A Place of Execution UK publication: 1998 Publisher: HarperCollins US publication: May 1999 Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks Winner of the French Grand Prix des Romans d'Adventure

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Star Struck

Synopsis: Bodyguarding had never made it to Manchester PI Kate Brannigan's wish list. But somebody's got to pay the bills at Brannigan & Co, and if the only earner on offer is playing nursemaid to a paranoid soap star, the fast-talking, computer loving white collar crime expert has to swallow her pride and slip into something more glam than her Thai boxing kit. Soon, however, offstage dramas overshadow the fictional storylines of Northerners, culminating in the unscripted murder of the selfstyled 'Seer to the Stars', and Kate finds herself with more questions than answers. What's more, her tame hacker has found virtual love, her process server keeps getting arrested, and the ever-reliable Dennis has had the temerity to get himself charged with murder. Nobody told her there'd be days like these...

Reviews:

Ian Rankin
'Star Struck is Val McDermid at the top of the ratings'

The Times, Marcel Berlins
'McDermid combines her wit and exuberant writing with a careful and clever plot and oodles of perceptive social observation'

TLS, Natasha Cooper
'Written with fluent ease, making use of Kate Brannigan's own distinctive voice, Star Struck is a clever novel as well as an entertaining one'

The Times
'Kate Brannigan has turned into the most interesting sleuthess around.'

Options
'Val McDermid gets better and better.'

Sunday Telegraph
'Kate Brannigan should remain firmly at the top of the private investigator's league.'