A killer targets single women at weddings: “[An] intense plot…McDermid keeps each twist believable.” —The Washington Post In the north of England, single women are beginning to disappear from weddings. A pattern soon becomes clear: Someone is crashing the festivities and luring the women away—only to leave the victims’ bodies in their own burned-out cars in remote locations. Psychologist Tony Hill and former police detective Carol Jordan are called upon to investigate—but this may be the toughest case they’ve ever had to face. Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Paula McIntyre and her partner Elinor must deal with a cruel cyber-blackmailer targeting their teenage ward. Impeccably plotted and intensely gripping, Insidious Intent comes from Val McDermid, Diamond Dagger Award winner, multiple Edgar Award nominee, and “one of crime fiction’s most eminent writers” (Entertainment Weekly).

Read Val McDermid's masterful new thriller, 1989, out now! 'One of the most surprising twists you'll read this year. Outstanding' Irish Independent 'Engrossing . . . a colossal reminder of just why McDermid has been the queen of crime for three decades' Heat 'Murdered people don't kill themselves . . .' A quiet night on a country road. The stillness shattered by a car engulfed in flames, and a burned body discovered in the driver's seat. As the investigation unfolds, DCI Carol Jordan and psychological profiler Tony Hill quickly realise that this is more than just a tragic accident. And so begins the hunt for a truly terrifying killer, someone who believes he is invisible, untraceable and untouchable. As other victims are found to have met the same terrible fate, and with more women at risk, Tony and Carol are drawn into a dark and twisted web of fear and revenge that will force them to question their own ideas of justice . . . A pulse-pounding mystery from the number one bestseller. If you enjoyed Insidious Intent, don't miss the first in a new series from the Queen of Crime. 1979 is out now, introducing the unforgettable Allie Burns. ___________________ Praise for Queen of Crime Val McDermid: 'It grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go' Daily Mail 'So gripping it puts your life on hold' The Times 'As good a psychological thriller as it is possible to get' Sunday Express 'One of today's most accomplished crime writers' Literary Review 'McDermid remains unrivalled' Observer 'No one can tell a story like she can' Daily Express

Murdered people don't kill themselves . . .A quiet night on a country road. The stillness shattered by a car engulfed in flames, and a burned body discovered in the driver's seat. As the investigation unfolds, DCI Carol Jordan and psychological profiler Tony Hill quickly realise that this is more than just a tragic accident. And so begins the hunt for a truly terrifying killer, someone who believes he is invisible, untraceable and untouchable.As other victims are found to have met the same terrible fate, and with more women at risk, Tony and Carol are drawn into a dark and twisted web of fear and revenge that will force them to question their own ideas of justice . . .Discover the pulse-pounding new novel from the inimitable queen of crime and number one bestseller, Val McDermid, featuring two of the most iconic and unforgettable characters in crime fiction: Tony Hill and Carol Jordan.

Unmarked graves are found on the grounds of an old orphanage in this “riveting” British crime thriller by an Edgar Award finalist (Publishers Weekly, starred review). With profiler Tony Hill behind bars and Carol Jordan no longer with the police, he’s finding unexpected outlets for his talents in jail and she’s joined forces with a group of lawyers and forensics experts looking into suspected miscarriages of justice. But they’re doing it without each other; being in the same room at visiting hour is too painful to contemplate. Meanwhile, construction is suddenly halted on the redevelopment of an orphanage after dozens of skeletons are found buried at the site. Forensic examination reveals they date from between twenty and forty years ago, when the nuns were running their repressive regime. But then a different set of skeletons is discovered in a far corner—young men from as recent as ten years ago. When newly promoted DI Paula McIntyre discovers that one of the male skeletons is that of a killer who is supposedly alive and behind bars—and the subject of one of Carol’s miscarriage investigations—it brings Tony and Carol irresistibly into each other’s orbit once again in this masterfully plotted novel by “the queen of psychological thrillers” (Irish Independent).

Psychologist Tony Hill and ex-DCI Carol Jordan—the UK crime fighting partners from the TV series Wire in the Blood—face down a serial killer. International bestselling crime writer Val McDermid’s work speaks for itself: her books have sold millions of copies worldwide, won numerous accolades, and attracted a devoted following of readers around the globe. Cross and Burn picks up where The Retribution left off: following the best crime-fighting team in the UK—clinical psychologist Tony Hill and police detective Carol Jordan—who when we last saw them were barely speaking, and whose relationship will now be challenged even further. But just because they’re not talking doesn’t mean the killing stops. Women are being murdered—ones who bear an unsettling resemblance to Carol Jordan. And when the evidence begins to point in a disturbing direction, thinking the unthinkable seems the only possible answer. Cornered by events, Tony and Carol are forced to fight for themselves and each other as never before. “McDermid is as smooth a practitioner of crime fiction as anyone out there . . . She’s the best we’ve got.” —The New York Times Book Review

The bestselling “Queen of Crime reigns again” when a profiler and an ex-cop investigate the suspicious deaths of women targeted by Internet trolls (Independent, UK). From the international bestselling author of The Mermaids Singing and The Wire in the Blood comes the ninth installment of her beloved series featuring psychologist Tony Hill and former DCI Carol Jordan . . . Vicious online attacks seem to be driving outspoken women to silence themselves through suicide. Yet for profiler Tony Hill, who knows a thing or two about patterns in human behavior, something doesn’t add up. Carol Jordan, meanwhile, is too busy tackling her own demons to think about a potential serial killer. But when she gets an opportunity for a second chance, it’s game on. This time around, though, the stakes have never been higher. One of the Boston Globe’s Best Books of 2015

“Smart . . . skillfully executed . . . nasty and delicious. McDermid tells this wicked tale with style, intelligence and the blackest of humor.” —The Washington Post Book World Rich in atmosphere, Val McDermid’s Killing the Shadows uses the backdrops of city and country to create an air of threatening menace, culminating in a tense confrontation between hunter and hunted, a confrontation that can have only one outcome. A killer is on the loose, blurring the line between fact and fiction. His prey—the writers of crime novels who have turned psychological profilers into the heroes of the nineties. But this killer is like no other. His bloodlust shatters all the conventional wisdom surrounding the motives and mechanics of how serial killers operate. And for one woman, the desperate hunt to uncover his identity becomes a matter of life and death. Professor Fiona Cameron is an academic psychologist who uses computer technology to help police forces track serial offenders. She used to help the Met, but vowed never to work for them again when they went against her advice and subsequently botched an investigation. Still smarting from the experience, she’s working a case in Toledo when her lover, thriller writer Kit Martin, tells her a fellow crime novelist has been murdered. It’s not her case, but Fiona can’t help taking an interest. When the killer strikes again Fiona finds herself caught in a race against time—not only to save a life but also to find redemption, both personal and professional. “A gripping read with layers of plot complexity, heart-stopping suspense, and guts and gore aplenty.” —Booklist

This was the summer he discovered what he wanted--at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling. The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim. A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage--or the power--to stop it... The Mermaids Singing is a chilling and taut psychological mystery from Val McDermid.

An exploration of why people all over the world love to engage in pain on purpose--from dominatrices, religious ascetics, and ultramarathoners to ballerinas, icy ocean bathers, and sideshow performers Masochism is sexy, human, reviled, worshipped, and can be delightfully bizarre. Deliberate and consensual pain has been with us for millennia, encompassing everyone from Black Plague flagellants to ballerinas dancing on broken bones to competitive eaters choking down hot peppers while they cry. Masochism is a part of us. It lives inside workaholics, tattoo enthusiasts, and all manner of garden variety pain-seekers. At its core, masochism is about feeling bad, then better—a phenomenon that is long overdue for a heartfelt and hilarious investigation. And Leigh Cowart would know: they are not just a researcher and science writer—they’re an inveterate, high-sensation seeking masochist. And they have a few questions: Why do people engage in masochism? What are the benefits and the costs? And what does masochism have to say about the human experience? By participating in many of these activities themselves, and through conversations with psychologists, fellow scientists, and people who seek pain for pleasure, Cowart unveils how our minds and bodies find meaning and relief in pain—a quirk in our programming that drives discipline and innovation even as it threatens to swallow us whole.

Forensic evidence leads to places a Scottish cop never expected in “a thriller as steely and superlative as its heroine” (O, The Oprah Magazine). When a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car and ends up in a coma, a routine DNA test reveals a connection to an unsolved murder from twenty-two years before. Finding the answer to the cold case should be straightforward. But it’s as twisted as the DNA helix itself. Meanwhile, Inspector Karen Pirie finds herself irresistibly drawn to another mystery that she has no business investigating, a mystery that has its roots in a terrorist bombing two decades ago. And again, she finds that nothing is as it seems. From a Diamond Dagger Award-winning author, Out of Bounds is a riveting cold case novel starring detective Karen Pirie, who’s been described by the Associated Press as “a formidable character worthy of her own series.” “I would like to see a great deal more of DCI Pirie.” —Irish Times