No.1 Sunday Times bestseller Val McDermid. 'A superb mystery' The Times From the creators of Line of Duty and Bodyguard, KAREN PIRIE is now on ITV, starring Lauren Lyle (Outlander) Twenty-five years ago, a woman and her baby son were kidnapped and held to ransom. Catriona Grant ended up dead and little Adam's fate has remained a mystery ever since. When a new clue is discovered in a deserted Tuscan villa - along with grisly evidence of a recent murder - cold case expert DI Karen Pirie is assigned to follow the trail. She's already working a case from the same year. During the Miners' Strike of 1984, pit worker Mick Prentice vanished. Where did he really go? And is there a link to the Grant mystery? The truth is stranger - and far darker - than fiction.

    A Darker Domain
  3. 3

    When a skeleton is discovered hidden at the top of a crumbling, gothic building in Edinburgh, Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is faced with the unenviable task of identifying the bones. As Karen's investigation gathers momentum, she is drawn deeper into a dark world of intrigue and betrayal. Meanwhile, someone is taking the law into their own hands in the name of justice and revenge -- but when present resentment collides with secrets of the past, the truth is more shocking than anyone could have imagined . . . From number one bestseller, Val McDermid comes an atmospheric, spine-chilling tour de force -- her richest and most accomplished psychological thriller to date.

    The Skeleton Road
  4. 4
  5. 5

    When a body is discovered in the remote depths of the Highlands, DCI Karen Pirie finds herself in the right place at the right time. Unearthed with someone's long-buried inheritance, the victim seems to belong to the distant past - until new evidence suggests otherwise, and Karen is called in to unravel a case where nothing is as it seems. It's not long before an overheard conversation draws Karen into the heart of a different case, however - a shocking crime she thought she'd already prevented. As she inches closer to the twisted truths at the centre of these murders, it becomes clear that she's dealing with a version of justice terrifyingly different to her own.

    Broken ground
  6. 6

    Don't miss Past Lying, the twisty new Karen Pirie thriller '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

    Still Life