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Out Of Bounds

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Out Of Bounds

By: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Cathleen McCarron
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About this listen

There are lots of things that ran in families, but murder wasn't one of them....

When a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car and ends up in a coma, a routine DNA test could be the key to unlocking the mystery of a 20-year-old murder inquiry.

Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is an expert at solving the unsolvable. With each cold case closed, justice is served. So, finding the answer should be straightforward, but it's as twisted as the DNA helix itself.

Meanwhile Karen finds herself irresistibly drawn to another case, one that she has no business investigating. And as she pieces together decades-old evidence, Karen discovers the most dangerous kinds of secrets. Secrets that someone is willing to kill for.

©2016 Val McDermid (P)2016 W.F. Howes Ltd Crime Thrillers Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Thriller Exciting Murder Cold Case

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Critic reviews

"Incredibly suspenseful." (Sunday Mirror)

"It grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go." (Daily Mail)

All stars
Most relevant
I like Val McDermid’s books as she write so well, but sometimes shrink from her graphic details of murders. Thankfully this book is devoid of any gruesome descriptions of post mortems and doesn’t spend any time in the the minds of psychopaths relishing their deeds. There’s quite a bit of forensic detail thanks to the author’s close association with the world famous department at Dundee University. I did a FutureLearn course run by that University on forensics in which Val McDermid actively participated. She has also written a book on the topic.

The book meanders for quite a time as two separate stories are introduced, but gathers momentum after about 40 out of 62 chapters. I didn’t mind the slower pace as we got to know the various characters and learn some interesting facts about forensics and the laws relating to privacy. The author indulges her political beliefs over the treatment of Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Scotland: all very laudable but a bit of a diversion that slows the pace of the novel. Par for the course the chief character, DCI Karen Pirie, is a bit of a maverick going off at tangents and getting into trouble with her superiors, but she’s an engaging, sympathetic and at times funny character.

I did enjoy the book and thought the slower pace reflected the more realistic time course of investigations in real life, even if the crimes were unusual.

At first I thought it was to be a four star listen but by the end I thought it rated higher than that as the author carries the two stories forward such that I was keen to find out what happened next as one lead after another seemed promising and then went nowhere.

The narrator is excellent as she creates many different voices making the book seem like a dramatisation.

Slow to start but ultimately satisfying

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This story is not as gory as some of the authors books, more gentle people focused. I enjoyed it a lot

Not gory

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Enjoyed the book but did think the ending left you hanging without closure, needed one more para

Good book

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About three hours in I almost lost the will to live listening to this book. The tedious stereotyped males in the book almost drove me away as the narrative almost juddered to a halt. BUT, it is worth persevering, it does get a lot better and I recommend this book as a good listen.

The Curate's Egg

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Nearly gave up as the initial readers interpretation which was so broadly Scottish I felt uncomfortable But glad I carried on listening because the reader demonstrated her skills later on
Like very much that a second episode of the new heroine has been introduced but less sure of the story

Very enjoyable if less exciting than of old

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