Val McDermid
1) Dead beat
2) Blue genes
4) Crack down
“Plot, characterization, pace are all first-rate, and the bouncy Brannigan is one of the most likeable of all today’s PIs.”—The Sunday Telegraph (London)
Kate Brannigan finds herself dragged into a world of drug traffickers, child pornographers, and violent gangland enforcers, bringing her face to face with death in the most terrifying investigation of her career.
5) Kick back
“Kate Brannigan’s . . . a whirling dervish of tough toes and fine prose.”—The Washington Post
Kate Brannigan is investigating the bizarre case of the missing conservatories. Before long, she’s up to her neck in crooked land deals, mortgage scams, financial chicanery—and murder. Then a favor for a friend puts Kate’s own life in danger.
6) Star Struck
"There is no one in contemporary crime fiction who has managed to combine the visceral and the humane as well as Val McDermid. . . . She's the best."—The New York Times Book Review
"McDermid has a sharp ear for the dialogue and intrinsic humor of the Manchester dialect. . . . She manages, as always, to combine her wit and exuberant writing with a careful and clever plot and oodles of perceptive social observation."—The