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| Killing the Shadows | 
 enlarge | Author: Val Mcdermid
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy Used: £0.99
You Save: £6.00 (86%)
New (23) from £1.68
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 22708
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0007217153
EAN: 9780007217151
ASIN: 0007217153
Publication Date: February 6, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Different cover. Spine shows it has been read and some mild cover wear, otherwise a good copy of the text. Immediate dispatch from the UK.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Starts well but gets increasingly silly... June 29, 2008
This was my first Val McDiarmid and perhaps reading the reviews it wasn't the best place to start (see the reviews under the pink/purple cover edition here on Amazon): this starts out well but starts to deteriorate and towards the end gets increasingly silly with a completely unbelievable denoument.
The plot is multi-layered with three separate murder investigations going on, but that's probably one too many and the since the initial strand of the Spanish plot ends up by going nowhere it could easily have been cut.
The characters were interesting with enough roundness to fill out the book but without them taking over. But I'm afraid that after 500 pages of build up the ultimate conclusion with the identity of the serial killer was barely credible and had me giggling on the tube! It passes a commute but I couldn't help feeling that VM was writing with her tongue very firmly in her cheek.
 Excellent introduction to Val McDermid February 7, 2007
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
I was on the lookout for a good thriller since the demise of Patricia Cornwell & James Patterson into my `never again' list. Then I stumbled across Val McDermid here on Amazon and am so glad I snapped up Killing the Shadows.
The plot centers around a serial killer who seems to be targeting thriller writers and killing them in the same manner that they killed the victims in their books. When one author dies it's a shock, when two die it looks like a pattern but the police are convinced that there's no connection so no need to panic. Fiona Cameron is a profiler who believes otherwise and since her partner is a thriller writer she's more reason than many to be worried about the possibility of the police being wrong.
The twists and turns in this book were excellent and it was a real whodunit right until the very end. I'm not sure what the point was of the whole Spanish side-story though. That could probably have been omitted and nobody would have missed it. All in all though this was an excellent book and although it may have been my first Val McDermid book it certainly won't be my last.
 Not the usual 5 stars but still very enjoyable January 10, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I love Val McDermid and look forward to going on the usually exciting and enjoyable journey of her thrillers. This was very good but not up to the 5 stars of, for instance, the Distant Echo or the Last Temptation.
In this book I was introduced to a new protagonist. I thought that it was an interesting and different slant to the usual psychological profiler, using geographical patterns worked out by computer instead. However, at times I did feel that, for a psychologist, the leading character appeared to be further removed than expected from what must have been part of her original training i.e. on a couple of ocassions, her suppositions were a little niave.
There were 3 lines to the plot - one of which I did not completly see the relevance. This could have been dispensed with, leaving more time to build up suspense, characterisation - whatever!
At the end I was compelled to sit up late at night to read on.
All in all - recommended! A superior thriller.
New crime to read October 1, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was looking for a new crime writer to add to my collection and I think I've found it in Val McDermid. Drawn at first only by the back cover and the use of computers rather than the more known versions of profiling, I thought I'd give it a go and very glad I did. Ms McDermid keeps the plot moving along and just when you think you may have spotted the 'bad guy' when you know the obvious is just too obvious, she twists the tale again. Good read!
Must read before you die! August 27, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
First book I've read from Val McDermid. It's absolutely awesome! I couldn't put the book down and have to finish it in less than 24h.
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