‘Val McDermid is a roaring Ferrari amid the crowded traffic on the crime-writing road…a crime writer capable of holding her own in any company…she is a strong enough writer to create her own distinctive world’

JANE JAKEMAN, Independent

‘A gut-wrenching tale that spans two decades and brings the resonance of Greek tragedies to England. Psychological suspense that probes, prods and disturbs. A terrific achievement’

MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI, Time Out

‘This is an engrossing story, with its atmospheric portrait of a closed, inbred community…A Place of Execution is a substantial book and an impressive one, possibly the best McDermid has written, and it takes this most accomplished writer into higher territory’

SUSANNA YAGER, Sunday Telegraph

‘Beautifully written…this book is not simply a puzzle; it is almost an archaeological delving into a multi-layered, enclosed society. It may be that McDermid will write better novels than this in the future, but I do not see how’

GERALD KAUFMAN, Daily Telegraph

‘A Place of Execution has verve, depth and an unerring grasp of human responses’

She

‘Like a complex jigsaw puzzle, the pieces eventually fall into place, and for those who choose crime fiction for plotting and denouement, this will prove surprising and completely satisfying’

SUSIE MAGUIRE, Scotland on Sunday

‘A Place of Execution makes you question your assumptions about the whole crime genre…A crime novel about a miscarriage of justice, A Place of Execution is a wake-up call to crime writers everywhere. A terrific and original novel, brilliantly executed’

PAUL DAVIES, Daily Mirror

‘It [A Place of Execution] must be in the running for best crime novel of the year. She has propelled herself into the ranks of the very best in the business…If you’ve never read any McDermid, try this. Basically, if you can read at all, try this. Atmosphere, characters, strong plot, tension, menace – it’s got the lot’

JANICE YOUNG, Yorkshire Post

‘Deserves to be the crime novel of the year’

Prima

‘There is a great deal to admire in this novel…above all the book’s formal adventurousness and subtle orchestration of different narrative levels, that sets it apart from most thrillers. With A Place of Execution, McDermid has wrought a powerful, resonant novel about power and its abuse, about the past’s hold on the present, about the nature of knowledge’

LIAM MCILVANNEY, Glasgow Herald

‘Arguably her finest yet…Fear infuses every page…in this epic tragedy’

ERIC JACKSON, Manchester Evening News

‘This is an extraordinarily accomplished book…the whole affair is a complete success’

F. E. PARDOE, Birmingham Post

Acknowledgements

This was not an easy book to write. To delve into a past so recent that it is within many people’s living memory is to invite the exposure of one’s mistakes. Many people helped me to minimize the opportunities for such embarrassment. Douglas Wynn, true-crime writer, told me the tale that formed the distant seed of inspiration for this book and also helped me with research into historical cases. The staff of the Social Sciences department of Manchester Central Reference Library provided courteous assistance, as did their colleague Jane Mathieson. Without retired inspector Bill Fletcher, I could never have hoped to re-create the world of a county police force in the 1960s. Mark at the Buxton Advertiser provided invaluable access to the bound volumes in the cellar, and the Manchester Evening News library team also went out of their way to support my quest for authenticity. Dr Sue Black was generous with her forensic experience and Diana Muir supplied crucial assistance that both exposed the fatal flaw in the plot and allowed it to be salvaged. Peter N. Walker also allowed me to pick his brains for period detail and was kind enough to check the finished manuscript for glaring errors. Any remaining mistakes are entirely my responsibility.

I have taken some liberties with the geography of Derbyshire and with the city of Derby itself. The village of Scardale does not exist, although there are several approximations to it in the White Peak.

Writers are a bit like old buildings – we need a lot of shoring up. So thanks to my scaffolding team – Jane and Lisanne, Julia and both Karens, Jai and Paula, Leslie, Mel and, most of all, to Brigid.

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Table of Contents

VAL McDERMID

Acknowledgements

Val McDermid 3-Book Crime Collection: A Place of Execution, The Distant Echo, The Grave Tattoo. Val McDermid
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