HOW THE DEAD SPEAK by Val McDermid

Never read a Val McDermid before, and with so many great reviews of her books, here I am giving it a go! She wrote Wire in the Blood, which was made into a successful TV series. So why not start with her latest in the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series. It is definitely a risk to start with the latest in an established series - this is her 11th in the series, the first one being published in 1995 - so long ago and still  going strong by all accounts.  Sure it would help to start from the beginning, but I was told I would not need to, so I didn't. And the advice was quite correct, with sufficient background given so that I had a reasonable idea of what had been going on previously.  I guess most readers have followed the series for more than just the latest and would get frustrated with rereading what they know.

Tony Hill is a clinical psychologist, who has worked extensively for the police as a criminal profiler. He is currently in prison for something momentous that happened in the previous novel. He has worked closely with DCI Carol Jordan for a long time - are they lovers? I suspect so but not having read any others, can't say for sure. She has been booted out of the force for reasons related to the previous novel - I really do need to read this! She is very much at a loose end, having the lost the job that gave her a reason for living, and her close relationship with Tony. She finds herself involved in an organisation that looks at miscarriages of justice, and continues to have contact with Tony from afar.

Meantime work on a construction site, which happens to be a former convent, is stopped when what appears to be a graveyard of the bodies of young women is discovered. Around the same time another set of graves are also discovered on the same property but these bodies are of young men. A man is in prison for the murders of these young men, but it becomes clear he is not the murderer, and when another young man goes missing, Carol finds her investigative skills are working overtime.

I love a good thriller, especially of the psychological variety, and this filled the brief nicely. Great characters in Carol and Tony, very imperfect and real in how they behave, think, react to the different and unsettling turns their lives have taken.  This is also a good story, surprising twists, well paced, and a solid outcome. Time to read more!