1989 cover art

1989

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

The second thrilling novel in Val McDermid's new Sunday Times best-selling series

It's 1989, and Allie Burns is back.

Older and maybe wiser, she's running the northern news operation of the Sunday Globe, chafing at losing her role in investigative journalism and at the descent into the gutter of the UK tabloid media.

But there's plenty to keep her occupied. The year begins with the memorial service to the victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, but Allie has barely filed her copy when she stumbles over a story about HIV/AIDS that will shock her into a major change of direction.

The world of newspapers is undergoing a revolution, there's skulduggery in the medical research labs and there are seismic rumblings behind the Iron Curtain. When kidnap and murder are added to this potent mix, Allie is forced to question all her old certainties.

Praise for 1979

'McDermid is at her considerable best' GUARDIAN

'Irresistible' PATRICIA CORNWELL

'A brilliant novel by a supremo of the genre' PETER JAMES

'Outstanding' SPECTATOR

'Another masterpiece' DAVID BALDACCI

'Sensational. One of Britain's most accomplished writers' SUNDAY EXPRESS

©2022 Val McDermid (P)2022 W F Howes Historical Literature & Fiction Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Exciting Fiction Suspense

Critic reviews

"McDermid is at her considerable best." (Guardian)

"Irresistible." (Patricia Cornwell)

"A brilliant novel by a supremo of the genre." (Peter James)
All stars
Most relevant
I found this storyline less gripping than 1979. It might have been partly due to the narrator - very monotonous and so quiet that I had to turn the volume up full at times.
I also got the characters muddled up.
Much prefer the narrator in the Karen Pirie series.

Not her best

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great narrator! Gripping story and really connected with the characters.
Really enjoyable, at times emotional, mix of fiction and fact, made the book difficult to pause. Every time I had to stop, I felt I was waiting for my next quiet moment to be able to pick it up again.

Couldn't put it down!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great 3rd act twist
seemed a lot crammed in with Hillsborough, HIV, Berlin Wall, murder etc but a good distraction from life

classic Val

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is very good although I didn't like the lesbian side! But the Narrator
was very, very good.

Great book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the story, performance mostly great - Scottish and southern voices great but Manchester accents absolutely shocking and a bit distracting in the early chapters.

Great story, dodgy northern accents

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews