The Mermaids Singing

I got The Mermaids Singing free with a magazine so didn’t have high hopes, plus a friend had described Val McDermid’s writing style as written in the style of a TV dramatisation. I am sure it is no coincidence that there are pictures of Robson Green and Hermione Norris on the cover from the TV series. With these doubts in mind I took into consideration the fact that the book was small and handbag sized, so decided to give it a go.

The sexual tension that was to develop between the male and female lead was apparent before they had even met. I also guessed the twists quite early, and I am usually rubbish at this kind of thing. McDermid’s clue dropping was still quite heavy-handed. Even though she tried to throw us off the scent on the identity of the mysterious serial killer, my first idea was always a strong contender in my mind. The process in which the police and the profiler worked on the case was interesting, together with the trickle of information we got from the killer in their diary, which no doubt is what gave me the head start over the coppers.