a solid review, Matthew, and like the best of the them, a balanced appraisal; one is wary of a book that is too fulsomely praised

There were also 17 at Kennington Common, the place of execution for the County of Surrey, between July and November. These included Sir John Wedderburn, John Alan, Rogers (2008). Murder and the Death Penalty in Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts Press. p.78. ISBN 978-1558496330.The caller's voice dropped in pitch, giving the impression that he was talking man to man with Swindells. 'You must excuse my wife. She's rather upset. So emotional, women, don't you find? Look, Officer, I'm sure no harm has come to Alison, but my wife insisted on giving you a call. I'm sure she'll turn up any minute now, and the last thing I want is to waste your time.'

Every now and then, a writer transforms the landscape of the literary canon: Val McDermid is one such writer' Fiona Cummins, bestselling author of Rattle The center noted in its 2022 report that executions are heavily concentrated in a few jurisdictions. Oklahoma has the most executions scheduled at 15, followed by Texas at 13 and Ohio at 12, which means nearly three quarters of the country’s scheduled executions are in three states. The waitress at the Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel bar brings a bowl of potato chips. “You’re bad,” Val McDermid, the Scotswoman across the table from me, in town as the Continue reading » at trial and all 22 received the death sentence on the 4th of August. Hardie and Baird were executed at Stirling on Friday, the 8th of September. After hangingThe characters are well-described and the mystery is slowly revealed, little thanks to the locals. One particularly colourful old woman is like something from a fairy tale, but not the fairy godmother. George is walking near the village green when he spots her. Once the largest prison in the country, between 1800 and 1877 Horsemonger Lane Gaol saw 135 convicts sent to meet their maker, a total that included 131 men and 4 women. Closed in 1878, the gaol was eventually pulled down in 1881 and turned into a public park. Each of the 11 collaborative tales in this stellar sequel to the International Thriller Writers’ anthology FaceOff (2014) pairs a top-rank female thriller writer with a male counterpart. Continue reading »

has become the best of actor Robson Greer's omnipresent TV outings, has published most recently a Continue reading » One of Val's best. Still. If you somehow missed it I'd recommend reading it. Then reading it again a little later. Coastal is based in the north-east and it was lovely for me to use locations which are familiar and nostalgic, such as Nenthead Mines.

One of the most acclaimed novels of suspense of our time, A Place of Execution won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was hailed by critics as "a marvel from start to finish" ( The Wall Street Journal) and "a modern masterpiece" ( The Denver Post). Overall, though, this was a moody, well-paced and hugely atmospheric crime thriller. McDermid brings to life the fear and introspection that families must have felt when children were disappearing during the Moors Murders. She examines a community’s response to such horror and asks of us what we would be willing to do to protect our families. A Place of Execution is a crime novel by Val McDermid, first published in 1999. The novel won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the 2001 Dilys Award, was shortlisted for both the Gold Dagger and the Edgar Award, and was chosen by The New York Times as one of the most notable books of the year. A young girl disappeared from her village 45 years earlier and was never found. Her stepfather was convicted of murdering her and hanged, after her blood was found on his shirt and in a cave, and pornographic photographs of him molesting her were discovered.