153 reviews for:

Broken Ground

Val McDermid

3.94 AVERAGE


Let me begin with a "thank you" NetGalley.com for a free copy of this novel for an honest review. I was not familiar with the DCI Pirie series, of which this is the 5th installment. I found the first several chapters hard going but I found the storytelling well done, and the writing intelligent.
challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark mysterious tense slow-paced

A body is found buried in a peat bog in the Highlands of Scotland, along with two rare motorbikes. During the course of the investigation, DCI Karen Pirie discovers that the bikes were buried in 1944 with the intention of retrieving them later and selling them for a substantial gain. But the body dates from the 1990's and is found BENEATH one of the bikes. Who is the victim? Did he and an accomplice return for the bikes? If so, why did he end up in the hole and why weren't the bikes taken? Will Detective Pirie discover the truth?
This is the first book I have read by this author and I really enjoyed it. There was just enough intrigue to keep me guessing and just the right amount of characters. Police mysteries usually have far too many characters to keep track of, all with similar sounding names that get my head spinning, but I was easily able to keep track of everyone. My only complaint is that the ending seemed a bit rushed and this is why I subtracted a point from my score. 
Despite this, I will definitely read other books from this author!
dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Very rushed ending after dragging the story out way too long. Not one of Val McDermid’s better ones.
adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
adventurous mysterious medium-paced

"Tres pueden mantener un secreto, si dos de ellos están muertos."
Benjamin Franklin

El sorprendente hallazgo en una turbera, de dos viejas motocicletas abandonadas tras la IIGM y un cadáver mucho más reciente, llevará a la inspectora Karen Pirie, responsable de la Unidad de Casos Históricos de la Policía Escocesa, hasta un remoto enclave rural de las Highlands.
Mientras trata de reconstruir el suceso, debe enfrentarse a su superiora, Galleta de Perro y al topo que ha infiltrado en la Unidad para desprestigiar en lo posible su trabajo, mientras trata de curarse las heridas sentimentales tras la muerte de su pareja.
A pesar de la compleja situación que atraviesa, su instinto policial no descansa nunca y se ve envuelta casualmente en una extraña muerte al oír una conversación en su cafetería predilecta. Pronto se da cuenta de que nada ni nadie es lo que parece.

La primera piedra, (Broken ground, 2018)
Val Mcdermid
@catedral.books 2021
Traducción de Marcelo Mazzanti

Mi estreno con la prestigiosa autora Val Mcdermid.
Me ha gustado mucho su manejo del ritmo y como mantiene el interés a lo largo de sus casi 500 pags.
Además fue escogido especialmente para mí por mi hijo! ❤️

Sigo en #Escocia para #lavueltaalmundodenovelanegra

#laprimerapiedra #brokenground #valmcdermid #leeresvivir #leermola #libros #novelanegra #leoautoras #britishnoir #karenpirie
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
emotional mysterious medium-paced