Report for Murder

Lindsay has taken a job reporting on a fundraising initiative for a private girls' school that her friend Paddy works at. The highlight is to be a concert by alumnus Lorna but when Lorna is found murdered and Paddy is the prime suspect, Lindsay finds herself as journalist and sleuth.
This the first novel by the very wonderful Val McDermid, a piece from the 1980s and it definitely shows its age. The main interest is to compare this with McDermid's more recent writing and it's clear to see all the hallmarks are there, they just hadn't been honed yet. Yes, there is a LGBTQ angle and a smattering of dark humour. Yes, there is a Scottish angle and some hard living. However it's all subdued as the craft is being developed. If read without show more knowing that it's the first venture into the genre by a modern day genius, it is fairly flat but in context is interesting show less

Freelance (read struggling to make ends meet) journalist, Lindsay Gordon, finds herself covering a fund-raising weekend at a girls' public school at the behest of long-time friend Patricia 'Paddy' Callaghan. Being a self-described cynical socialist lesbian feminist, it's also a chance for her to see how the silver spoon brigade are nurtured. She also desperately needed the cash that the job would bring in.

Her plans are ruined when the star turn for the concert part of the event is found murdered just moments before she's due on stage, it's time for some amateur sleuthing which turns more serios when Paddy is arrested for the crime. Teaming up with new love interest and potential suspect, author Cordelia Brown, they try and prove Paddy's show more innocence and track down the real killer. The police seem happy enough with their arrest and don't seem intent on doing much more about it. There's plenty of plot-twists and enough suspects to keep you guessing until the final showdown. Not a bad debut novel and I'll look forward to reading more of this series and others from the author. show less

Report for Murder by Val McDermid ( Book 1 in the Lindsay Gordon Series) 3.5 Stars
Freelance journalist Lindsay Gordon is short of money so has agreed to write an article about a fundraising gala at Derbyshire House Girls' School for a Magazine. This is something she wouldn't normally do as she is a strident socialist and disagrees with private/public schools, however it is also tempered as one of her best friends is a teacher at the school and it will give her a chance to see her. At the gala one of its famous former pupils, Lorna Smith-Couper, is due to give a music concert. However before the concert starts she is found dead in the locked music practice room, garrotted by a cello string. Who was responsible? A teacher? A pupil? A show more parent? A jilted lover? Someone visiting the concert? Lindsay sets about investigating the murder, along with Cordelia, her Dr. Watson, who also had the opportunity to murder her and is being sued by the victim.

If you have previously read one of Val McDermid's gritty psychological books in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series this is a very different animal. Almost a pussy cat compared to a lion! It is the first book Val McDermid wrote and in my opinion would be classed as a cosy mystery.

Lindsay Gordon is a likeable enough character but can at times be unkind in what she says to Cordelia, and sometimes rushes in without thinking first. You sometimes wonder how she manages to survive the book without being killed herself! You are also left wondering at times why the potential murderers are agreeing to talk to her.

It is quite a quick and easy read and the plot constantly moves on once we get to the murder. There are a number of potential murderers, including connections to the school and Lorna's private life. There are red herrings and twists a plenty.

If you like Cosy Mysteries I'm sure you'll enjoy this book but possibly for me it is let down after reading some of her later best stuff (IMHO) in Tony Hill. Certainly wasn't what I would have expected from Val McDermid. That having been said I'm sure I will continue the series as I come across the books but won't be scouring the country high and low looking for them at the earliest opportunity. As a result I gave this book 3.5 stars, 3 stars on Shelfari's scoring. show less

This is one of Val McDermid's first books and as such, it's not bad. Not as great as her current novels are, but not bad. A prestigious girls school might have to close because a developer wants the land. The school sponsors a benefit weekend with a craft fair and concert. Lorna Smith-Couper, a noted cellist and school graduate is to perform. Lindsay Gordon, a friend of one of the school's teachers, Paddy Callahan, has been asked to cover the event for the publication.

Before Lorna can perform, however, she is brutally murdered, and Paddy is arrested. The fact that many people had opportunity and motive seems to make no difference. The school's headmaster asked Lindsay and noted novelist Cordelia Brown, another of Paddy's friends and show more also a graduate, to look into the murder, in hopes of freeing Paddy.

Can they save Paddy? The book has a good plot and lots of action. So, if you're interested in McDermid's early works, put this on the list. show less

In her debut novel, Val McDermid puts a distinctly lesbian spin on a pair of well-tried mystery formulas: the "country house" murder associated with Agatha Christie, and the "locked-room" puzzles of John Dickson Carr. This one is set in a girls' boarding school in the Derbyshire moors. Clearly a formative work, but one which shows early promise of things to come.

In her debut novel, Val McDermid puts a distinctly lesbian spin on a pair of well-tried mystery formulas: the "country house" murder associated with Agatha Christie, and the "locked-room" puzzles of John Dickson Carr. This one is set in a girls' boarding school in the Derbyshire moors. Clearly a formative work, but one which shows early promise of things to come.

Unusual protagonist, Lindsay Gordon, a lesbian freelance journalist who's not afraid to act independently, speak her mind and follow her intuition. Val McDermid is very popular in my library and I had never read her so I started at the beginning. I liked it - setting, great characters none of whom were stock - certainly, a different romance twist.