The Distant Echo

This is technically the first in the Karen Pirie series, but Pirie is only a minor character in the story. A cold case review brings back bad memories for four men who were students at St. Andrews 25 years ago, when they had the misfortune to stumble onto the not-quite-dead body of Rosie, a local barmaid of their acquaintance, while returning to their digs from a typical student bash. We are taken back to the investigation of Rosie's rape and murder; the suspicion that fell on the boys in the absence of any other likely perp; and then forward again to the new efforts to solve the case with modern forensic techniques. The pace is galloping, the psychological elements very well played, and the suspense nicely managed, although as I was show more reading I thought the author went one step too far. In the end I saw it was necessary for her resolution, and it isn't her fault she employed a plot element I absolutely HATE. I was fairly sure of the villain about 2/3 through, but McDermid kept me just enough off balance that I still entertained a couple other possibilities, and she did throw in a wee surprise before it was all sorted. Not often these days do I get so stuck into a book that I can read for hours at a stretch; this one did it for me. show less

On a cold winter’s night in St. Andrews in 1978, four university students stumble upon the body of a young woman in the snow. Rosemary Duff is a barmaid at one of the local pubs and she’s been murdered. The four young men—Alex, Ziggy, Weird, and Mondo—are the only suspects in her murder, but the evidence is circumstantial and they are never convicted.

Flash forward 25 years, and Fife Police are doing a review of their cold cases, including the Rosemary Duff murder. This brings back all sorts of memories and feelings to the surface—with fatal results.

This was a great story. I loved the setting, both geographically and temporally. The four friends are big music fans, and the references to the Clash and the Jam pleased this music show more fan in particular. The story as a whole is very well constructed and holds up well on a re-read. And for those who know Val McDermid primarily as the author of the Hill and Jordan series, they can be assured that this book is not nearly as grim and gruesome as those books can get. I’d definitely recommend this book for anyone looking to try out some Tartan Noir. show less

It is safe to say that this is definitely among the very best crime novels that I have read so far. It is written so, so well. I just entered the lives of the main characters and I suffered with them, felt with them, hoped and feared with them.
In the centre of the novel there is a group of four male high school friends who study in St Andrews. One snowy night after a party, they find the body of a young girl who was raped and murdered. From now on, they are crucial witnesses - and even suspects.
The novel is not only about finding out who the killer is, but just as much about what the events do to these four young men and to their friendship. Trust, loyalty, truth - what binds us together, and what is the core of a human being when show more decade after decade goes by and circumstances change so much?
After a leap of twenty-five years, when strange things start happening that seem connected to the murder, which still has not been solved and is under review as a cold case, these questions become even more important. show less

In einem Interview bemerkte die schottische Bestsellerautorin Val McDermid unlängst, dass es angesichts neuer kriminalistischer Methoden wie denen der forensischen Medizin immer schwieriger werde, einen logisch und schlüssig aufgebauten Kriminalroman zu schreiben. Irgendwie mag man ihr das nach der Lektüre von Echo einer Winternacht nicht glauben: Dafür ist er einfach zu spannend und stringent erzählt.

Val McDermid gelingt diese Spannung in ihrem neuen Roman paradoxerweise ganz einfach ausgerechnet dadurch, dass sie die neuen Methoden der Kriminalistik in ihre Handlung mit einbezieht. Durch die neuen Möglichkeiten etwa der DNA-Analyse ermuntert, rollt die Polizei des verschlafenen Universitätsstädtchens St. Andrews alte Fälle show more wieder auf, darunter auch den von Rosemary Duff, die in einer Winternacht vor 25 Jahren, am 16. Dezember 1978, von vier betrunkenen Studenten sterbend und blutüberströmt im Schneetreiben aufgefunden wurde. Damals ermittelte die Polizei gegen die Gruppe, allerdings ohne Erfolg. Allerdings hatte sich das Leben der Kommilitonen danach dennoch drastisch verändert. Denn in St. Andrews waren die vier Freunde auch ohne Beweise als Täter abgestempelt und von den Bewohnern des Ortes gemieden worden.

Nach einem Vierteljahrhundert haben es die einstmaligen Jugendfreunde geschafft, sich ein halbwegs normales Leben aufzubauen. Aber jetzt zieht ein neuer Mörder umher, der in einer Form von Selbstjustiz den Ex-Studenten nach dem Leben trachtet. In welchem Verhältnis steht der rätselhafte Unbekannte zu den Ereignissen damals? Dieser Frage geht McDermids Echo einer Winternacht in einem grandios entwickelten Spannungsbogen nach. Fesselnder geht es nicht. --Stefan Kellerer show less

This was an absorbing start to the Karen Pirie Scottish thriller series. The author has crafted such a strong sense of place in this town on the coast of the North Sea, and the split time setting felt quite different from many of the thrillers I read. This is a cold case, with about the first half of the book delving into the first attempts to solve the crime in 1978, a murder/sexual assault. The audio narrator's voice and brogue were mesmerizing, adding richness to the experience of this story. This is also a long one, 500+ pages, and the author earned the length, with the intricacies of the initial investigation layering so much meaning into the discoveries 25 years later. High stakes. I will definitely be continuing this series!

(This review also appears on Amazon.co.uk)

This is the third McDermid book I have read, and the second one I have actually enjoyed (I gave up on the dire `Trick or Treat!') and I am pleased to see it based in the authors native Scotland which really springs from the pages and adds a great sense of place to the story.

The novel unfolds in the late 1970's as four students at St Andrews University stumble across the body of a young woman in a churchyard after a night out. Rosie Duff is clearly in a bad way, but when she later dies, suspicion immediately alights on the four young men who found her. There's no proof that they had any involvement in what happened, but no other suspects either- and for the next couple of decades that shadow of show more doubt is cast over the four friends. It is on the twenty fifth anniversary of the murder however when things take another turn for the worst- two of the men die in suspicious circumstances and the remaining men realise that someone is seeking revenge and that they must be next, unless they can find Rosie Duff's real killer...

This was a very readable book that held my attention from beginning to end. I must agree with other reviewers that the characterisation is credible and the friendship between the main characters and their initial bond at the start of the novel is very well drawn. As events unfold, you can almost feel the closeness between the protagonists beginning to fray as suspicion alights on them and they almost start to turn on one another- and this was very well portrayed. I also enjoyed the different time periods depicted- Scotland in the 1970's had very different police procedures and attitudes to the 21st Century and this was interesting to read about, particularly in conjunction with Ziggy, who I think was an excellent character.

My main criticism for this novel is that even though this is fiction and they were clearly devices needed for the plot, I really couldn't believe a) how unsympathetic the police were to the students' predicament and their willingness to tar them as suspects from the start and b) how incompetent the police actually were! Losing evidence? Come on!!! I must confess that the cliché aspect of that bit of plot irritated me a bit. Also, I felt that all the way through the book the sense of tension was invariably heightened, but then once the ending and resolution actually arrived it was all a bit of an anti-climax. Still, I didn't see the actual dénouement coming or whodunit- it was very neatly delivered, so top marks for that.

Criticism aside, this was still a well paced thriller and admittedly a bit of a page turner that held my attention well enough. McDermid isn't the best thriller writer I've ever read, but this book was enjoyable enough and I am looking forward to trying more by her in future. show less

An excellent storyline bringing together a brutal murder from 1978 St Andrews to a 2003 "echo". Four students discover a dying girl on their way home from a party and fall under a suspicion which blights the rest of the lives as no-one is tried for the crime and the trail goes dead. Twenty-five years later a cold case review re-awakens the accusations made against the students and two suddenly die in suspicious circumstances. Several red herrings throughout but well plotted enough to fool me about the killer's identity. Recommended.