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The Skeleton Road

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The Skeleton Road

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

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 Crime Fiction Mystery Thriller & Suspense Fiction Suspense Cold Case

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Critic reviews

"McDermid remains unrivalled… Brilliant" ( Observer on Cross and Burn)
All stars
Most relevant  

What made the experience of listening to The Skeleton Road the most enjoyable?

I leaned a lot about the Balkan conflict I didn't know before.
The plot carried me along, even through some chunky historical sections.
I could really visualise the scenes: rooftops, views, kitchens, people talking to each other. It was like watching a film (whilst doing my knitting).

Who was your favorite character and why?

Maggie - she was believable, real, interesting and unpredictable.

What does Cathleen McCarron bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The narrator managed to modify her voice a bit, but not too much, for different characters. She used pauses for dramatic effect, but also kept it moving. It's a very long book, and I didn't tire of listening to her. I think if I was just reading it, without Cathleen's narration, I might have skipped some bits, and thus missed out on some historical narration.

Any additional comments?

The narrator might want to verify how to pronounce Greek place names. I think the place called in English "Chania" is pronounced by Greeks "Haan - Yah" with the accent on the "Yah". But this is a small point and did not detract from my enjoyment.

A real drama, with world events and human relationships

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Another book in the Karen Pirie series, which I've enjoyed so far. The story is a bit lacking in suspense, but is interesting. It jumps back and forth, so you need to focus to keep track of everything. There was a dark turn which might affect my enjoyment of future books in this series, but I'll give the next one a go.

Entertaining but bit thin on suspense

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story was Great, gripping to the end. narration was Ok, very poor Welsh accent, some accents very good. Maybe just do the ones you're good at. but otherwise fab I'd listen again.

another awesome story

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... set amongst an even greater modern catastrophe. Excellently read and fine delivery. A definite must read.

A great thriller...

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aye sure u know who done it half way thru and you finish it but hardly read it again...

predictable

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A bit predictable from about halfway through but thoroughly enjoyed this book. Excellent history lesson as well as a typical thriller fictional story. Very well narrated - I’m relatively new to audio books and this has been the best narration so far.

Thoroughly enjoyable read

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Another enjoyable Karen Pyrie novel from Val McDermid. Well written and with the usual great characterisations. My problem was with the narrator who lost accents during dialogue and who's Lancashire accent was woeful. Her pronunciation of some seemingly standard words was quite odd.

Inconsistent narration

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A slow burner. Start slightly patchy, even caused me to think I’d made a mistake choosing it but it gathered pace, I finished it enjoyed it, eventually!

The Skeleton Road

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I was uncertain whether to buy this book or not as it had mixed reviews. I did find it hard going to begin with but stuck with it and by around half way through began to enjoy it.

Worth sticking with

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This is the first time I have read this aurthor, after recommendations from a friend I got one and have enjoyed it, I have all ready purchased another 3

First read of This author

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