First Line: The voice is soft, like the darkness that encloses them.

It's another day in Fife, Scotland, and Detective Inspector Karen Pirie--newly appointed head of the Cold Case Review Team-- needs something to sink her teeth into. When a woman comes in to report her father as missing (he was last seen way back in 1984) and gives a few more details, Pirie decides to look into it. It has all the markings of a long shot, and a long shot is something she can't resist.

She and her partner, Detective Sergeant Phil Parhatka, have barely begun to look for Mick Prentice when Pirie's superior officer has her drop everything and rush to the estate of Sir Broderick Maclennan Grant. Back in 1985, the mogul's daughter and grandson were kidnapped. A botched ransom drop left his daughter, Catriona, dead and his grandson, Adam, in the hands of the kidnappers never to be heard from again. New information has come to light in the Maclennan case, and now Pirie has two cold cases to solve, for she's not about to stop looking for Mick Prentice.

McDermid has been one of my favorite mystery writers since I read A Place of Execution. This book did not disappoint. Pirie and her partner work very well together, and I'd love to see more books centered around these two. As the information on both cases is teased loose, it's told in a series of flashbacks, which let me become familiar with the characters' voices and behavior without confusing the storyline.

A Darker Domain also brought home a little known (to me) period of British history-- of Margaret Thatcher, the unions, the coal miners and the strikes. Of men and families starving, the betrayal of the unions, and the excessive force used by the police. McDermid, whose own family struggled to survive these times, didn't present all this information in one vast history lesson, but through the lives and voices of her characters.

Although both cold cases came together in such a way that strained credulity a bit, I still enjoyed this story and especially the character of Karen Pirie. I do hope I'll see more of her. ( )

Not as good as many McDermids - just a one off. Just OK! ( )

Det Inspector Karne Pirie and Det. Sgt Phil Parheta of the cold case squad are asked to find a person missing for over 20 years.
Michelle "Misha" Gibson is desperately searching for her dad, Mick Prentice, who was apparently a strikebreaker in the 1984 miner's strike after which he disappeared. Both Misha and her mother thought that Mick had betrayed them by joining five others to break the strike and they didn't want any more to do with him. However, Misha and her husband John are in need. Their son Luke has Fanconi Anemia and is in need of a bone marrow donor and there's no one else to turn to.

As Karen investigates this case, she is sent to the home of Sir Broderick Maclellan Grant, whose daughter and grandson were kidnapped in 1984. The payoff was botched and Cat Grant was killed, her son was never found. Now a tourist to Tuscany, Bel Richmond, who is also a reporter, has found some inportant evidence.
With the two cases going on and the story bouncing back and forth from 1984 to the present, it was somewhat confusing and hard to remember which case was which.
In spite of that, the story went well and was enjoyable. ( )

From Publishers Weekly
When Michelle Gibson reports her father, Mick Prentice, missing at the start of McDermid's intricate but underwhelming stand-alone psychological thriller, Det. Insp. Karen Pirie, head of the Fife police Cold Case Review Team, isn't interested until Michelle reveals that Mick disappeared during the 1984 miners' strike. At the time, everyone believed Mick went scabbing in Nottingham. Later, Karen is summoned to the home of wealthy Sir Broderick Maclennan Grant, whose daughter, Catriona, and baby grandson, Adam, were abducted in 1985. A botched ransom hand-off left Catriona dead and Adam nowhere to be found. New evidence linked to the kidnapping has surfaced, and now Karen has two missing people to locate. McDermid tries to pack too much story into one book, and the connection she draws between the cases feels forced. Fans of the Scottish author may be better off waiting for the next outing of McDermid's series to feature psychologist Tony Hill. ( )

Verry good Novel set in Great Britain and Italy ( )