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Place of Excecution book cover
Bulgarian Edition
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A Place of Execution

Shortlisted for the 1999 CWA/The Macallan Gold Dagger; chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year
HarperCollins, 1999


Synopsis:
Winter 1963: two children have disappeared off the streets of Manchester; the murderous careers of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady have begun. On a freezing day in December, another child goes missing: thirteen-year-old Alison Carter vanishes from the isolated Derbyshire hamlet of Scardale, a self-contained, insular community that distrusts the outside world. For the young George Bennett, a newly promoted inspector, it is the beginning of his most difficult and harrowing case: a murder with no body, an investigation with more dead ends and closed faces than he'd have found in the anonymity of the inner city, an outcome which reverberates down the years. Decades later he finally tells his story to journalist Catherine Heathcote, but just when the book is poised for publication, Bennett unaccountably tries to pull the plug. He has new information which he refuses to divulge, and which threatens the very foundations of his existence. Catherine is forced to reinvestigate the past, with results that turn the world upside down.

A Greek tragedy in modern England, A Place of Execution is a taut psychological suspense thriller that explores, exposes and explodes the border between reality and illusion in a multilayered narrative that turns expectations on their head and reminds us that what we know is what we do not know. A monstrous tale of deception, the technique of the telling is the greatest deception of all.

'One of the best detective stories I've read.' Ruth Rendell, Daily Telegraph

'Compelling and atmospheric... a tour de force' Minette Walters

'Val McDermid is a roaring Ferrari amid the crowded traffic on the crime-writing road... She is a strong enough writer to create her own distinctive world' Jane Jakeman, Independent

'Beautifully written... this book is not simply a puzzle; it is an archaeological delving into a multi-layered, enclosed society'
Gerald Kaufman, Daily Telegraph

'A Place of Execution is a wake-up call to crime writers everywhere. A terrific and original novel, brilliantly executed' Paul Davies, Daily Mirror

'A gut-wrenching tale that spans two decades and brings the resonance of Greek tragedies to England. Psychological suspense that probes, prods and disturbs. A terrific achievement' Maxim Jakubowski, Time Out

'A marvel from start to finish.'
The Wall Street Journal

'A modern masterpiece, a book that will haunt us forever.' The Denver Post

'From the first pages, we know we're in the hands of a master this book will earn its author a place in that rare pantheon -- the truly literary suspense novel.'
Jeffrey Deaver

 

Read an extract from A Place of Execution

german paperback. German paperback US paperback.
US paperback
Click on a heading for information about other books by Val McDermid

Beneath the Bleeding
The Grave Tattoo
Stranded
The Torment of Others
Hostage to Murder
The Distant Echo
The Last Temptation
Killing The Shadows
A Place of Execution
Star Struck
The Writing on the Wall
The Wire In The Blood
Booked For Murder
Blue Genes
The Mermaids Singing
Clean Break
A Suitable Job For A Woman
Crackdown
Kick Back
Union Jack
Dead Beat
Final Edition
Common Murder
Report for Murder

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Read an extract of a Val McDermid thriller...  


   
Torment of Others cover
Hostage to Murder cover
The Distant Echo cover
The Last Temptation cover
A Place of Excecution cover
The Grave Tattoo cover.
Beneath the Bleeding.
The Grave Tattoo
The Prelude
Beneath the Bleeding
Opening Section
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