Val McDermid is back with her much-loved crime-fighting partnership, psychological profiler Tony Hill and ex-DCI Carol Jordan. The case that reunites them is a chillingly timely one, focusing on online abuse suffered by outspoken women with a feminist agenda. This isn’t the conventional setup though: there’s “no forensics, no loose ends to pull”, not even a murder verdict to kickstart the investigation – just three seemingly unconnected suicides, each mimicking that of a famous writer: Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Virginia Woolf.
Although this is her 29th book, McDermid still writes with the telltale verve that’s won her the accolade queen of psychological thrillers. There’s perhaps slightly too much backstory (Hill and Jordan have a long and complicated history) for the book to stand alone without the rest of the series behind it, but fans will revel in both the return of her protagonists and the promise of future cases together.
Splinter the Silence is published by Little, Brown (18.99). Click here to order a copy for £15.19
