I don’t always enjoy British mysteries but I liked this one. This is the 6th book in the Karin Pirie series but it could be read as a stand alone. The plot was very intricate and I liked the characters. I guessed some of it about half way thru the book but there were still some surprises that I didn’t see coming. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Another great page turner fro. Val Madrid and another success for Karen Pirie!
DCI Karen Pirie leads the Police Scotland Historic Cases Unit; except in the book she is tasked by the dreaded Dog Biscuit to help with an active murder investigation.
Along the way she has to consider whether Hamish has overstepped the mark & is manipulating her. Is he really right for her?
And she comes face to face with man Imprisoned for killing the love of her life.

This series with Karen Pirie keeps getting better and better. Not only are her cases interesting and unusal, but her character also is evolving. No longer is she spending every night walking the streets, but with the interesting addition of Hamish (who is also a fascinating addition) we see her in a different light.

I’ve read and really enjoyed all the Karen Pirie books to date, but none as much as this one. The stars seemed to have aligned for Still Life and the prose in this novel flows like a sparkling stream with dazzling flashes of light as the sun bounces off the water.

It’s a pre-Covid19 novel, but only just, and McDermid uses the lightest of fleeting touches to acknowledge what’s coming, which makes this book feel bang up to date, without burdening us with the awfulness of the actuality, which feels spot on to me.

DCI Karen Pirie has two cases to deal with in this novel, both with an artistic element to them. The first is the case of a skeleton found in a camper van in the garage of a douce Perth house, hidden under a tarpaulin.

The owner has recently died; she lived alone, her partner, an artist, having left her for another woman some years ago. Karen and the lovely but slightly dim but utterly loyal D.C. Jason ‘The Mint’ Murray are investigating when Karen’s boss, the fearsome Chief Inspector Merkle (or The Dog Biscuit as she is universally known at Gayfield Square station) decides to also hand her this month’s hot potato.

The body of a man has been found in the Firth of Forth and it looks like murder. Not a cold case, Karen protests, but it transpires that although the deceased lived in France and was a French national, he has links to the disappearance of a senior Scotland Office civil servant who vanished ten years ago, so there may be political fall-out from this one. The Dog Biscuit is deeming it a cold case and putting it into Karen’s jurisdiction for that reason.

Karen is still enjoying her relationship with the affluent hipster, Hamish though she still isn’t able to give herself 100% to that relationship. It isn’t helped by the release of her partner Phil’s killer from prison.

As Jason takes point on the Perth case, chasing down leads on two women, Karen recruits the rather splendid DS Daisy Mortimer from Fife Police to go with her to France to find out more about their jazz loving dead French national.

I loved the breadth of knowledge that McDermid displays in this book. It’s fascinating to learn about aspects of forensic pathology and technical wizardry which is so important for solving cases and McDermid uses her extensive contacts and knowledge of in this field to add layers and depth to her investigations.

The cases are interesting and nicely complex. The danger that runs through the book feels real and so there is a nice tension that unsettles the reader as much as it engrosses. The banter is top notch and it feels as if Karen’s team is coming together really well now. I adore the way that Edinburgh comes to life as Karen makes her way from her favourite Syrian café to other equally delicious eating places. McDermid always builds in a smattering of what’s going on in Scotland and the world alongside some pithy commentary and that puts the reader in the same frame as Pirie, adding to the authenticity.

I love that Pirie stands up for her team, but also for herself. She won’t let herself be riled or cowed by Merkle and she is committed to making sure Hamish knows exactly where she stands as far as he is concerned.

I have come to admire Pirie and would want her as a friend. That she feels quite so three dimensional is a testament to McDermid’s characterisation and I’m bit of a fan girl as a result. As the cases reach their conclusion we are on the eve of lockdown. What’s next for Karen Pirie? I can’t wait to find out!

Verdict: In a beautifully plotted and very well told tale, Karen, Daisy and Jason put together the solutions to two murders in journeys which take them from Perth to Stockport and Fife to France and Ireland with a few Brexit barbs built in. A well-paced, flowing narrative entertains and propels and this is a novel I’d unhesitatingly recommend.

DCI Karen Pirie is a busy woman with 2 connecting cases. First a body of a man washed ashore and then a skeleton of a woman is found in a vehicle in a garage. All of this leads Karen to art forgeries, identity switches, a disappearance years ago of a presumed dead person, and a political figure leading a life no one knows he was leading. Quite a lot for one police officer. I found this book very intelligently written . My only issue was there were too many directions the plot was good going. I found it not a straightforward read. It was like walking down a road with many paths and was dragging on a bit. I did not hate this but I wish it was more of a quicker read to solve the case.

So this is not only my first read in this series, its my first read by Val McDermid! Having finished it Im annoyed with myself that its taken me this long to discover her work.

The spiel: When a body is pulled from the sea by some fishermen it is quickly discovered that the dead man was the prime suspect in a murder 10 years ago. DCI Karen Pirie was the last to review the legacy case(her specialty)a couple of years ago. She is given the cases from her superior but she has a lot on her plate as it is, as she is already investigating a skeleton being discovered in a camper van in the garage of a house.
As she investigates both, she is drawn into a murky world of secrets, deception and lies.

I really enjoyed this one and I`m only sorry I havent read any others in the series. I really liked Karen as a character and indeed enjoyed all the characters here. It worked fine as a stand alone read but there is a lot of reference to back stories which I obviously wasnt familiar with and I really want to read the rest of the series now to investigate further.

The story is quite a complicated one but somehow the author manages to make it easy to follow. There is quite a large cast of characters, loads of story threads and yet I never once found myself going back a few pages to check who was who or what exactly was happening. The book just flowed beautifully.

Id highly recommend this one and I`m now off to seek out the rest of the series.

One last thing! I found myself heading to the fridge for snacks regularly reading this book. The characters spend a lot of time eating and meeting in restaurants and I have to admit, I found myself salivating more than once as I was reading about the food. That Indian food sounded devine!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Grove Atlantic and Val McDermid for an ARC in excahnge for an honest review.

This is one of my favorite series by Val Mcdermid. Karen Pirie is a really great character and a great detective. She’s tough and really good at figuring out what’s really going on. This was a story with lots of twists and turns from a new dead body and an old cold case, plus another cold case with a skeleton found in a camper that gets her sidekick, Jason in lots of trouble. The mysteries and action never stop in this very well written thriller. Highly recommended

I have a history with Val McDermid, and her wonderful protagonist Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie of Police Scotland. Back in 2016, I read and reviewed Out of Bounds by Val McDermid, #4 in the series with this feisty female protagonist. At that time, I said, “I’m not sure why I haven’t read Val McDermid before, or why I wanted to read this one, but I am so glad it happened…McDermid fans may already be familiar with Chief Inspector Karen Pirie of Police Scotland, as Out of Bounds is #4 in the series. I plan to read the first three in the series (The Distant Echo, A Darker Domain, and The Skeleton Road), but this story doesn’t require any prior knowledge, and functions as a standalone novel.” Then, in 2018, I read and reviewed Broken Ground, #5 in the series, and admitted I never got to the first three, but I definitely would since I had really enjoyed #5.

Now it is 2020 and now DCI Karen Pirie and the Historic Cases Unit of Police Scotland are back, investigating the discovery of a female skeleton in a campervan parked in the garage of a woman who died following a traffic accident. Around the same time, fishermen find a body as they’re pulling in their catch. The body is identified as being that of James Auld and Karen and DC Jason ‘The Mint’ Murray are brought in to investigate, as James is the brother of another cold case, involving the disappearance of an “important man.” They are joined by DS Daisy Mortimer, who would be a great spinoff character with her own series…

It’s a challenge to write anything about books in this series without giving something away, and I don’t do spoilers, so I’ll just say the plotting is terrific, and as usual with Ms McDermid’s books, I learned a few things. Karen’s personal life comes in, but doesn’t take over the story. The characters are incredibly real. I’m so happy I discovered this author! Fans will love it, and there will be many new fans. Five stars.

I’d like to thank Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Still Life’ by Val McDermid in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

DCI Karen Pirie is in charge of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit and is investigating the discovery of a female skeleton in a campervan parked in the garage of a woman who dies following a road traffic accident. Early one morning a body is found by fishermen tangled in the winch of their boat in the Firth of Forth as they’re pulling in their catch. The body is identified as being that of James Auld and as he’s the brother of Iain Auld, a previous unresolved cold case, Karen and DC Jason ‘The Mint’ Murray are brought in to investigate together with DS Daisy Mortimer who’s been seconded to the Historic Cases Unit.

‘Still Life’ is a gripping and involving thriller that uncovers secrets, lies, art forgery and deceit and has Karen and Daisy travelling to France and Dublin. The powerful plot has been well-written with intrigue and imagination that Ms McDermid excels in, and although running two separate cases may be difficult for some investigators Karen takes it in her stride and follows the clues before finally tracking down the perpetrators. The topical subject of the referendum for Scottish independence is worked nicely into the story as is the Covid-19 pandemic with the characters organising their work and living arrangements in readiness for the lockdown. Now that the new character of DS Daisy Mortimer is introduced, is the series going to run longer than six books? I do hope so as the series is going from strength to strength and it would be a big disappointment if I was no longer able to read of the HCU.

Still Life is another in the DCI Karen Pirie series. Drowned man and abandoned skeleton have been found in an old van. So how is it possible that skeletal remains points to someone active on social media and the other is someone with changed name and officially doesn't exist in Scotland?

Suspense till the end of the book. Val McDermid never dissapoints.

‘Their first catch of the day was a drowned man.’

One freezing winter’s morning, fishermen pull a body from the Firth of Forth. The body belongs to a man who was the prime suspect in a case, ten years earlier, when a prominent civil servant went missing. DCI Karen Pirie, of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit, was the last detective to review that case, and is asked to investigate. There is another case DCI Pirie is working on: a skeleton had been found in a campervan, by a woman clearing her sister’s home after the sister died – who does it belong to, and how did they die? And, at the same time, the person responsible for the death of the man Karen loved has just been released from prison. How will Karen react? How will she navigate the personal issues to manage the professional ones?

Both cases are intriguing. There is a political angle associated with the body retrieved from the sea: the missing civil servant has never been found, and the man whose body has been found has an interesting past. It soon becomes clear that he was murdered. But by whom, and why?

The answers in both cases lead Karen and her team (DC Jason Murray and DS Daisy Mortimer, who is co-opted) through a complicated web of secret identities, missing people, and art forgeries. The more the team digs, the more complex the cases seem to become. But Karen sees something, which, while it takes her a while to realise its significance, enables her to find answers.

A tightly plotted, gripping read. While I have read and enjoyed many of Ms McDermid’s novels, this is my first novel in the DCI Karen Pirie series. As this is the sixth novel in the series, I have at least five other great reads to look forward to.

Highly recommended.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is another in the DCI Karen Pirie series. This time around she find herself investigating the shadowy world of forgery, where things are never what they seem. Tightly plotted and so well developed as only Val McDermid can do. This is one of the best in this series and kept me enthralled all the way through. This story does not disappoint. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

Any time a new book by Val McDermid appears, there is reason to rejoice, but this time she delivers an astounding feat: welcome to the first thriller written during Covid-19 Lockdown incorporating current events seamlessly into the plotline. She is a magician in her tight plotting, extraordinary set up, clear prose and spot on characterization as DCI Karen Pirie of Edinburgh's Historic Cases Unit (cold case) works to solve two greatly dissimilar, original jobs.

McDermid slyly introduces the first whiff of pandemic danger in an almost throw-away fashion, but her incorporation of distinct dates makes the reader breathe a bit more shallowly as the date of lockdown approaches. International borders have been crossed, allowing McDermid to instruct on procedures that are shifting thanks to the thankless backlash of Brexit, and the differences between Dutch, French and Irish protocols as they pertain to extradition to Scotland. I read her books because there is so much to chew on besides the crackling good stories she weaves, but always because I go away having learned something.

Still Life is the perfect amalgamation of suspense, complex yet strong and likeable characters and two mysteries to keep one hooked on to the story.

We have the case of skeletal remains found in a camping van and a dead body floating in the Firth of Forth. The remains point to a certain somebody who's active on social media while the one floating in the waters is someone who disappeared years ago.

We see Karen struggling to come to terms with her lover's death and facing his killer(the man is released from prison). She's also learning to adjust with Hamish - her new beau.

Both the mysteries were interesting and kept me hooked on. Karen and Daisy - both are likeable. The writing is marvellous.

Highly recommend to all mystery lovers.

DCI Karen Pirie it is so good to have you back solving not one but two cases !

Karen and her team work diligently, smartly as they put all their efforts into solving the cases that seem like they might be related.

Karen divides her time between the two cases with the assistance of a great team .

A skeleton is discovered in a garage and a dead body is found by fishermen.

What else could a reader ask for ?

I love police procedural and no one does it better than Val McDermid.

Can't wait to get my hard copy to place on my Val McDermid shelf!!

Thanks to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly press for allowing me to follow Karen on another great case.

Another solid mystery from Val M cDermid - a true master of the genre. Karen Pirie is back with a new case - or maybe cases - which connect art forgery, history, secret identities... and murder, of course.
Not the most pleasant book, but gripping and interesting throughout.

Still Life was written during the Covid lock down (because what else is a writer going to do when quarantined?). Val McDermid remains high on my list of authors I never want to miss, and aside from her settings (I love Scotland), her engrossing characters and plots keep me coming back. The Tony Hill/Carol Jordan and the Karen Pirie series are favorites, but she also has plenty of standalones, and a couple of nonfiction books, including Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime that I intend to read some day.

Still Life has cold case DCI Karen Pirie involved in two cases. A traffic accident ends up revealing a skeleton in a van in a garage that has been there for at least ten years. As Karen and Jason investigate, they believe the body belongs to one of two women. However, in the midst of this investigation, Karen is then sent to the Firth of Forth where a body has been discovered--connected to another cold case.

Juggling two cases, Karen must also deal with the release from prison of the man who killed her lover.

As usual, McDermid writes an absorbing tale with characters who have decided personalities of their own. Jason Murray, Karen's DC, is gaining confidence and is a loyal subordinate, and a new and interesting character is Daisy, who shows promise for future books.

In the last chapter, after both cases have been wrapped up, comes the change that has affected us all: the virus "that had been a whisper on the wind" as Karen, Jason, and Daisy investigated "had taken firm root in Scotland." All three "were warned of the lockdown that was to begin in the morning. They'd be working from home, whatever that meant in practice." What a conclusion. The case wrapped up, but their lives on hold.

I'm hoping McDermid will write a book dealing with Karen's team and crime during lockdown.

Read in June; blog review scheduled for Sept. 6.

NetGalley/GroveAtlantic
Police Procedural/Cold Case. Oct. 6, 2020. Print length: 448 pages.

I am a huge fan of Val McDermid and so I really look forward to a new release from her. I was certainly not disappointed with this, the sixth in the Karen Pirie series.

DCI Karen Pirie is juggling two cases- the discovery of a body by a fisherman in the Firth of Forth and the discovery of a skeleton in an abandoned camper van. These cases involve missing persons, fake identities and art forgery.

As usual McDermid writes a very tight plotted , compelling novel with excellent characterisation and sense of place. I love the character of Karen Pirie and the cast of regulars including River and Jason 'the Mint' Murray.
As this is the sixth book in the series I would recommend starting at the beginning although this book can easily work as a stand alone.

Highly recommended. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

I can’t believe how lucky I was to get access to this book through Netgalley. The setting was beautiful and the characters easy to invest in emotionally. All of this made for great context for a really exciting plot. It is hard to fault Val McDermid, whose experience shows through in every word.

Val Mcdermid is one of my favourite writers and Karen Pirrie is one of my favourite characters. Still Life did not disappoint me in any way. It had all the elements that we, the readers have come to expect and love from Val.

Just excellent in every way