Customer Reviews

The Mermaids Singing

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As serial killer novels go, this one is first class. Certainly one of the best i have ever read, almost as good as "The Silence of the Lambs" and her very own "Killing the Shadows". In a genre in which originality is a rare commodity, this book really shines. IN many instances it does contain every aspect we would expect from a serial killer novel, but Val McDermid builds on that, giving us, as Thomas Harris did so many years ago now, an excellent all round novel, rather than just a piece of genre fiction.

The two lead characters are probably the best duo you will come across in all thriller-dom. The ... tension between the two just smoulders the pages beneath your eyes, and the rigid professionalism and determination of both adds a hard edge and hint of stubbornness to their relationship. They are both very human and very likeable. The reader warms to both Carol and Tony instantly. They are well drawn, characterised, and are immensely real.

The killer is chilling, and the murders come close to Mo Hayder's "Birdman" in terms of gruesomeness. The descriptons of the dead bodies, and how those bodies met their deaths, has great capability to turn stomachs.

The writing is packed with detail and grittiness. It is also enfused with quite a well evoked sense of place. High class prose, styled as only a master can, manipulates the reader, preparing them for a stuning final twist to the story, which has you kicking yourself whilst stunned at the same time. And the showdown between hunter and hunted is a brilliant climax to the entire book.

So, if you like good serial killer thrillers, this is definitely one of the best you could choose to read.

A fantastically well-written, gritty drama that grabs you right in - I was scared by the end of the prologue!

All serial killer books compare themselves to Silence of the Lambs. I've read dozens of supposedly good ones since by all the major crime authors, and this is the first and only book that's been just as clever, creepy and well-characterized.

I just read Messiah, a similar blend of medieval torture with modern realism, and this is much better. It's not a gentle murder mystery by any means, but the gore and rough language fit right in with the story instead of being gratuitous, like they are in most murder books.

I'd only read one Val McDermid book before, one of the Kate Brannigan ones, which I didn't like at all, and got this book just to make up my library quota. It's hard to believe it's the same author - this is honestly one of the best crime books I've read.

It looks like this book is not available in the US, so it's probably not getting the readership it deserves. If you've been wanting a book as good as the early Thomas Harris ones, then this one's worth back-ordering - I can't recommend it highly enough.

Another winner from Val McDermid! Building slowly but relentlessly, profiler Tony Hill uses psychological maxims now accepted but at the time of the story were innovative and a novelty in the forensic pursuit of a serial killer. This story is different from other serial killer novels. It traces the profiler and his own psychological problems as well as the killer and their thought processes prior to and after each murder.

While the police are split in their acceptance of profiling, some problems remain the same and never seem to change, especially intrusion from the media. Mistakes in the media occur and they are deadly.

In the final confrontation, Hill is forced to use all his training, skills and insights. He begins to realize the perp may be hunting the profiler. The way McDermid has inserted life into the usually predictable tales of death has once again made my skin crawl. Even as I write this and remember, the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I need to turn around to assure myself no one is there. Read "The Mermaids Singing". You won't be disappointed.

The Mermaids Singing by Val McDeremid Harper Paperbacks 1995

This is my first book by Val McDermid and I was very impressed. The serial killer, named Queer Killer by the local police, and Handy Andy by profiler Tony Hill is very bright and covers his tracks well while torturing his victims in some ingenious and time honored methods.

The two principal characters, Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan are very interesting and complex personalities. As their relationship develops, their fragility and weaknesses hinder a commitment. Tony in particular is struggling with his own sexuality and as he delves into the twisted mind of Handy Andy.

This is a well written mystery with a well developed cast of characters whose interactions provide interesting subplots. The main plot is complex, has several unusual turns and a very surprising ending. There is plenty of excitement as Handy Andy skillfully dispatches his victims and then reaches into the task force for the next victim to demonstrate his superior abilities and to put the police in their place.

An excellent read!

As a work of genre fiction, I found The Mermaids Singing an enjoyable read.

As with A Place of Execution (the other book by Ms McDermid that I've read), she holds back a major surprise toward the end. (Don't worry no spoiler here.) One can almost imagine her while writing thinking, "ooh this is a good one." By holding this back, however, she strains some of the credibility that she's built up throughout the story. While this type of thing is common in this genre, it leaves the reader with the feeling of having been deceived.

That being said if you like crime/suspense/mystery novels, I think you'll enjoy reading The Mermaids Singing.

This is a brilliant piece of crime fiction that earned its 5 stars from the first chapter through to the last.

In a fictitious northern England town 4 young men have been found murdered with their bodies showing evidence of the most gruesome torture before death. All the broken bodies have been meticulously washed spotlessly clean of any obvious forensic evidence such as blood, skin, hair, fibres or the like which could provide a link to the killer. The police force is split between old-fashioned coppers with their traditional crime solving methods and the forward thinking university educated detectives who know that modern tools and techniques are what are required. The decision to bring in criminal psychologist Tony Hill to come up with a profile of the killer is thus a divisive one. The old-time detective leading the manhunt will not admit that there may be a serial killer on his patch, preferring to let the public think it is merely a wave or unrelated murders. The early conclusion by Tony Hill that it is certainly the work of a serial killer further alienates him from the chief investigator.

Author Val McDermid allows us to read the diary of the psychopath as an introduction to each chapter, keeping up a parallel story in the same time frame. We see how each victim is selected and stalked in the lead up to his capture. We also see how the killer selects the torture instrument of choice and designs, builds and tests it. McDermid cleverly researches these mediaeval instruments.

Hill's main support from within the crime squad is Detective Inspector Carol Jordan who campaigned successfully for the services of a criminal psychologist. A tenuous relationship gradually builds up between Carol and Tony, which despite their best efforts strays just beyond the professional. This relationship provides an element of relief and romance from the otherwise black storyline.

The whole story is beautifully written and each character comes to life with his or her foibles, weaknesses and strengths. The plot is well conceived, well developed and the tension allowed to build to breaking point as the climax is reached.

I happened upon this on the clearance bin of my local bookstore. It was about five dollars. I didn't expect much, but for five bucks, hey! Plus it had won the Gold Dagger (as had one of my favorite authors, Colin Dexter).

Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. This is a real page-turner. I finished it in about three days (fast for me; I'm not one of those all-night readers) and kept going back to it when I wasn't doing something else (also odd for me; I'm not normally an obsessive reader).

One warning, it is a little on the viscerally descriptive side. (Nothing approaching the level of Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite, but still...just a warning.) However, if you can handle that, you will be taken for quite a ride.

Very rarely does one stumble across a book this thrilling and disturbing at the same time. Thrilling thanks to the structure of the novel, where the killer's account of his crimes, going back in history and moving on to the present, is intertwinged with the description of the investigation's progress, closing in on the killer. Disturbing because of the feel of danger and tension mounting as the killer's objectives become clear to the reader. Disturbing also because of the insight presented in a serial killer's deeply disturbed and twisted logic. This crime novel is truly one of the best of its kind! Gripping right up to the surprisisng end, it will undoubtedly keep you on the edge of your seat.

Maybe the best thing I realized when reading this book is that I like my mystery and police procedural novels to be much more sanitized than this one was. Because of specific mind sets within the police department in the town of Bradfield in northern England, it takes a long time for the connection to be made between three young men being murdered and a serial killer. Assistant Chief Constable John Brandon is in Manchester listening to the rationalization presented by Dr. Tony Hill for how he can help law enforcement in his role as a criminal profiler. The Home Office is setting up a network of forensic psychologists to help police solve crimes involving serial offenders. Just as the conference breaks up Brandon receives word that the fourth young, gay man has been found dead after being horribly tortured. Hill, Brandon and Detective Inspector Carol Jordan assemble a team to begin to understand this murderer and stop the killings.

The novel is written so that the chapters alternate between the point of view of the killer and the official investigation. That would have been interesting except the author went into extensive detail regarding how each of the men was tortured. Ultimately these became much too graphic for me, hence my learning that I need more sanitized descriptions of death. The other characters were interesting, but somehow none of them managed to interest me enough to actually begin to care for them. The novel was written in 1995, and has not held up very well. I enjoy reading novels published years ago, but this one just felt very dated and completely overcome by the advances made in computer and forensic technology. There is the aspect of a struggle between opposing sides within the police force for how the investigation should be handled and the press figures very prominently in the story with policemen providing information to the newspapers which affect the cases.

With a mixture of horrible descriptions of torture, almost constant anti-gay derogatory statements and name calling, a plot twist at the ending which came as no surprise, and not really forming any kind of connection with the principal characters involved I'm afraid this book was just okay. One other difficulty I had was that the author never convinced me that the murdered men were actually gay. That factor needed to be much stronger and crystal clear because it was purported to be the reason behind the killings. This book certainly did not make me want to rush out and buy something else in this series or, as a matter of fact, any novels written by this author. Sadly, not every book you pick up is going to be a favorite and not every author is going to light that spark within you which makes you eager to read more of their work. This was just such a book for me.

This is the first in the series of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan books that BBC made into a series, called "Wire in the Blood," the name of the second book. Fortunately for viewers, the characters on the screen are not as flawed as the ones in the book. Tony Hill is one messed up shrink - we know why HE chose his career! and Carol has her own problems as a woman in the CID. A serial killer strikes the mid-sized community of Bradford, and appears to be killing gay men. But is he? or could they just seem to be gay? The Bradford CID is working on a Home Office project to use profilers with the police, so this is the perfect opportunity for Tony Hill to practice his specialty. He tends to get a little too involved in his work. This is not for the squeamish - the violence is graphic. But the writing is compelling, and it's a real page-turner. It isn't until after you've finished the book that you start to see holes in the plot - small ones in this book, but they get larger as the series progresses. But, I don't want to be a spoiler! If you can handle graphic violence, torture, and gore along with page-turning prose, and you like watching the workings of the psychotic mind, then this is the book for you. It's un-put-downable once you pass the first two pages.