Edinburgh, haunted by the ghosts of its many writers, is also the cold case beat of DCI Karen Pirie. So she shouldn’t be surprised when an author’s manuscript appears to be a blueprint for an actual crime.

Karen can’t ignore the plot’s chilling similarities to the unsolved case of an Edinburgh University student who vanished from her own doorstep. The manuscript seems to be the key to unlocking what happened to Lara Hardie, but there’s a problem: the author died before he finished it.

As Karen digs deeper, she uncovers a spiraling game of betrayal and revenge, where lies are indistinguishable from the truth and with more than one unexpected twist . . .

IN A NUTSHELL
‘Past Lying’ was an entertaining, slightly quirky mystery that worked well even though I dived in at the seventh book in the Karne Pirie series. The plot was clever. The insider view of the Scottish crime writing community was fun. Best of all, Karen and her colleagues felt real to me. I liked the realistically slow, deliberately low-key pace. Val McDermid did a good job in capturing the world-out-of-joint feeling of COVID and the fears and frustrations associated with it. Lauren Lyle‘s calm narration enhanced my enjoyment.

I had a really good time with ‘Past Lying‘. I gave up on Val McDermid’s Tony Hill and Carol Jordan books in the 1990s because they were too bloody for me and made me feel like a voyeur. I was pleased that this Karen Pirie book was quite different. The focus was on the police officers and their approach to solving a case rather than on getting inside the mind of some sadistic serial killer. I think it also helped that Karen Pirie investigates cold cases, so she has the time to be thorough rather than racing to prevent the next death. 

The writing was smooth and accessible. The plot was elaborate and clever. Its many twists kept me actively involved in trying to figure out who the murderer was. By the 80% point, I thought I’d guessed what the final twist would be, but I had no idea as to the why of it. I think getting me to that point and having me eager to find out if I was right is a sign of how well the plot was constructed. 

Val McDermid has been at the centre of the Scottish crime writing community for decades, and I was amused and pleased by the way this novel gave me the feeling of getting an insider’s view of that world. Although the story was about a cold-blooded murder, the depiction of writers attending conferences, giving readings, and running writing workshops, all while competing with each other for book deals and literary prizes, was almost playful. It felt to me that Val McDermid was having fun with inserting extracts from books in different writing styles and playing with book titles.

What I liked most about the book was that Karen and her colleagues felt real to me. Even though I hadn’t read the six books that preceded ‘Past Lying’, I felt at home with Karen and her team. I liked the slightly slower pace that working on a cold case allowed, and that working any case during a COVID Lockdown imposed. It made Karen’s methodical approach a strength and gave space for the personalities of the police officers and the relationships between them to develop.

I wouldn’t normally jump in at the seventh book in a series, but ‘Past Lying‘ is Val McDermid’s Lockdown novel, and I wanted to see what Lockdown in Edinburgh had been like. I think Val McDermid did a good job not only in capturing the world-out-of-joint feeling of COVID times and the fears and frustrations associated with it, but in using them to enhance the plot.

I recommend the audiobook, narrated by Lauren Lyle, who plays Karen Pirie in the TV series. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.