The Mermaids Singing

The Mermaids Singing is a chilling and taut psychological mystery from Val McDermid, the basis for the ITV series Wire in the Blood, starring Robson Green and Hermione Norris.

This was the summer he discovered what he wanted—at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling.

The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before.
But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim.

A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage—or the power—to stop it …

“Complex … powerful … psychologically terrifying … impossible to put down.”—Publishers Weekly

©1995 Val McDermid (P)2015 W.F. Howes Ltd

Very Well Written

Well developed characters, but it’s very graphic and not for everyone. I like police procedurals with profiling topics.

Not for weak stomach or LGBTQ

I'm only about 6 hours into the book and I'm not sure I'll be finishing it. Well written, but the entire book so far has been homophobia and misogyny. It fits the story being written, but it's too much for me. Graphic details of the mutilations/various sexual acts being performed mixed with the constant pervasive hostility from almost all characters toward the gay community AND to women make a mix that I personally find distasteful and was not prepared for.
If you can candle those things, it's been a pretty good read so far.

No Singing Mermaids

A serial killer book. Sick as shit. Where are the Singing Mermaids? WTF? Fifteen words minimum?

Enjoyed

I like to read the books in order so you can see how the characters develop. This was wonderful to just see how the relationships begin. To see their deep dark secrets. Then you can crawl into the pages and become part of the book.

Gratuitous gore and violence

A dog is tortured to death in this book. This book is not for me.