Still Life by Val McDermid

Today I’d like to talk about Still Life by Val McDermid. McDermid is considered Scotland’s (or the world’s) “Queen of Crime.” She writes several mystery series, has written a children’s book, a play and is working on a graphic novel. She is one of my favorite authors.

Still Life is the sixth book in the Karen Pirie series. DCI Karen Pirie is head of Police Scotland’s Historic Crime Unit, in other words she deals with cold cases. She’s currently working on the case of an unidentified long-dead skeleton found in the back of a camper van housed in the garage of Susan Leitch, a hit and run victim. One theory is that Susan’s former girlfriend, Amanda, might be involved, but the trouble is finding her. She and her current girlfriend, Dani, have disappeared.

Meanwhile, the ‘inexperienced at murder investigations’ police force in Fife has just found a drowned body in the Firth of Forth (I love the way that sounds). It turns out to be Jamie Auld, a prime suspect in the disappearance of his brother Ian, a high- ranking government employee, 10 years earlier. Ian’s body has never been recovered and Jamie has been invisible, first joining the French Foreign Legion for seven years and then living in Paris, playing in a jazz band. Since Pirie was the last person to review the Ian Auld case two years earlier, she is put on the current Auld case to see if they are related. She commandeers Daisy Mortimer from the Fife police as a detective. The question is what ever happened to Ian and why would anyone want to kill Jamie, who has kept his head down for this past decade.

With Daisy assisting on Auld and Pirie’s right-hand man, Jason Murray, assisting with the skeleton, the investigations move forward, sometimes slowly and sometimes fast paced. In the midst of all this, Pirie must contend with the current release from prison of the killer of her ex-lover Phil three years earlier. She’s got her hands full and she takes advantage of the relationships she has built up with several people on the force including a tech expert, a forensic expert and a judge.

The old stalwarts are back which is always nice in a series and the introduction of Daisy Mortimer makes one hope she’ll be a continuing character. She is a refreshing addition to the cast.

McDermid finds reason to touch on serious subjects such as Brexit, Covid-19, identity theft and art fraud, while also throwing in a few lowland Scottish terms for fun. The ending is not so surprising. I guessed part of it mid-way through the book as may other readers, but the journey is just as good whether or not you have an inkling of what is going on. As one reviewer (Susan) said, it is “…a timely and cracking good mystery that keep the pages flying.” McDermid is good for fans of Tana French and Denise Mina.

I’ve read all the books in the series except for book #2, A Darker Domain. [Distant Echo (#1 in the series), Skeleton Road (#3 in the series), Out of Bounds (#4 in the series) and Broken Ground (#5 in the series).

While I highly suggest any Val McDermid book, I do like the Karen Pirie books the best. You don’t need to start the series at book number 1. You can jump in anywhere. Still Life is an easy and enjoyable read.