The Torment of Others (Hardcover)

The Torment of Others is a salutary reminder what an asset to British crime fiction Val McDermid is. Her first books with journalist Lindsay Gordon as heroine gave hints of the talent that was to mature so impressively--and the subsequent series with the resourceful private eye Kate Brannigan demonstrated a sharper eye for the harder edges of society. But the best was just around the corner. McDermid's third sequence with clinical psychologist profiler Tony Hill was something of a quantum leap: as well as forging one of the most memorable figures in contemporary crime fiction with mildly eccentric Hill, McDermid added a degree of psychological acuity that made the earlier books seem like warm-ups for the main event.

The latest outing for Hill, The Torment of Others, also features McDermid's other richly realised creation, DCI Carol Jordan, and the author carries her familiar protagonists into truly unsettling new areas. This time, Hill is coping with a return to practical clinical profiling after a frustrating spell as an academic. And there's another major complication for him: his ex-partner Carol Jordan is no longer sure she wishes to be in charge of a team after the brutal sexual assault she suffered during undercover work. But she is persuaded to do so--and realises that one of her main tasks will be to create a cohesive unit.

A dead woman discovered in a sexual position on a bloody mattress, appears to be the victim of a killer the team knows all about: the monstrous Derek Tyler, who had carried out similarly bloody work two years before. However, forensics have landed Tyler in a mental institution--does this mean that Hill and Jordan are searching for a murderer who is copying the techniques of the psychotic Tyler?

While this may not be the best starting point for those new to McDermid, enthusiasts will find all the key elements are firmly and satisfyingly in place. --Barry Forshaw

Praise for Val McDermid 'McDermid's capacity to enter the warped mind of a deviant criminal is shiveringly convincing' The TimesPraise for The Distant Echo 'A real page-turner and another McDermid triumph' Observer'A powerful story of murder and revenge... an exciting page-turner' Sunday Telegraph'McDermid's plot is a classic... Impeccable' GuardianPraise for The Last Temptation: 'Val McDermid's best yet... This is essential reading' Observer'A scary, disturbing, exciting and atmospheric white-knuckle read' The TimesPraise for The Last Temptation: 'Val McDermid's best yet... This is essential reading' Peter Guttridge, Observer'A scary, distrurbing, exciting and atmospheric white-knuckle read' The TimesPraise for Killing the Shadows: There is no one in contemporary crime fiction who has managed to combine the visceral and the humane as well as Val McDermid ... ' New York Times'Good pace, enough blood to make us feel that murder is far from cold and clinical, and, best of all, characters you believe in' Maeve Binchy, Mail on SundayPraise for Val McDermid 'McDermid's capacity to enter the warped mind of a deviant criminal is shiveringly convincing' Marcel Berlins, The Times'Manchester's answer to Thomas Harris' Guardian

DCI Carol Jordan makes a sensational comeback, supervising a crack team of officers to deal with serious crime. They start off reworking an old case, two missing boys, presumed dead. Fresh evidence emerges and hopes are raised for a break through. Then a prostitute is found murdered in a seedy hotel; bound and gagged, her death was lingering and painful. Dr Tony Hill, expert criminal profiler is brought in to assist and he soon finds puzzling similarities with an older case. But the perpetrator, Derek Tyler is secure in a mental institution. So who's killing the pros in Temple fields? After another victim is discovered, Carol is forced to mount an undercover operation, using one of her own officers as a lure. The devastating results cause even more complications and it becomes obvious that Bradfield police are dealing with a merciless killer, able to anticipate their every move. With a brilliant, labyrinthine plot, this is utterly compelling reading with a stunning climax - you'll be hooked from page one. (Kirkus UK)

A serial killer and a pedophile overtax the Bradfield Metropolitan Police. Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan, returning to work after her rape seven months ago, heads a Major Incident Team that includes one closeted and one declared lesbian, one man promoted beyond his abilities, another so competitive he snoops through co-workers' garbage, one by-the-book copper and the obligatory computer whiz. Profiler Dr. Tony Hill, who loves the sexually frozen Jones, helps the team track down (1) two missing boys presumed dead at the hands of a pedophile and (2) the copycat killer of two prostitutes whose signature matches that of Derek Tyler, a nutter sequestered in Bradfield Moor Secure Hospital. While they canvass the working girls' neighborhood and roam Internet child-porn sites for glimpses of the vanished boys, Hill grapples with the voice that apparently instructed Tyler to kill. Several unconvincing red herrings, including hospital director Aidan Hart, fall under suspicion. To entice the serial killer, Det. Paula McIntyre goes undercover as a prostitute, almost ending her life and Jones's career. The team and Hill effect a last-minute rescue, but Det. Insp. Don Merrick is less fortunate in his confrontation with the child molester in the wilds of Scotland. Hypnotic mind-control, sexual trauma overcome by a roll in bed with a good-looking hunk, and dead ends jump-started by fortuitous computer photos make McDermid's latest exercise in serial murder (The Distant Echo, 2003, etc.) less than compelling. (Kirkus Reviews)