Taking Pity cover art

Taking Pity

The 4th DS McAvoy Novel

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Taking Pity

By: David Mark
Narrated by: Toby Longworth
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Book four in the Hull-based crime series, Taking Pity takes detectives McAvoy, Ray and Pharaoh on their most dangerous case to date.

DS Aector McAvoy's family is in hiding. He has lost his way.

His boss Trish Pharaoh gives him a distraction in the form of an old case. The Winn family was killed 40 years ago: were the police right about who pulled the trigger?

But McAvoy's enemies - the ruthless criminal organisation known as the Headhunters - are pitiless. They plan to take everything from those that stand in their way.

And his cold case is strangely linked with the fire that's about to rain down on Hull....

When McAvoy confronts the worst of killers and sinners, not everyone will escape unscathed.

Hooked on Hull? Then check out the fifth instalment in the DS McAvoy series, Dead Pretty....

©2015 David Mark (P)2015 WF Howes Ltd
Crime Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Modern Detectives Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Thriller Pharaoh

Listeners also enjoyed...

A Litter of Bones: A Scottish Crime Thriller cover art
Grimm Up North cover art
The Body in the Marsh cover art
Extraordinary People cover art
Dead Man’s Grave cover art
Paper Girls cover art
Dead Man’s Prayer cover art
The Turning of Our Bones cover art
Out in the Cold cover art
Northwind cover art
The Infirmary: A DCI Ryan Mystery (Multicast Drama) cover art
The Stranger Times cover art
Silent Tide cover art
A Winter Grave cover art
Death Unholy cover art
The Past We Run From cover art

Critic reviews

"Fast-moving and tightly plotted, with strong characterisation and a likeable protagonist." ( Guardian)
"One of the darkest of the new faces in British crime writing, and not one to miss." ( Daily Mail)
"Exceptional... An exciting new talent." (Val McDermid)
"Outstanding." (Peter May)
"David Mark dissects the dark strange underbelly of Hull with a steely precision. The city has found its Rankin." (Stav Sherez)
All stars
Most relevant
Taking Pity is the 4th book in a series. It could be read alone but is much better if read in order.

Life in Hull sounds very exciting and dangerous if you are in the police.

DS Aector McAvoy and DS Trish Pharaoh's partnership is split. McAvoy's family is in danger. And still a dangerous and ruthless criminal network is strengthening its stranglehold on Hull.

Good narration by Toby Longworth

Another exciting story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The storyline is engaging and moves with a good pace. At times it can be a little far fetched to be believable even for a crime thriller but the plot in general is well thought out and sound. Background is quite important so read the others in the series first but this is definitely the best so far.

The best yet in this series

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Excellent book, I’m on my third book in the series, I didn’t listen to the first book but soon will.

Addictive listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Loving these Aector McAvoy stories.
Edge of the seat thrillers, I couldn't stop listening to.
Narration by Toby Longworth is brilliant he can do several different accents and voices perfectly.
Can't wait for the next in the series.
Reccomended.

Edge of the seat thriller.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Great idea, great narration but for me there were to many jumps between characters and plots that were poorly signposted.

Good story - poor structure

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews