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A review by tessyoung
Dead Beat by Val McDermid
3.0
It's strange to think that it's taken me so long to get round to reading a Val McDermid, especially since she comes across so well on the radio and TV, perhaps its the Robson Green effect!?
I really enjoyed this book. I recently read an article on how golden age crime fiction can be read as social history, it wasn't a very good piece but it did make me think of this novel as a social history of both the early 1990s and the present. Then, as perhaps now, some readers will be less familiar with Tetris - they should be thankful that hours of their lives were not slotted away by this game. Whilst counterfeiting luxury brands remains an element of organised crime, I'm not sure that Sergio Tacchini shell suits would immediately spring to mind in that context. As for the Hacienda, who would have thought it would have become a block of flats, although that perhaps says plenty about the gentrification of Manchester.
I really enjoyed this book, the central character is smart, funny and grounded, classic Mancunian traits according to Mancunians... It's well paced and builds nicely, with sub plots and characters that build a rich picture against which the main narrative is set. I'd like to spend more time with some of these characters and revelling in the 1990s so I'm looking forward to more Kate Brannigan in the future.
A perfect repatriation and covid-19 quarantine read
I really enjoyed this book. I recently read an article on how golden age crime fiction can be read as social history, it wasn't a very good piece but it did make me think of this novel as a social history of both the early 1990s and the present. Then, as perhaps now, some readers will be less familiar with Tetris - they should be thankful that hours of their lives were not slotted away by this game. Whilst counterfeiting luxury brands remains an element of organised crime, I'm not sure that Sergio Tacchini shell suits would immediately spring to mind in that context. As for the Hacienda, who would have thought it would have become a block of flats, although that perhaps says plenty about the gentrification of Manchester.
I really enjoyed this book, the central character is smart, funny and grounded, classic Mancunian traits according to Mancunians... It's well paced and builds nicely, with sub plots and characters that build a rich picture against which the main narrative is set. I'd like to spend more time with some of these characters and revelling in the 1990s so I'm looking forward to more Kate Brannigan in the future.
A perfect repatriation and covid-19 quarantine read