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A review by stefhyena
Final Edition by Val McDermid, V.L. McDermid
4.0
I read this some years ago. Rereading it this week was an absolute pleasure, possibly biased by a slight crush I have on Lindsay Gordon (I probably would find her difficult in real life). It would have been even better I think to reread the one before, so if you get the chance read these in the right order for continuity.
Lindsay returns to Glasgow to find an ex lover has been murdered and a good friend is in gaol for it. The friend's partner has shacked up with Lindsay's partner and I have to admit I found some of the emotional drama around that a bit awkward and not completely to my liking. Lindsay has nowhere to go so stays with another old friend who has recently broken up with her own girlfriend.
See all these strong, feminist, lesbian characters had me already enjoying myself (even years ago when I read it and I was still kidding myself I was straight and I couldn't have said why I liked Lindsay better than McDermid's other -also fantastic- female sleuth Kate Brannigan). But the people around Jackie (the accused) know she didn't do it and the police have not had the resources to keep looking after finding someone who looked like the murderer. It's up to Lindsay to untangle the plot of the murder as well as a burglary she herself gets accused of, all while trying to work around her residual attraction to her faithless ex, Cordelia and her hatred of Cordelia's new lover, Claire.
I am not sure whether I guessed who the murderer was, or sort of remembered from the past. I suspect the latter. All the clues were there but it is an involved enough plot that not everything is immediately clear. Some of Lindsay's conversations are full of needless drama but she is solid and likeable on the whole. The writing flows well with sometimes a touch of over-explanation...but it didn't manage to grate me. Sex happened in the book but we didn't have to watch it!
I will definitely be trying to get copies of all the Lindsay Gordon books to reread them and I recommend them to anyone who likes a bit of feminism in their mystery or to see some lesbian characters centred for a change. Also just anyone who likes a fast-paced and well-twisted mystery without too much gore or psychologising.
Lindsay returns to Glasgow to find an ex lover has been murdered and a good friend is in gaol for it. The friend's partner has shacked up with Lindsay's partner and I have to admit I found some of the emotional drama around that a bit awkward and not completely to my liking. Lindsay has nowhere to go so stays with another old friend who has recently broken up with her own girlfriend.
See all these strong, feminist, lesbian characters had me already enjoying myself (even years ago when I read it and I was still kidding myself I was straight and I couldn't have said why I liked Lindsay better than McDermid's other -also fantastic- female sleuth Kate Brannigan). But the people around Jackie (the accused) know she didn't do it and the police have not had the resources to keep looking after finding someone who looked like the murderer. It's up to Lindsay to untangle the plot of the murder as well as a burglary she herself gets accused of, all while trying to work around her residual attraction to her faithless ex, Cordelia and her hatred of Cordelia's new lover, Claire.
I am not sure whether I guessed who the murderer was, or sort of remembered from the past. I suspect the latter. All the clues were there but it is an involved enough plot that not everything is immediately clear. Some of Lindsay's conversations are full of needless drama but she is solid and likeable on the whole. The writing flows well with sometimes a touch of over-explanation...but it didn't manage to grate me. Sex happened in the book but we didn't have to watch it!
I will definitely be trying to get copies of all the Lindsay Gordon books to reread them and I recommend them to anyone who likes a bit of feminism in their mystery or to see some lesbian characters centred for a change. Also just anyone who likes a fast-paced and well-twisted mystery without too much gore or psychologising.