Customer Reviews
The Distant Echo - By: Rich, 02 Nov 2008 
Frustrating read. Seriously overlong the author could have easily lost 100 pages from the manuscript. At times her prose was cliched. The biggest problem was the pace of the novel. It is slow & by the end you may not care who the murderer was or what happened. I think if the book had been structured differently, e.g. setin the present with flashbacks to the past, it would have had more pace & still carried the psychological depth that the author was obviously aiming. As it stands it's not a bad read, just mediocre.
Good Val, but a bit too serious - By: Mr. P. Waters, 26 Aug 2008 
I picked this up for $1.50in a charity shop as I was eager to give her a go & it was well worth the time & nominal fee.
Really well structured, original & gripping.
I had the culprit on my suspects list towards the end of the first half but was skillfully sidetracked by other developmentsin the second half. Even if I had stuck to my guns I wouldn't have predicted the modus operandi.
Some of the dialogue is a little wooden & is missing some more authentic dark humour; that I would imagine would be more representative of four student 'laddies fi' Kirkcaldy.' E.g. Taking a leaf out of Stuart MacBride's Logan books. I know there is more chance to develop charactersin a series but I think there would have been scope within the 500+ pagesin this book to make it a little less serious.
This notwithstanding, I stand by my 4 star rating & would consider another Val McDermid if the price was right!
Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from the Dark Side of the Moon - By: cluricaune, 09 Feb 2007 Val McDermid grew upin Kirkcaldy, a small mining community on the east coast of Scotland & studied English at Oxford University. The books she has written featuring Tony Hill & Carol Jordan have provided the basis for the popular "Wire on the Blood" television series. Her novels have won a number of awards, including the Macavity award, the Anthony Award & Grand Prix des Romans d'Aventure. "The Distant Echo", meanwhile, has picked up the Sherlock & Barry Awards & has been nominated for the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year. It is one of her stand-alone books, was first publishedin 2003 & is largely setin Scotland.
The story beginsin December 1978 with four students at St. Andrew's University staggering home together after an end-of-term party. Alex "Gilly" Gilbey, Sigmund "Ziggy" Malkiewicz, Tom "Weird" Mackie & Davey "Mondo" Kerr grew upin the nearby village of Kirkcaldy & - despite differences of opinion about David Bowie & Pink Floyd - have been close friends since school. Taking their usual short-cut over Hallow Hill, a hidden tree-root & a shove form Weird sees Alex literally stumbling across something he'd rather have avoided. Rosie Duff, the Lammas Bar's nineteen year-old barmaid, has been raped, stabbed & is barely alive when Alex lands on her. Ziggy, a medical student, tries to keep her alive while Alex runs for help - however, by the time he returns with PC Jimmy Lawson, Rosie has died. Worse is to come : DI Barney Maclennan, who leads the subsequent murder investigation, views the four friends as the prime suspects rather than key witnesses. The police's attempts at an investigation, & their suspicions about the students, become common knowledge : the early part of the book covers the initial investigation & its effects on the four friends. However, they aren't charged, & the case never comes to court.
In late 2003, Fife Police announce they are to look into Rosie's murder again as part of a full-scale cold case review. While the Laddies fi' Kirkcaldy were never charged, there are some who are still convinced of their guilt - including Rosie's brothers, a pair with a violent record. By now, Alex is livingin Edinburgh, Mondo isin Glasgow, while Ziggy & Weird are livingin America. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Rosie's murder, a date Alex has never been able to forget, he receives a phone call : one of his three friends is dead, killedin what turns out to be an arson attack. Attending the funeral, he notices a wreath made of rosemary & white roses. The message, unsigned, reads "Rosemary for Remembrance". Alex, remembering that Rosie's full name was Rosemary Duff, has started feeling somewhat edgy...
This is the first novel by McDermid I've read, & I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's difficult not to feel sorry for, & worried about, Alex & his friends bearingin mind what the investigation is doing to them, the strain it puts on their friendship & how they are widely viewed as pariahs. The book features plenty of twists & turns, is very easily read & is one I would highly recommend.
Well written as ever - but too easily solved. - By: Phil Robertshaw, 01 Nov 2006 It's hard being a reader of crime fiction, particularly a whodunit. You spend a whole book trying to work out where it's all leading, & then you get to the denouement to find you were completely wrong & didn't see it coming at all. That's what makes some books so good, right?
Well, yes. Unfortunately this doesn't take into account that when you are actually successfulin working out 'whodunit', it's a disappointment. It's almost a battle of wits between author & reader, & if the author fails to outfox you, you feel let down.
I didn't work out the solution to this from an early stage, but as the book developed it gradually began to slot into place, & I hopedin vain that I was wrong about the identity of the killer. It's a shame, because this book is as well written as any of Val McDermid's other novels. She is a hugely talented writer & the only thing that prevents me from giving this one five stars is that it was too predictable.
Read this anyway, & try not to work out the solution. While it's not quite as good as the Tony Hill or Kate Brannigan series, it's still a very decent crime novel.
Well written as ever - but too easily solved - By: Phil Robertshaw, 01 Nov 2006 It's hard being a reader of crime fiction, particularly a whodunit. You spend a whole book trying to work out where it's all leading, & then you get to the denouement to find you were completely wrong & didn't see it coming at all. That's what makes some books so good, right?
Well, yes. Unfortunately this doesn't take into account that when you are actually successfulin working out 'whodunit', it's a disappointment. It's almost a battle of wits between author & reader, & if the author fails to outfox you, you feel let down.
I didn't work out the solution to this from an early stage, but as the book developed it gradually began to slot into place, & I hopedin vain that I was wrong about the identity of the killer. It's a shame, because this book is as well written as any of Val McDermid's other novels. She is a hugely talented writer & the only thing that prevents me from giving this one five stars is that it was too predictable.
Read this anyway, & try not to work out the solution. While it's not quite as good as the Tony Hill or Kate Brannigan series, it's still a very decent crime novel.
