How the Dead Speak (Tony Hill & Carol Jordan #11)

As much as I have liked McDermid’s writing, this book was a big disappointment. A decent murder/crime story – as far as that goes. The problem is, the characters of Tony & Carol that motivated me to purchase this book, are relegated to a peripheral subplot. It would have been better titled a “Paula and the new ReMIT team”. There are little sprinklings of Tony surviving in prison, Carol dealing w/PTSD and staying sober, but they don’t even have contact w/each other until page 355! They actually don’t speak to each other until literally the last few pages of the book. I could have purchased other books by other gifted writers in the thriller/crime/mystery genre if all I wanted was a murder/crime story. I purchased this one to catch up on the Tony & Carol characters and a story that was directly ABOUT THEM – this novel was a “bait and switch” for fans who wanted another installment. If McDermid writes another “Tony Hill & Carol Jordan” installment this lame, I won’t be buying any more of them, and neither should you.

I found this to be boring. Not much happens except that Tony Hill gets beaten up in prison towards the end of the novel. Carol Jordan doesn’t do much of anything either. Paula McIntyre starts to do something interesting but doesn’t quite follow through. Development of villains is totally lacking, and the characters are the same old, same old. In short, as insipid as the cold instant coffee Carol Jordan despises so much. Put some fresh coffee beans in the grinder, dear author.

Absolutely love the Carol Jordan/Tony Hill series which, in my opinion, is one of the best in the gene. I was curious as to how Val Mc Dermid would proceed with this book since Carol is not longer a policewoman and Tony is in jail. But it worked for me. I was intrigued by the way the author wove the two seemingly separate cases together. In the end, that was significant in getting justice for someone wrongly accused. I only have two reservations about the book. One, is more of a question. Why do authors always put someone someone in authority that is truly obnoxious and, most importantly, clueless as to how to run a serial murder investigation. And on top of that, always has his or her sights set on the one officer who is the most brilliant and successful. It just left me hanging and Paula deserves much better than that. My second reservation is that although the reunion between Tony and Carol went well, I am wondering if it will continue into another book. The Jordan/Hill books are always fantastic to read. The characters are complex and their intelligence to solve crimes is bar none. I truly hope there will be another book in this series.

The authors early works were such that your attention and interest was grabbed and held through sustained sequences and developments with vivid well defined characters. On the contrary this work proved to be hard work (pun). With a sense of relief I finished it but it will be my last with McDermid.

Big Val Mc fan, but not particularly enchanted with this plot. Did learn about PTSD therapy in the form of body exercises and did further research owing to this. (Always learn interesting things in McDermid’s novels.) The plot didn’t grab me tho. From a human interest angle it was of interest as to how Tony fared in prison and Carol’s PTSD therapy. Ms McDermid seemed to have some sort of agenda against nuns aside from the plot and didn’t offer balance to the thrashing of same thru the mouths of the story’s characters. I’m not a Catholic but quite sure there are a great many compassionate nuns doing good works all over. Am always impressed by the great amount of careful research that goes into a McDermid crime novel.

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