Star Struck: Book 6 (PI Kate Brannigan) - Softcover

McDermid, Val

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006498329 ISBN 13: 9780006498322

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2003

Synopsis

A gripping Kate Brannigan thriller, from No.1 Sunday Times bestseller Val McDermid.

‘Val McDermid remains unrivalled’ Observer

Manchester PI Kate Brannigan finds herself with no choice but to take the only case on offer: bodyguarding a paranoid soap star.

But the glitzy world of showbusiness has a darker side. And as Kate scratches the surface, she uncovers dramas, threats and bitter rivalries. And when a self-styled ‘Seer to the Stars’ is murdered, Kate is left with more questions than answers.

About this title

Review:

All series thrillers have an element of the soap opera about them, and so it is logical that Val McDermid's sixth novel about Manchester private eye Kate Brannigan should take her into the world of television soaps. Tough computer-literate Brannigan is hired as bodyguard to the star of Northerners, which bears an uncanny resemblance to another soap filmed in Manchester. Brassy Gloria has been warned by her clairvoyant that death is in the offing, but it is the clairvoyant who gets her skull smashed with a crystal ball. Meanwhile, someone is leaking plot lines, Kate's burglar chum is accused of murder when he takes up honest work, and her staff find themselves in sexual predicaments.

There is a charm to all of this, and some intelligent puzzles competently worked through; McDermid knows, or competently invents, the social milieux she describes. The book is particularly good on the feel of the Northwest on a raw winter day--McDermid's writing gets better and better. This book, though, lacks some of the vigour of the earlier Brannigan books and their note of social protest. Her fans will have no complaints, but this is not the best of her books. --Roz Kaveney

Review:

‘Stunningly exciting, horrifyingly good’
Ruth Rendell

‘This book has a sense of gravitas and intelligence utterly beyond lesser writers in the field’
Ian Rankin

‘Terrific chiller from Manchester’s answer to Thomas Harris’
Guardian

‘A clever and exciting thriller’
Sunday Telegraph

‘A compelling combination of sexual-political mischief and Jacobean psychological intensity’
Sunday Times (of The Wire in the Blood)

Praise for Val McDermid:

'No one rivals Val McDermid’s skill at writing truly terrifying thrillers’ Good Housekeeping

‘The real mistress of psychological gripping thrillers' Daily Express

'McDermid's capacity to enter the warped mind of a deviant criminal is shiveringly convincing' The Times

‘Val McDermid is undoubtedly the queen of British crime’ Observer

'McDermid’s expertly juggled plotlines and masterful handling of pace and tension tick all the best boxes’ Guardian

‘The queen of crime is still at the top of her game’ Independent

‘One of today’s most accomplished crime writers’ Literary Review

‘Her writing is never less than excellent’ Crime Time

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0006498329
• ISBN 13: 9780006498322
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368