Customer Reviews

Killing the Shadows (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This is only the second novel I have read by Ms. Val McDermid, the first was, "A Place Of Execution", and it left me as uneasy as I imagine the writer wished. "Killing The Shadows", is again a wonderful book that should be read under highly lit conditions, with standby lights and perhaps a generator. This lady's work does not just get under the skin; her words burrow into the marrow of your bones, and when appropriate the geometric center of the brain. The picture of her on the jacket has her taking the measure of a potential reader, as if deciding whether they can handle her invasive writing.

This particular book contains events that many will find gruesome and seriously deviant to say the least. What is interesting is these passages are from the imagined work of other writers, so the initial impulse is not to credit her with the grisly scenes, rather a third party. The passages she uses are not gratuitous. They are integral to introducing the behavior of a serial killer, and a possible source for his demented inspiration. What drives the killer is more complicated than that, or this book would not have Ms. McDermid's name upon it. These portions of the book are also a small part of the reading, and should not discourage anyone from enjoying this writer's craft.

The characters she creates are little short of brilliant. One of them is a PHD Candidate named Terry. If this character were based on a real female, she would be on many men's list of women to meet, and also a woman who would be more than a match for most. The author presents very bright, attractive, strong women without their needing to mimic the undesirable characteristics of their male counterparts. Terry is one of the best female characters I have read in some time.

A certain genre of writers are the targets of this book's killer, or are they? The best part of that query is that you will not know until the last pages of the book why everything took place as it did. One of the keys to a great thriller/mystery is how well the author sustains uncertainty and suspense. No author does this better that Ms. McDermid. She sets blind alleys, manipulates misdirection, and false conclusions brilliantly. No matter how many books you have read that required an answer to, "Who...", you will find this lady's work on par with anyone's.

Unconditionally recommended.

Killing the Shadows has an catchy outline: somebody is systematically murdering the top-selling psych-crime authors, each murder copying the method used in that author's best known book. Crime psychologist Fiona Cameron has more than a professional concern in the case - her true love, Kit Martin, is a best-selling crime writer himself. Irresistable idea, but there's a risk that following a plot like this can end up a bit contrived, and unfortunately, that's what happens with this book.

Much of what happens you can guess well in advance, with the exception of the killer's eventual motive, which turns out to be so disconnected you'd never guess it. The main characters and relationships are all too pat and flawless - the edginess of some of Val McDermid's previous characters is absent. Fiona has emotional scars from a personal tragedy that segues neatly into her chosen career, and that tidily resolve themselves at the end. She has perfect romantic bliss with Kit, and a perfect platonic friendship with a cop who is, of course, Kit's best male bonding buddy. Kit is tough enough to write blood-curdling prose, sweet enough to leave her home-made risotto in the fridge for dinner, and irritatingly dumb, in the tradition of people in scary films who always walk alone down dark alleys.

Am I being tough on this book? Probably - there will be readers who really like it. It's still well-written, despite the often predictable plot, and some of the minor characters are the most interesting. It's far from a bad book, though I think after this, psychological profiling's been done to death. But Val McDermid at her best - try 'The Mermaid Singing' - is so very good, and this book doesn't quite reach that standard.

This is as satisfying a modern mystery as I have read in years. The basic plot description reads as a serial killer of serial killer thriller writers. I will add to this that Ms. Mc Dermid gices us in 1 book: a) 3 seprarate serial killer investigation in varying degrees of detail and all interesting; b) several intelligent detectives, none of them Lestrade-ish or tokenish; c) interesting victims; d) a very charismatic heroine in all senses; e) red herrings in the classic tradition, as well as a surprising main villain. Just read this one; you will not be dissapointed.

This book was going along pretty well (although I wasn't particularly taken with any of the characters) but it sort of fell apart in the middle. I know why her character went to Spain (but I can't say because it would be a spoiler) but this section quickly grew very uninteresting and the book never recovered its momentum.

Also, this is another one of those books where there is not much suspense about whodunnit. This can be well done, but it wasn't well done here. The book is a journeymanlike work without the spark that keeps one reading late into the night.

The story of Fiona Cameron's emotional problems surrounding her sister's death is also unsatisfactory and rather wimpy and the climax of the main story is-- well, anti-climax. I don't know if she has just lost interest or what, but I wish she would go back to doing what she used to do so well, throat gripping suspense. I wonder if this series has been optioned to a television production company yet?

Britin has many shining stars of writing, almost all of whom can outstrip most their American counterparts by miles, in my opinion. (sorry, folks!) Minette Walters, Reginald Hill, Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell, P.D. James, Nicci French, John Connolly, and Val McDermid. These are all the shining lights of British writing, and with this spectacular new novel by Val McDermid proves why she is among them.

It was a while ago that i read this (it came out in the UK in 2000), but it's all still fresh in my mind. the compelling characters, the cracker of a plot, the great writing...All of it.

The plot, first of all, is startlingly original (although on first appearances it seems to not to be, but if you look closer, it actually is.). The occasional passages from the books of the dead writers are refreshing and invigorating, and the "diary" of the criminal also adds pace and interest to the book. The beginning chapter is truly inspirational, and although it is one of the sections which come from the books of the slain writers, we must not forget that it ultimately comes from McDermid, and shows how great her talent really is.

The actual device of killing writers is interesting in itself, and because i have an intense interest in them, that made the plot, for me, all the more enjoyable. it gives insight to the world and mind of a writer, and the closed environs of the publishing world. The claustraphobia and loneliness of the profession is brought over well in how Kit feels and acts.

Which brings me on to the characters. Fiona Cameron is a great lead. Resourceful, intelligence, an all-round no nosense person and woman of the nineties. She's interesting and compelling. Senisble and attractive, even though we can't actually see her. Haunted, too, by the death of her sister Leslie, which gives a great Epilogue to the tale.

There are some other great characters, too. Terry, for example, who lights up the page whenever she appears, and Steve Preston, who's repressed feelings for Fiona make the book shimmer with an undisclosed tension.

Upon reading A Place of Execution, i didn't think she could do any better, but she has. This is probably one of the best novels of the year, certainly the best she has written. It is compelling, exciting, interesting, haunting, chilling. A expertly told tale.

This morning i began her latest novel "The Last Temptation" ... and ithe third novel in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series. So far she is showing signs of improving yet again. ...

Val McDermid is probably Britain's brightest star, and this novel is worthy of her immense talent.

I fell in love with Val McDermid’s work after reading A PLACE OF EXECUTION. Since then I have read at least one novel from two of her series characters, Kate Brannigan, a private investigator and Lindsay Gordon, a former journalist. KILLING THE SHADOWS is a stand-alone mystery and fairly entertaining.

The main character in her novel is Fiona Cameron, a college professor who used to work in conjunction with the police by doing geographic profiling of crimes. She quit working with the police after they ignored her advice and used another expert. The other professional hired entrapped a sexual homicide suspect and caused that all the evidence against the accused be thrown out of court.

A self-righteous serial murderer is killing several crime novelists. He takes heinous scenes from their works and tries to imitate as close to the novel as he can. Fiona gets involved in the case because her boyfriend is a world-famous thriller author and she fears he might be targeted. Cameron also feels a sense of personal responsibility due to several aspects in her past that are revealed earlier in the book. There are two subplots involved in this novels that help enhance the character personalities in this book. One involves a sexual homicide that occurs early in the book and a serial killer who is terrorizing tourist in Toledo, Spain

One factor in McDermid’s book that I enjoyed was the inclusion of excerpts of the victim’s work before they were executed. I also learned something I did not know about Agatha Christie.

The killer’s motivation for the authors’ murders was unconvincing, but I did not particularly care. Val McDermid is one of the best authors I have experienced in a long time. I intend to continue to read her novels as her books become more readily available.

This is a well-crafted mystery by a writer who understands the genre. She builds suspense slowly, allowing the reader to savor each richly nuanced, tautly written chapter of the book. This is a compelling and interesting mystery thriller that will create new fans for this talented author.

Dr. Fiona Campbell is a professor of psychology with a specialty that makes her helpful to the police in tracking repeat or serial offenders. She does this through computer technology and geographic profiling. She also lives, ironically enough, with a best selling author who specializes in writing thrillers about serial killers.

So, when it comes to her attention that a killer is targeting those who write best selling crime novels, Fiona becomes concerned for her significant other. It seems that this killer is having his victims die a gruesome death that is straight from the pages from one of the targeted author's own books. As Fiona races to assist the police in what can only be termed as a matter in which she has a personal stake, the suspense mounts for the reader. Who is killing all these authors and why?

Those who read this book will, no doubt, be riveted to its pages, as the author is one of the more adept writers in this genre, highly skillful in defining both the plot and its characters. This is a complex whodunit that will leave the reader wanting to read more by this author.

Having been a fan of Ms. McDermid from reading Wire in the Blood and the two follow up books, then reading A Place of Execution and becoming completely hooked I expected great things from 'Killing the Shadows' but found I trudged through this book with no real feelings for the characters and found the motive for the killings to be a really big stretch! The side trip to Spain could have been missed out completely.

I can't say I am sorry to have finished reading 'Killing the Shadows' as I found it tedious and uninspiring. Hopefully Ms. Mcdermid's next book will be up to her usual standards.

The marketplace of good mystery/thriller/suspense books must be going to pieces. We have suffered through recent very bad books by James Patterson and Patrica Cornwell. Now we have Val McDermid, who gave us the wonderful "Place of Execution" offering a novel that is so dull and predictable, when it makes sense, that the reader can barely make it through to the end.

First, we are taken to Toledo, Spain to investigate a killer. Then that tack is dropped, never to be properly renewed. You are not glad MdDermid has taken you to Spain. She gives you nothing interesting and new.

We already know from the back cover and all the ads that a serial killer in England is killing off mystery writers using the story line from recent books. So when we leave Spain, we figger outr within a few pages just who is going to be killed next. But we are now stuck in Great Britain where nothing of interest is presented. We wish we were somewhere else dealing with anything else.

The detectives are incompetent of course. They have no personality. We don't want anybody to solve these cases. There are too many suspects that don't fit. The book becomes more and more cumberson as it takes McDermid to long to get to what we already know.

The real problem with this novel is the stilted, boring, plodding writing which makes the predictable story line even more of a struggle to page through.

You will finish this book quickly because you will be so tempted to read ahead, looking at just the last few words of each chapter.

The book was terrific. But the motive of the killer is somewhat stretched. I actually groaned when it was finally explained late in the novel. That was a major letdown to me.