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The Skeleton Road cover art

The Skeleton Road

By: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Cathleen McCarron
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Summary

When a skeleton is discovered hidden at the top of a gothic Victorian building in Edinburgh, which is scheduled for renovation, Cold Case Squad detective Karen Pirie is given the task of identifying the decades-old bones. Her investigation leads her back to past conflicts, false identities and buried secrets...

©2014 Val McDermid (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"McDermid remains unrivalled… Brilliant" ( Observer on Cross and Burn)

What listeners say about The Skeleton Road

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

disappointed

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I love Val McDermid's books but, although intelligently written, I found it a boring story with too many surplus to requirements characters

Half way through, I was longing for it to end. I failed to find a character I could like and follow with interest.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointing as a crime thriller but interesting

The discovery of a skeleton on the roof top of a high building in Edinburgh leads to an investigation which soon takes us back to the Balkans War of the nineties. This was the most interesting part of the book as a retrospective of the War and the crimes committed during that period inevitably lead the reader to question how and why such atrocities occur and no doubt will occur until the end of time. On the one hand we are faced with that part of human nature which we think civilisation can shield us from. The institution of Justice is perhaps the highest human achievement to counter balance our more savage instincts. The story argues against taking the law into one's own hands no matter how badly a criminal has behaved. The plot is weak as a thriller and quite frankly it was easy to guess the connections between the protagonists very early on unlike other works by Val McDermid. I would recommend this book if you are interested in the Balkans and want to understand more about the complications of the different cultural problems of the region.
The narrator is excellent apart from a very weak characterisation of a Welshman whose accent was very strange to my ears.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
  • R
  • 25-01-15

terrible, gave it two hours and then returned it

I found this boring. It started promisingly with the discovery of the body and some pleasant character details. However, it rapidly transformed into an unconvincing international conspiracy with plenty of details about office life and unremarkable or unbelievable characters. Not for me.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Asking for a refund

What did you like best about The Skeleton Road? What did you like least?

Listened to the first 90mins and could take no more

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Nothing

Would you listen to another book narrated by Cathleen McCarron?

Doubt it

Was The Skeleton Road worth the listening time?

No

Any additional comments?

Sorry for being so negative but his book was really not for me

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not at all memorable

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No.

Would you recommend The Skeleton Road to your friends? Why or why not?

I find that less than a week after listening to this story I have no recollection what ever of the story, the characters or the resolution. This can't a good sign I think, for me or for the quality of the story telling.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Cathleen McCarron?

Perhaps. Not a stand out performance.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

No. I don't think there is any danger of this happening anytime soon.

Any additional comments?

I wonder why it was called the Skeleton Road? I must have missed that.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent thriller

Enjoyed this audiobook, somewhat different than the usual. Great performance by the narrator, very informative on the Balkans. recommend it.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

My least favourite of the series

This was my least favourite book of this series. Unlike the others the plot was thin and fairly dull, and the narrator struggled with various accents - particularly the Welsh character. Will be asking for a refund as not what i expect from Val McDermid or Audible.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

I did wonder before downloading this as it had a lot of poor reviews but, as I had read the previous books in the series, I thought I would give it a go. I really don’t know why the other reviewers didn’t like this book. It is my favourite in the series so far. I thought the back story about the Balkan conflict was interesting and well told and added to the book. I also really liked the narrator!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Val at her best

i really loved it. A great story brilliantly read. look forward to the next one.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Any crime genre fan should read this series.

An incredibly entertaining modern history lesson.

Both a first rate crime yarn and intruiging insight to the Balkan conflict.

Narrator brings to life an array of well developed characters and vividly described settings.

The author is rapidly becoming my favourite within the genre.

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3 people found this helpful