Trick of the Dark Published by Little, Brown Publishing date in the UK: 16 September 2010 Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: Little, Brown (02 Sep 2010 - UK) ISBN-10: 1408702010 ISBN-13: 978-1408702017

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"McDermid remains unrivalled at yoking chilling scenarios to a pulsing narrative"
The Observer

"McDermid’s mastery of this genre is evident"
TLS

Trick of the Dark is the brand new standalone novel from CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid

Synopsis:
When Charlie Flint is sent a mysterious package of press cuttings about a brutal murder, it instantly grabs her attention. The murder occurred in the grounds of her old Oxford college – a groom battered to death just hours after his wedding. As his bride and wedding guests sipped champagne, his alleged killers were slipping his bloodstained body into the river.

Charlie doesn’t know who sent the package, or why, but she can’t get the crime out of her head. And with her professional life as a clinical psychiatrist in tatters, she has plenty of time on her hands to investigate.

But as she delves deeper, and steps back into the closeted, mysterious world of Oxford colleges, she realises that there is much more to this crime than meets the eye. And every step she takes towards the truth is a step closer to danger…

Read an extract from Trick of the Dark

Val Say's

'It was fun to delve back into my past to conjure up images of life in an Oxford college for TRICK OF THE DARK. I should stress that my own experiences as an undergraduate at St Hilda's College did not include murder except in the form of the detective novels that all my tutors seemed to devour. But this novel definitely involved a trip down memory lane for me.'