Beneath the Bleeding: A Novel [Paperback]

Val McDermid (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2009

Published in the U. S. for the first time

The residents of Bradfield are devastated when their star midfielder dies, the victim of a bizarre, seemingly motiveless murder. In a hospital, recovering from injuries, criminal profiler and psychologist Dr. Tony Hill struggles to make sense of the fragments of information he can gather in order to help his ally, Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan, bring a killer to justice. Then an explosion rips through a soccer stadium, leaving dozens dead and many more injured, and Jordan finds herself pushed to the margins of the investigation by the intelligence services. Despite the dark places in their relationship, Tony and Carol remain the best hope for uncovering the truth about an ever-increasing series of unspeakable crimes. Are they terrorist attacks, a personal vendetta . . . or something even more sinister?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McDermid's exhilarating fifth novel to feature Det. Chief Insp. Carol Jordan and Dr. Tony Hill (after The Torment of Others) finds Tony in the hospital after being attacked by an ax-wielding patient. Tony's eager to distract himself with Carol's latest case—the death of popular football star Robbie Bishop from ricin poisoning. Carol and her team frantically sift through Bishop's life, trying to find a link between the sports hero and the obscure poison. When an explosion rocks Bradfield's football stadium, Carol and Tony must consider whether Bishop's murder was an act of terrorism. As Carol butts heads with Britain's anti-terrorism unit, Tony works to unravel the motives behind the attacks, and his conclusions put him at odds with Carol like never before. McDermid nimbly weaves current events—the stadium bombing is eerily similar to the 2005 London tube attacks—with the ever-evolving personal and professional relationship between Tony and Carol. (Sept.)
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Review

Praise for the Tony Hill thrillers:'No one compares to McDermid' Guardian'One of McDermid's finest, which is saying a lot’ The Times'This is McDermid on top form – pass the Valium' Daily Mail'Gripping, intelligent stuff' Mail on Sunday'Val McDermid is an intelligent, supremely talented novelist and with this latest tale, she is writing at the height of her power. Utterly compelling' Glasgow Herald'Serial killers, though meat and drink to crime writers, are thankfully rare. It is a tribute to the power of Val McDermid's imagination that she made this one seem so believable'Daily Telegraph'Complex, combative and nuanced' Express'Val McDermid, as ever, is adept at engendering irresistible suspense, as the fearsome attractiveness of the ever more benighted and bloody predicament works its effect on readers' Times Literary Supplement‘Stunningly exciting, horrifyingly good’ Ruth Rendell'Compelling and shocking' Minette Walters --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 484 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; First U.S. Edition edition (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061688975
• ISBN-13: 978-0061688973
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #705,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another superb Tony Hill novel, December 2, 2009

By 

Winifred Duffy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beneath the Bleeding (Kindle Edition)

For readers of dark, character~driven British crime fiction, Val McDermid's Tony Hill novels have few peers. This latest book in the series does not disappoint. The story opens with a shocking attack on Tony Hill and moves on to the ricin poisoning of a football star that is frightening in its topicality. The characters are complex and beautifully developed, the prose literate and allusive, the plot marked by unpredictable twists. The book also fills in more of Tony Hill's charcter with the appearance of his mother for the first time, in scenes that help to explain his troubled psyche. The relationship of Tony and DCI Carole Jordan also moves to a deeper level as her loneliness and battles with alcohol begin to make her face her inner life as well as the complexities of her work. This is mystery writing at its best.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate affair, April 1, 2008

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beneath The Bleeding (Paperback)

When Dr.Tony Hill is attacked by an axe wielding madman at the mental hospital where he works, he is forced to recover from the ensuing operation in hospital, grumpy at being unable to walk and unable to help DCI Carol Jordan in several cases in which she is involved. A local football hero has died from poison and shortly afterwards, a bomb is exploded at the football stadium, killing over 30 people. The bomber is identified as a member of a local Muslim family and both the police and the press are convinced that this is a terrorist act. Tony isn't so sure about this and continues to try to convince Carol that the profile of this man doesn't fit the role of a terrorist. Carol is in one of her dark moods and resists Tony's theories, which places another barrier between them. It's a very good read with an ending which doesn't become obvious until the end.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A timely and cautionary tale from the Scottish Master, May 25, 2008

By 

Laurie Fletcher "Laurie Fletcher" (Casper, Wyoming, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beneath The Bleeding (Paperback)

This book may appear on the U.S. market under a different title, and I'm never sure why Val McDermid's books are available in the U.K. nearly a year before they show up in the States. Under any title, McDermid's works are worth seeking out by the fans of Scottish/British crime procedurals, and this book is a worthy entry on her bibliography. Some of her most satisfying work has involved the teamwork of psychologist Tony Hill and Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan. In Beneath the Bleeding, Tony is crippled for most of the book from an attack by an ax-wielding patient at the mental hospital where he consults. Thus, he is the literary equivalent of so many great detectives who must ponder crimes from within their minds instead of being able to beat the streets (think Tey's "Daughter of Time" and Dexter's "The Wench is Dead"). Lucky for Tony, we do live in a world where incapacity does not necessarily mean isolation.

Carol has her own handicap: after an apparent terrorist explosion, her team is shoved to the side by the national intelligence services, who jump on the local Muslim connection with a ferocious lust. But Tony, with his careful insight, thinks that this is not a terrorist plot and yet again, Carol ignores Tony's reasoning. This is where McDermid needs to be careful. In many of her Hill/Jordan books, the action is driven and expanded by Carol's refusal to heed Tony's insights and advice. This mechanism is getting a little old. Surely by now, Tony has been correct often enough to merit Carol's faith in him. The sidetrack caused by Carol's lack of belief in this book isn't grievous, but it is getting a little old.

Still, this is a great and timely story and a caution against face value in our dealings with others. A secondary story line that is nearly as powerful as the main story threads throughout this book as a tale of unexpected and undeserved revenge on the successful graduates of a local school and directly involves a member of Carol's team. McDermid does keep things ticking!

A final note: the unusual titles for Val McDermid's Hill/Jordan books are taken from T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets".