Past Lying

Karen Pirie Novels, Book 7

By: Val McDermid

Narrated by: Lauren Lyle

THE HEART-POUNDING NEW NOVEL IN THE KAREN PIRIE SERIES, NOW A MAJOR ITV SERIES STARRING LAUREN LYLE

Edinburgh, haunted by the ghosts of its many writers, is also the cold case beat of DCI Karen Pirie. So she shouldn't be surprised when an author's manuscript appears to be a blueprint for an actual crime.

Karen can't ignore the plot's chilling similarities to the unsolved case of an Edinburgh University student who vanished from her own doorstep. The manuscript seems to be the key to unlocking what happened to Lara Hardie, but there's a problem: the author died before he finished it.

As Karen digs deeper, she uncovers a spiraling game of betrayal and revenge, where lies are indistinguishable from the truth and with more than one unexpected twist . . .

The Queen of Crime Val McDermid is at the top of her game in her most gripping and fiendishly clever case yet.

©2023 Val McDermid (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd

Poor narration nearly ruined a great story

Val McDermid is not capable of writing a bad book but the narrator was one of the worst I’ve ever had to plough through. I have no problem at all with someone just reading the book rather than performing the parts, but this narrator read each line, not each sentence. It was terrible.

A surprising story

I liked not knowing what would happen next. Also enjoyed the undertone of Covid lockdown. The narrator, however, was not good, read words on the page not proper sentences. This took away from the story for me.

Another Great Karen Pirie

Waited with anticipation for this latest in the Karen Pirie series. Another great read. Sadly the reader was a great disappointment. Poor intonation, badly paced sentence structure and really let this book down.

A brilliant novel

I wished that there was an immediate follow up . I was sad that this narrative ended.It was intriguing and moving until the last word.