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The Grave Tattoo
 
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The Grave Tattoo (Hardcover)

by Val McDermid (Author)
2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 467 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (1 Feb 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007142854
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007142859
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 4.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 263,825 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #45 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > M > McDermid, Val

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's a time-honoured tradition that the best crime writers begin to chafe at the constraints of their area of the genre and feel a need to stretch their literary muscles. With The Grave Tattoo, the estimable Val McDermid demonstrates that she, too, has felt the need of a change from her contemporary novels of crime and detection, and here takes on a truly ambitious panoply. Not that McDermid has been afraid to tackle unconventional subjects before--it's just that the scale of this novel is even more impressive. A corpse is discovered on a hill in the Lake District, adorned with bizarre tattoos. Wordsworth expert Jane Gresham finds herself distracted from her studies of the great Lakeland poet when another mystery surfaces, involving the Pitcairn Massacre and the events of the mutiny on the Bounty. Is it possible that Fletcher Christian, who led the rebellion against Captain Bligh, faked his own death and clandestinely returned to England? Jane makes a connection between the tattooed body and the tattoos on sailors who served in the South Seas--is this the body of Fletcher Christian? And Jane has another problem on her hands--a young girl who she has tried to help finds herself a murder suspect, and tracks her down to the Lakes. And as Jane closes in on a Wordsworth manuscript that may be a direct transcription of Fletcher Christian’s confession, she finds herself with someone else on her trail--an ex-lover with similar designs on the precious document.

As all this might suggest, McDermid has set herself a truly daunting task here, with a canvas so crammed with incident, colour and character. And when the reader learns that the central narrative is counterpointed with sections from the Fletcher Christian document, it's clear that we are a long way away from the medical and criminological puzzles of Wire in the Blood. It is to McDermid's credit that she draws so many strands together with such assurance.
--Barry Forshaw

Review
Praise for The Torment of Others 'One of McDermid's finest, which is saying a lot' Marcel Berlins, The Times 'Val McDermid is an intelligent, supremely talented novelist and with this latest tale, she is writing at the height of her power. Utterly compelling' Allan Laing, 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' Barry Forshaw, 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' Patricia Craig, Times Literary Supplement 'There are some terrific twists. McDermid gives a new jerk to the storyline and the chase is on again' Jane Jakeman, Scotland on Sunday 'No one compares to McDermid' Maxim Jakubowski, Guardian 'An especially taut and inventive thriller. This is McDermid on top form' Daily Mail

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Customer Reviews

38 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (9)
2 star:
 (5)
1 star:
 (11)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.8 out of 5 stars (38 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars A grave disappointment, 20 Feb 2006
By A Customer
This eagerly awaited new title from Val McDermid was a big disappointment, lacking the depth and tension of her earlier thrillers. The search for a long lost Wordsworth document had all the excitement of hunt the thimble.
I was left wondering if in fact this book had been written some years ago as it lacks the quality of Ms McDermid's more recent publications. This might also explain the incorrect references to St Catherine's House (BMD records moved to the Family Records Centre in 1997).
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Good!, 25 May 2006
By C. McElroy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I do like being proven wrong.
I actually went along to the talk and signing of this book by the author at my local library. My two friends had stacks of previous titles they wanted Val to sign, I just went along for something to do.
I have only read one book by Val McDermaid, and because we arrived late into the lecture theatre and missed the beginning, I was quite sure that total would stay at one. Val was talking about the Lake District, Fletcher Christian, Mutiny on the Bounty, Captain Bligh, Wordsworth, etc, etc.........I think I had a little snooze at this point, I'd had a long day. Anyway, I revitalised myself slightly when Val was answering questions, (in between great swigs of Stella Artois, [Val, not me, I stuck to the free coffee and gypsy creams.]) and it wasn't a bad evening.
Back to the book - I managed to get hold of a copy to see what all the fuss was about, and knowing that there was some criminal element weaved into the plot, I thought it couldn't be all that bad.
I nearly read it one go. It had everything you would want from a great crime novel, especially if you are a geek, and you get to learn something new. If, like me, you know nothing of the mutiny and Fletcher Christian and Pitcairn, (I bet you're thinking now, 'eh?'), don't worry, its a top read, nice and easy, with beautiful language.
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24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Also disappointed, 3 Mar 2007
By L. Lamb (Aviemore United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Grave Tattoo (Paperback)
When I first heard about this book, I though it a fascinating idea that Fletcher Christian may have returned to the Lake District to visit his friend Wordsworth. Unfortunately, from early on in the story, I was very disappointed with it. The integration of the present day story with the Fletcher Christian mystery did not work for me and the written passages supposedly from Fletcher's diary could have been omitted altogether. There were also too many characters and too many sub-plots. Many of the characters were unbelievable and several of the sub-plots were left unresolved. As far as 'whodunnit', it almost seemed as if the writer did not decide until the end who the villain would be - and then glossed over any inconsistencies!

Having read many of Val's books, I expected much more and found this frustrating rather than an enjoyable read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful
In the course of the last two years I think I have read approximately 80 crime thrillers/novels. This is quite simply one of the three worst by some considerable margin. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Officer Dibble

3.0 out of 5 stars A great read from Val McDermid
A great read from Val McDermid, the book had an historical content which I found very interesting. Jane the main character delving into Wordsworth's past and for those who read... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Andy Capp

2.0 out of 5 stars A let down
I'm a recent discoverer of Mcdermid and the books I've read so far have been very good.

However, I've really struggled with the Grave Tattoo and almost gave up on... Read more
Published 6 months ago by maz

3.0 out of 5 stars An ok read but not the usual McDermid standard
I admittedly struggled a bit at first with this book, but events then took a turn - when bodies started to appear things got more exciting, if you will! Read more
Published 9 months ago by T. E. Viitanen

3.0 out of 5 stars Starsky and ....Wainwright??
This was my first McDermid book and I'm a bit undecided about how good or bad it was. It was certainly not a page turning thriller, more "nice cup of tea" than "large JD and... Read more
Published 11 months ago by tallpete33

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't understand the low scoring!
I thought this was a real page turner, despite not being really interested in the whole Wordsworth / Mutiny theory!

One of Val's best!
Published 15 months ago by Maisie

2.0 out of 5 stars Preposterous premise and surprisingly poor execution
As someone who enjoys McDermid's well plotted and deftly executed thrillers, I found this to be well below her usual standards. Read more
Published 16 months ago by tybalt-quin

3.0 out of 5 stars Not entirely sure about this book.
I don't know how many people know about Fletcher Cristian and the mutiny on the Bounty, but I'm inclined to argue that it's famous enough in England to make Blyth the fifth or... Read more
Published 19 months ago by J. Bowen

2.0 out of 5 stars Long, long, long....
I haven't read many of Val McDermid's recent books, so didn't have many expectations of what this book should be like. Read more
Published 22 months ago by LML

1.0 out of 5 stars The last Val McDermid book I'll be reading
I started to write a long-winded review which explained everything that was wrong with this ridiculous story, but it became so long I decided it would be better to just summarise... Read more
Published 24 months ago by T. C. Davies

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