The Skeleton Road

By: Val McDermid

Narrated by: Davina Porter

International best-selling crime writer Val McDermid is one of the most dependable professionals in the mystery and thriller business, whose acutely suspenseful, seamlessly plotted novels have riveted millions of readers worldwide. In her latest, The Skeleton Road, she delivers a gripping standalone novel about a cold case that links to the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.

In the center of historic Edinburgh, builders are preparing to convert a disused Victorian Gothic building into luxury flats. They are understandably surprised to find skeletal remains hidden in a high pinnacle that hasn't been touched by maintenance for years. But who do the bones belong to, and how did they get there? Could the eccentric British pastime of free climbing the outside of buildings play a role? Enter cold case detective Karen Pirie, who gets to work trying to establish the corpse's identity. And when it turns out the bones may be from as far away as the former Yugoslavia, Karen will need to dig deeper than she ever imagined into the tragic history of the Balkans: to war crimes and their consequences, and ultimately to the notion of what justice is and who serves it. The Skeleton Road is an edge-of-your-seat, unforgettable read from one of our finest crime writers.

©2014 Val McDermid (P)2014 Recorded Books

So enjoy Davina Porter as a narrator!

the story is fantastic! Will definitely enjoy more my this author! I would enjoy a sequel with the same characters.

loved this story

It's always a pleasure to have a Val McDermid book at hand and even more of a treat when Davina Porter narrates.

A Dark Story About War, Revenge and Loss

Great mystery and humanity story. McDermid has a way of bringing today's world into her mysteries and that way it all feels authentic. This story is about a skeleton discovered with a bullet hole in the head on top of a building that has been abandoned for the past 20 years. It goes to the cold case squad and DCI Karen Pirie is in charge. There is a connection to Oxford and the university and to the Balkan Wars. There are two different investigations under way. One is looking for a vigilante killer of war criminals and another is looking for the killer of the skeleton. As in past books by McDermid, the investigations swerve into each other but don't merge. It is a fast paced and intriguing book. It left me thinking about it long after I finished listening to the marvelous Davina Porter narrate it. It takes place mostly in Scotland but there are side trips to Croatia and to Oxford. If you haven't read McDermid, do yourself a favor and get with it. She has been writing for years. This book is the 4th in her newest series involved Karen Pirie but she has earlier series that I plan to start soon.

Davina Porter is a perfect narrator for Karen Pirie.

Tough listen, well narrated

I'm torn ... it's hard to "like" a book about such disturbing subject matter. There was the discovery of a cold case skeleton to start us off, deliberate war atrocities, premeditated assassinations and also a random violent act woven into the story seemingly out of the blue and having little to do with the plot. I can't quite decide why McDermid included this last violent act.

Yet, it's a compelling book, with interesting characters. There are several story lines which intertwine tantilizingly close without completely joining forces.

Not the Val McDermid I know and love

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I tried to listen to this book twice, but just couldn't get through it. It seems out-of-style compared to all the other fabulous books I've listened to by this author, and I found there was no central character that I was rooting for, and the storyline was different (and boring as far as I'm concerned) from any of her previous work.