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Silent Bones

Karen Pirie, Book 8

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Silent Bones

By: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Cathleen McCarron
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Summary
THE POWERFUL NEW THRILLER IN THE KAREN PIRIE SERIES, NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES

'Beautifully structured, witty and twisty' ANN CLEEVES
'A perfect crime novel' KATE MOSSE
'Powerful, moving and wise' HARLAN COBEN
'Full of humour, heart and trademark twists' CHRIS WHITAKER
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The truth is buried just beneath the surface . . .

When torrential rain causes a landslide on a motorway in Scotland, it reveals a crime scene: someone hid a body in the tarmac eleven years before. Journalist Sam Nimmo had been the prime suspect in the murder of his fiancée when he disappeared, and now DCI Karen Pirie and her Historic Cases Unit must find out who buried him, and why.

Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, new evidence reopens a closed case and the accidental death of a hotel manager starts to look like murder. But what did Tom Jamieson's book club have to do with his demise - and what will they do to keep their secrets?

Karen and her team begin to untangle a web of lies, one that connects their murder cases with Scotland's rich and powerful. They will be tested to their limits - and possibly beyond . . .
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PRAISE FOR VAL MCDERMID

'The Queen of Crime shows no sign of abdicating' MICK HERRON

'No one does it better than Val McDermid' CHRIS WHITAKER

'Delivers on every level' MARIAN KEYES

'McDermid plots her novels in masterly style' SCOTSMAN

'McDermid remains unrivalled' OBSERVER©2025 Val McDermid
Crime Crime Thrillers International Mystery & Crime Mystery Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Scotland Murder
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DCI Karen Pirie is the main protagonist in this thriller series by Val McDermid. This story continues to chronicle Piries’ personal and work life. McDermid is really good at balancing DCI Piries “personal” and work life, never letting the personal flood the narrative (like some writers do). I understand enough about each character so that their personality, psychology and relationships, informs their behaviour and motivations for the purposes of the “thriller” narrative and no more. There’s nothing worse in a thriller/mystery than a characters’ romances or family life taking over from a thriller story. I digress.
Love Val McDermid. Love the DCI Karen Pirie series. This book is a finely twisted story and I wasn’t sure at all ‘who dun it’ until the end. Recommended.

Outstanding Brit-crime police thriller series

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i found at times the thick Scottish accent hard to understand. Then in chapter 34 the whispering is so quite It was almost impossible to understand. overall I think reading it would have been easier

frustrating voices

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I love this series I just found this one a bit plodding but still an enjoyable story.

Slower than normal but still enjoyable

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Wonderful characters. Great story line. Kept me listening throughout. Not sophisticated, just a good listen.

Love this series

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I loved the narrator and the satisfying ending as well as the Karen Pirie character. She is fantastic.

the twists and turns and the very interesting back story

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