Past Lying

KAREN PIRIE RETURNS. A MASTERFUL THRILLER BY THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER VAL MCDERMID THE HEART-POUNDING NEW NOVEL IN THE KAREN PIRIE SERIES, NOW A MAJOR ITV SERIES STARRING LAUREN LYLE __________ 'Another jewel in Val McDermid's crown' MICK HERRON 'A must-read for anyone who enjoys top-knotch crime fiction' YOURS 'A chilling, twisting triumph. Past Lying is a classic mystery' CHRIS WHITAKER Edinburgh, haunted by the ghosts of its many writers, is also the cold case beat of DCI Karen Pirie. So she shouldn't be surprised when an author's manuscript appears to be a blueprint for an actual crime. Karen can't ignore the plot's chilling similarities to the unsolved case of an Edinburgh University student who vanished from her own doorstep. The manuscript seems to be the key to unlocking what happened to Lara Hardie, but there's a problem: the author died before he finished it. As Karen digs deeper, she uncovers a spiralling game of betrayal and revenge, where lies are indistinguishable from the truth and with more than one unexpected twist . . . The Queen of Crime Val McDermid is at the top of her game in her most gripping and fiendishly clever case yet. Praise for Val McDermid 'McDermid is at her considerable best' GUARDIAN 'Irresistible' PATRICIA CORNWELL 'A brilliant novel by a supremo of the genre' PETER JAMES 'Outstanding' SPECTATOR 'Another masterpiece' DAVID BALDACCI 'Sensational. One of Britain's most accomplished writers' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'Wickedly entertaining' DAILY MAIL

Val McDermid is an international number one bestselling author whose books have been translated into more than forty languages. Her multi-award-winning series and standalone novels have been adapted for TV and radio, most notably the Wire in the Blood series featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan. The Karen Pirie novels have now been adapted for a major ITV series. Val has been chair of the judges for the Wellcome Book Prize and the Gordon Burn Prize, and has served as a judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction, the Man Booker Prize and the Royal Society Book Prize. She is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates and is an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is a visiting professor in the Centre of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Among her many awards are the CWA Diamond Dagger recognising lifetime achievement and the Theakston's Old Peculier award for Outstanding Contribution to Crime Writing. Val is also an experienced broadcaster and much-sought-after columnist and commentator across print media. www.valmcdermid.com Instagram @quineofcrime