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The Mermaids Singing
The Mermaids Singing
The Mermaids Singing
Audiobook14 hours

The Mermaids Singing

Written by Val McDermid

Narrated by Graham Roberts

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

A shocking tale of psychopathic murder from Gold Dagger Award Winner Val McDermid.--The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But, profiling the psychopath is not beyond him as his own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives, along with the perfect victim.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 10, 2012
ISBN9781666597318
Author

Val McDermid

Val McDermid is a number one bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than forty languages, and have sold over nineteen million copies. She has won many awards, including the CWA Gold Dagger the LA Times Book of the Year Award and the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for outstanding achievement. She writes full-time and divides her time between Edinburgh and East Neuk of Fife.

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    So many things annoyed me here! The leads are bland, there are a bunch of tedious torture scenes, the female journalist gets her tips by sleeping with sources, unpleasant stereotypes of gay men abound, and there's the horrid evil transperson trope.McDermid makes a number of references to The Silence of the Lambs, which is really unfortunate because they only reminded me how much better Silence is.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Nice twist! Solid thriller with McDermid's trademark humanity.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    After finishing Mapp and Lucia a while back, I felt in need of murder and mayhem. I can't say I've ever felt that before; I don't remember ever hating one book's characters enough to want to go read graphic descriptions of a serial killer's work. Although the demographic being murdered in The Mermaids Singing was completely different from that I had a wished death on in M&L, it still hit the spot.That sounds a bit twisted, doesn't it… It hit the spot surprisingly well, in fact. Maybe I've watched too much "Criminal Minds" and "Walking Dead" and so on over the years (and Wire in the Blood); maybe I've become jaded. Because this was beyond all doubt graphic. I usually do avoid this subsection of the genre, but back when Netflix still included streaming video with all subscriptions I stumbled on and became a huge fan of "The Wire in the Blood", and being as this is what that was based on, I wanted more of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan. And that's exactly what I got. As it turns out, the first episode of the TV series was a remarkably faithful adaptation of this first book. Happily, I saw it long enough ago that details had faded, and my memory is bad enough that the end wasn't spoiled. This isn't one of the sporting class of murder mysteries, where the clues are planted throughout the story for the clever and attentive reader to pick up and put together. This is pure procedural, with the coppers both dreading and hoping for the next victim of the serial killer on the loose: dreading, for obvious reasons, and anticipating in hopes that with a new body will come more data toward finding the killer. Intercut with the personal and professional lives of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan and their colleagues are journal entries from the killer, shadowing the timeline without giving away any real detail about the killer except how contact was made with the victims.But it all really comes down to those two, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan. They're terrific characters. I don't know that I'm quite jaded enough to pursue the book series - but it's good to know it's out there.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I started this series out of order with Fever Of The Bone, and liked it so much I decided to start at the beginning. The Mermaids Singing is a great police procedural that introduces the two main characters Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, who team up in 9 books so far.This book is very detailed and extremely graphic from the point of view of the serial killer. Is graphic descriptions of torture is problematic you might want to skip this book. Otherwise the gathering of clues and the eventual reveal of who the killer is was done very well.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Clinical Psychologist Dr. Tony Hall is brought in by police to profile a nasty serial killer with a penchant for medieval torture devices. I'm not particularly squeamish, but this got a bit too gruesome at times, even for me. I can only assume that McDermid thought long and hard to come up with the most nauseating modus operandi imaginable, and really successfully too. My big problem is that I don't quite believe in Tony Hall. Not that he's impossible, but he has rather a few too many quirks to be completely plausible. And, of course, Carol Jordan's reactions to him get unrealistic as well. I'm guessing they get better as the series goes on. Although I wasn't entirely convinced by the characters, the mystery is solid, the stakes high, and the writing high quality, so I'll definitely be reading other McDermid books.Since reading this, I've seen Robson Green's take on Tony Hill in Wire in the Blood and he's quite convincing. Strange as that sounds (especially on a site like LT...), I think I would have accepted Hill better had I seen the TV series first.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a dark, graphic psychological thriller that is very well written. As always it is probably the best book in the series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    From the beginning it’s clear that this is a gritty, fast paced novel which will involve fully drawn and vulnerable characters, graphic descriptions of torture and a focus on the psychological elements of police procedure involved in solving the crime.The initial chapter is narrated by a murderer who explains their fascination with torture devices and describes murder as a ‘strange and exotic drama’. The detachment of the narrator is chilling as they claim that they were compelled to commit murder the first time, but soon afterwards began thinking about how they could do it better next time. The quotations at the beginning of each chapter reinforce this idea of murder as a type of art that can be worked on. The intelligence of the murderer is clear through their language and grammar; their cruelty is even clearer as they admire the minds of those who perfected torture devices.Throughout the novel, the narrative shifts between this first person narrative and the third person narrative following the pursuit of this murderer. Intriguingly, the first person texts are clearly some kind of record of events, and although in this first narrative passage the murderer only really refers to this first murder, in the first real chapter we learn that three men are already dead. As the novel develops this time difference allows the reader to anticipate learning more about the terrible murders – each man was tortured and mutilated before being dumped, naked, in well-known gay cruising areas. This is not a novel for those with a sensitive stomach, but details are not gratuitous.Tony Hill is the next character that we meet and he seems incredibly uncomfortable in his own skin, choosing which persona to try on in the morning. Gradually more characters are introduced from the police force, all of whom are involved in trying to solve the individual murders without admitting that there is a serial killer on the loose. Not everyone is happy with this situation and McDermid establishes a lot of tension between the law enforcement officials which is only escalated when Tony is taken as an official Psychological Profiler to help them catch this killer.Characters’ motives and lives are skillfully drawn out, with just the right amount of information given to allow the reader to follow the twists and turns of the plot. A possible love interest is established early on, but Tony has some serious sexual hang-ups which create difficulties here, and the investigation quickly takes a very serious tone when the next victim turns out to be a little too familiar…This is an effective psychological thriller which will keep you wondering until the end as the police have very few leads, just an increasingly detailed psychological profile, and the killer seems capable of extreme manipulation. The interest of this novel lies in the relationships between characters and developments in the plot, but is primarily in Tony’s interpretation of the evidence. It is genuinely gripping: I read the whole novel in two days.There is also an implied criticism of police procedure in the story of the treatment of one suspect. The development of this situation gives the novel a greater level of depth and led to a truly disturbing event which reverberated in the novel and in my mind long after I’d finished reading.This novel won the 1995 CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year and is the start of a series of novels following Tony Hill’s work as a clinical psychologist. The front cover of my edition includes a quotation from Minette Walters, another excellent psychological crime writer, which effectively sums up the novel: ‘compelling and shocking’.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first in the Tony Hill series and a good psychological thriller. Gripping stuff - a good read.Back Cover Blurb:Up till now, the only serial killers Tony Hill had encountered were safely behind bars. This one's different - this one's on the loose.In the northern town of Bradfield four men have been found mutilated and tortured. Fear grips the city: no man feels safe.Clinical psychologist Tony Hill is brought in to profile the killer. A man with more than enough sexual problems of his own, Tony himself becomes the unsuspecting target in a battle of wits and wills where he has to use every ounce of his professional skill and personal nerve to survive.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I remember reading and enjoying this book when it was first published twenty years ago, but I had forgotten quite how good it was. I would, however, probably not have thought to re-read it if I had not had a recent exchange on Twitter with Val Mcdermid herself.This is the first instalment of the series featuring Inspector Carol Jordan and Dr Tony Hill that now extends to several volumes and spawned the television series 'Wire in the Blood'. As is so often the case, the television version sells the books rather short, with a prurient emphasis on the sordid and sensational aspects to the detriment of the well-crafted plots and finely-drawn characters.This book opens with the police in Bradfield struggling to find new leads in their investigation of some particularly vicious murders in which the victims had not merely been killed but appeared to have been tortured at length beforehand. Opinion within the police is divided as to whether the murders are the work of one serial killer or separate, unrelated perpetrators. Detective Inspector Carol Jordan is convinced that there is a serial killer at work, but has hitherto been unable to convince her boss, Superintendent Cross who is a traditional old school copper. It is also clear that Cross feels that, as the victims have been known participants in Bradfield's vibrant gay scene, they have been more or less asking for it, and he barely avoids using the term 'contributory negligence'. Fortunately, Assistant Chief Constable Brandon is more modern in his approach, and he invites Dr Tony Hill, a practising psychiatrist who has been working with the Home Office to develop a national profiling task force, to help the investigation.Tony Hill is not without his own demons, but he quickly establishes his bone fides with Carol Jordan and the rest of her team with some astute observations about the murders. In the meantime, the police stage an undercover operation with various officers staking out some of the clubs around Bradfield in the hope of flushing out the killer. One of the police officers is attacked, and then another body is found …Val Mcdermid manages the plot brilliantly, allowing the tension to mount quickly without compromising the plausibility of the story. The relationships between Hill and Jordan and the different strands of opinion within the police are all eminently credible.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have been wanting to read this series since I saw The Wire in the Blood series on television, so I was excited to finally get to it. I am not sure how to review this book and even more unsure how to rate it. Ms. McDermid's writing skills are excellent. That is why she's won so many mystery writers awards, but perhaps, in this case, her skills are just too good. I found the contents of this book disturbing and upsetting. Her villain in this book is probably one of the worst fictional villains I've ever encountered. Ms. McDermid describes in graphic detail the horrendous crimes that this particular serial killer commits.I enjoy criminal profiler Tony Hill and his DI partner, Carol Jordan. They make a very effective crime fighting team. Ms. McDermid spares no punches either as she describes their weaknesses and insecurities just as clearly as she does their positive character traits. This makes them both very human. But I found that I had a great deal of difficulty getting through some of the graphic crime depictions, and I must admit, I even skipped over some of the descriptions in the book which come from the point of view of the perpetrator. And again I have to admit, that the book caused me one or two sleepless nights. It's that scary! Will I read more in this series? At this point I don't know. Tony Hill is brilliant! Carol Jordan is wonderful character, but it frightens me to think of the other sick villains that I saw in the television depicted in print. I will say that the television series was not nearly as graphic as the book. Of course they couldn't put that kind of depravity in full technicolour in a television series. And Robson Green as Tony Hill! Well, let me tell you, that was great casting on the part of the producers of this series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I was wrong. Mostly wrong anyway. About who the killer was. I got part of it right. And I'm unsure if I remembered it from the tv series Wire in the Blood (which I miss horribly since I no longer have BBC America--damn Cablevision!). Excellent book. Except for that issue at the beginning with the fourth body--I still maintain Tony should have seen what had been done to him at the crime scene. But I was able to overlook it. I'm now addicted to Val McDermid (I've started the next Hill/Jordan book already). I do keep picturing the actors from the tv show as the characters, but I'm okay with that. The changes they made for the tv show are interesting though, and the characters are obviously a lot more complex in the book. John Connolly said recently in his blog that the problem with buying new books is that the room he has to keep books doesn't expand and that it's like his books breed. I see this happening with Val McDermid's books (and Connolly's for that matter). There are so many!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Absolutely brilliant. Not for the squeamish but brilliantly inventive, feels authentic and has characters with depth and complexity. I will read the entire series now.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A confronting insight into a sick and twisted mind makes for uncomfortable listening at times. However the main characters of Tony Hill & Carol Jordan and the tension created by the author make it compelling.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Protagonist: forensic psychologist Tony Hill and DI Carol JordanSetting: present-day "Bradfield" in northern EnglandSeries: #1First Line: "Tony Hill tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling."By the time the police admit that Bradfield, a fictional city in northernEngland, has a serial killer, four men are already dead, each tortured in a different way and then abandoned outdoors in town. Baffled by a lack of physical evidence left by the meticulous sociopath, police bring in Tony Hill, a Home Office forensic psychologist who profiles criminals. Tony devours crime data with a fascination approaching admiration for the killer. DI Carol Jordan is Hill's liaison with the police force, and is a solid "normal" foil that keeps quirky Tony grounded. The books in this series are the basis for UK series "The Wire in the Blood". I enjoyed the printed page much more than watching Robson Green on the small screen. Although I twigged to the killer early on, this book was still a page-turner. From Kate Brannigan to Tony Hill to her meticulously crafted standalones, I relish McDermid's writing and love experiencing her continuing evolution.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is another book I read AFTER seeing the TV series (Wire In The Blood) and so I already had a picture in my mind about the main characters (Notably Dr. Tony Hill). The book in itself was very interesting and different to most others in this genre as it bared all of the information from showing the two perspectives of both the murderer (through diary entries at the end of each chapter) and the investigative team through the main chapters.As well as gaining an insight into the killers mind, you also witness the progression of the investigation and learned to understand and anticipate the next moves - with the final chapter still managing to come as a somewhat surprise. Although at times I found the violence outlined within the murderers diary entries unnecessarily gruesome and descriptive, I still felt it was done in relation to the extreme murders.Throughout the book there are also intertwining story lines and personal accounts from the personal troubles of Dr. Tony Hill to the journalists problems of constantly needing a story. As well as this, the book highlighted an important outside issue - the need for criminal profilers within the police force.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If your only exposure to Tony Hill and Carol Jordan is through "Wire in the Blood," you should take the time to read the books from which the series was created. The characters, including the various murderers, are far more complex and nuanced than is possible to show on TV. The violence and sex is more explicit but the depth of character development makes the journey worth it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book was somewhat of a disappointment. I'm not keen on torture which was a major theme of the book and although the characters were well developed, they were predictable to the point that I'd figured out who the murderer was in the first 100 pages (and I'm usually totally clueless!). I'm surprised this book got an award - it must have been a slow year.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Can't go wrong with Prof Tony Hill & this is a great entry to the series. Donating as clearing bookshelves for move.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'm a huge fan of the TV show and decided to give the first Tony Hill novel a go. It was very good, but hard to read -- even though I'd seen the episode that was taken from this novel. What I really liked was that my versions of Tony and Carl were based on the TV show and I think that made the novel that much more enjoyable (if reading about serial killers can be considered a joy).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Good but not great. Although there were many factors against the book as I read it. Well, one large one. I had already read a later book in this series and it gave away just enough details for it to make it much simpler for me to guess the criminal players in the book. I found the murderer very early - although I still very much enjoyed the ride of the writing until the end - so that is definately a plus in the author's favor. A serial killer is seeming to kill gay men in a ritualistic and tortured way. The police decide to bring in a profiler to help them track the killer down - thus launching the continuing partnership of Carol Jordan and Dr. Tony Hill.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Meh. Written in 1995, this actually reads dated. Also, there is a lot of explaining things - mostly Hill explaining to Jordan - which read a bit like a lecture. Not a fan of the gory / torture parts, and it did not help that the book starts with some pretty gruesome descriptions.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I don't like books whose titles have no discernible connection to the book. Why? Because I cannot believe it! And that leaves me to think I missed some key piece.I bought this book because of McDermid's book, _Forensics_. I read reviews about _Mermais_ on Amazon, so I was not shocked at the graphic descriptions. It reminded me of reading _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_...the juvenile feeling of titillation reading of the Nazi experiments that happened in the camps. Or, more to the point, reading graphic descriptions of the bizarre Christian (Christian?) Inquisition. Only we don't call it that. We distance ourselves from it by calling it the "Spanish Inquisition."Oh well, I thought I had found a new series to read. This is the first in the Tony Hill, Carol Jordon series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting serial killer story. Tony Hill is a psychologist working for the home office and being brought into a serial killer mystery. Along with Detective Inspector Carol Jordan they race to find the killer.It's gruesome but I did enjoy it. It kept me wondering throughout what was happening and what would happen next. There were parts that did drag on and also parts that could have done with tighter editing along with mixed up timeline situations that did confuse me a little but still not a bad read.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    The first in a series and I honestly don't know how McDermid ever became as wildly successful as she did. I do understand now why it was so difficult to find a copy. This is the first time I have ever had to skip an entire section of a book because I couldn't stomach the subject and the absolute lack of need to go to such ridiculous lengths with it. The only reason I continued past the first few pages was the challenge of determining what Hill's "secret" was and that he might indeed be an intriguing character. What I found as the book wore on, and I do mean "wore", was that the character of DI Golden actually became much more interesting than finding out what Hill's dirty little secret was. By the end, there was no surprise as to whom the villian turned out to be, only that if further installments of these characters are anywhere as disgusting as this initial attempt, it was too bad they weren't all taken out. This one goes to the rubbish bin.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A holiday read. I've previously read the next book in this series, so no surprises on who is going to survive and who is not. Again, my own fault, this. As well as the next, I liked the book, Somewhat introductory regarding the main characters, but not too much to be a sole introduction. Quite graphic on the torture description, sometimes even too much so, and coming from me thatt's a lot! I find the subject interesting as such, but the way the delight on others' suffering is described is somewhat disturbing. References to computers date the book quite a bit. All in all, a good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If you have any problem with triggers relating to torture, violence, suicide or rape, I don't suggest you read this book. The violence is graphic, lovingly detailed, and given to you from the point of view of the person carrying out the torture. If you're squeamish, there's also graphic descriptions of the mutilated bodies, etc. The only reason I continued reading this book was because I think I'm going to have to make reference to it in my essay -- if I wasn't planning on that, I would have given up after less than fifty pages, book for class or not.

    If you have no problem with reading about torture, however, the mystery itself is pretty compelling. It's a police procedural, really, and more so than Ian Rankin's books -- no real maverick policeman (or policewoman) here: Carol Jordan seems to play within the rules, and Tony Hill just puts forward theories or guides interrogations, and doesn't actually spend the time chasing down the criminal himself. It all seems within the realm of plausibility, on the police side of things -- the killer is, of course, not just your average serial killer, but complete with all the bells and whistles of torture, rape, gender issues, mother issues, etc, etc, etc. It feels a bit over the top, in some ways, but it isn't implausible because there have been serial killers in like fashion. And, well, serial killers aren't exactly the most restrained and sane people.

    I found it pretty easy to figure out what was going on if you remember that this isn't a true story, and therefore every detail included is relevant. Seemingly unconnected events must somehow tie in, and nobody is above suspicion, however irrelevant they may seem.

    It deals with some LGBT issues, too -- the treatment of gay people by the police, and gender issues. This is pretty well done, I think. Realistic, without being too much of a hobby horse, so it didn't get in the way of the story, but contributed to its tension. The story of the serial killer's upbringing is sad without the story making it an excuse for how the killer behaves.

    If it wasn't so personally triggering, I think I'd have enjoyed it.

    Rating it was difficult. I did really like it, and like analysing it, so four stars, but god, don't ever make me read it again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is my first Val McDermid book.Profiler Tony Hill and police detective Carol Jordan work together on a series of murders where the victims seem to be gay and the murders involve torture with sexual overtones. The book’s point of view alternates between Tony Hill, Carol Jordan and the killer. The latter point of view is in the form of a diary and I liked the way the description of each murder always lagged behind the description of the discovery of its victim.The book is very well written and the serial killer is really a very scary character. The torture scenes are detailed and extremely gruesome; I did find these rather uncomfortable reading. In the background the book is much about how Tony Hill needs to sell psychological profiling to a sceptical police force and the internal politics of that force. There is a nice twist towards the end although it’s clear from early on who the serial killer’s next target is.This really is an excellent book and I found it all the more gripping as I haven’t seen the TV series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The writing here is wonderful (at least four stars, though probably more), but I just can't handle the grisly descriptions, even when they are beautifully written.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is one of a series of books by Val McDermid about the neurotic, socially inept but brilliant criminal profiler, Tony Hill, and assertive, maverick detective Carol Jordan, and the odd, dependent relationship that develops between them as they solve crimes together. This story (the first in the series), revolves around a series of killings in the town of Bradfield. Tony is brought in to help catch the killer via profiling, and Carol is eventually won over. As always, there is a good cast of supporting characters, all of whom are realistically multi-faceted and interesting.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Very gruesome to the point of being hard to listen to.