Insidious Intent (Tony Hill Novels, 4) Hardcover – December 5, 2017

One of the unintended consequences of my joining NetGalley and becoming addicted to reviewing, is that I have fallen behind on some of my favourite series. Sometimes this is good: I’ve saved a fortune by not buying new books, and in this case, it means not having the torture of having to wait another two years to find what happens next. I finally bought this last week, as I have a ARC of the next one due on Tuesday, and this is not a series you can read out of order - and after That Ending, I am very glad it worked out this way.Set immediately after the events of Splinter the Silence, this has Carol guilt-ridden over the deaths caused by a drunk-driver who escaped conviction because her seniors got her off the hook so that she could lead ReMit, the new Major Incident Team. Tony has moved into her converted barn to help her cling on to her sobriety, but their relationship is as awkward and complicated as ever. When a woman’s body is found in a burning car, the ReMIT team are tasked with finding the stranger who picked her up at a wedding, but with limited evidence and a meticulous killer who is always one step ahead, they are powerless to stop him doing it again...There’s a good reason Ms McDermid is known as the Queen of British Crime Fiction - she has created a varied cast of characters that we end up caring deeply about in spite of how damaged they are - and not just the leads. Her plots continue to surprise - this one upsets the conventions of the genre by revealing who, how and why at an early stage, relying on “what’s going to happen?” to maintain the suspense - and trust me, you won’t predict this one.I enjoyed the parallel plot line featuring Paula (the real heroine of this series) and her teenage ward Torin - and how they go about solving his predicament.I do not recommend reading this if you are new to the series: while she’s better at avoiding spoilers for her previous books than many authors, and enough relevant backstory is provided, to understand it all properly you need to have read at least the three preceding books, and given that the whole series is brilliant, why would you deprive yourself? For those who are up to date, watch out for spoilers, but be assured this is another cracker.4.5 rounded up for writerly bravery.

"Like" is usually the lowest of my reactions to a new McDermid, and it's a bit surprising to find only a 4-star on this one, even though the main characters are as intriguing as ever, the ongoing Hill-Jordan relationship is still chugging, coughing, spluttering and recovering on its way, the sub-plot with Stacey the Chinese comp wizard was fun, and there are a lot of other Good Things as usual, including a Northern English setting that manages to be gritty and multicultural and otherwise diverse without having to resort to filth in the streets and grime on every window pane. It's just that, hmmm, after yea-these-many books of bringing down serial killers, I'm wondering, can we have one that doesn't have to produce long graphic sections about the agonies of only *female* victims, for once?Surely there are people who occasionally serial murder with gender equity? And yes, women are far ahead in the victim list of domestic violence and other such brutal attacks, but does it actually help to deter people by showing such fairly graphic suffering? Or might it even encourage a possible would-be perp one day?The studies are against depictions of graphic violence, porn, etc, actually influencing real-life evildoers, but sometimes I'm not so sure. So - only 4 stars for Carol and Tony this time. Wider range of victims, perhaps?

I have been a huge fan of Val McDermid for almost 2 decades. I have read almost all her Carol Jordan and Tony Hill novels, as well as some of the other fiction and non-fiction books. I have been really looking forward to this book wanting to see how the story would unfold after book no. 9, and have pre-ordered it as soon as it was possible. Maybe that is why I don't feel totally satisfied with it now I've finished it...Honouring the author's request not to spoil the fun, I will not get into details. For every fan of the duo, it will still be a must-read, and they will buy it anyway. People new to McDermid's prose should start elsewhere.The style is there, unmistakably, so I've found myself in a familiar setting straight away, but the stories of the personal lives of the characters have to my mind overcast the criminal plot. The events of the previous installment of the series left the characters in a difficult place and it was somewhat interesting to see where the new part would take them. After the final twist, it still makes me curious what book 11 will bring, should it come out. But it's like watching the 7th season of a TV series, when the focus turns from the actual events onto the characters. Finding the balance between the two has always been McDermid's forte. Hope the next time she writes, she will find it again.

If Val McDermid's series has an underlying theme it is this: every action has consequences. As Jordan and Hill have tracked down killer after killer, they've faced and made a series of difficult choices, all of which had consequences. Not every result is an unalloyed good and not everyone is happy with their choices. Insidious Intent, as in The Retribution, shows that repercussions often come home to roost.But none of this would matter if the characters in this series weren't fully-developed, flawed but decent people readers have learned to care about. Ms. McDermid is smart enough to show how good people fail each other and what happens when we insist on controlling someone else's redemption. The results are messy and heartbreakingly real and oftentimes tragic.The ending is a stunner and I'm not sure what happens next. But I pray something does. To end the series here is a consequence I'm not sure I could bear.

And it’s a grudging three stars at that.Val McDermid writes at the end of the novel what amounts to a demand asking that we don’t ‘spoil‘ it for others by revealing the ending.I think that ‘spoil’ means that you don’t tell them that the ending will make you so angry at the actions of Tony and Carol that you end up furious with Val and you will find it hard to believe that she would write an ending so outlandish and ridiculous. It’s so disappointingly ridiculous that you would say to people ‘You wouldn’t read this novel if you knew the ending’ when what you really mean is that ‘you’re in for a disappointment‘ .Suffice it to say the ‘crazed’ super efficient killer storyline is there but is almost sidelined by other story strands but of itself it is believable.But we have the usual, the endless Carol’s being picked on and her battle with alcohol, Sam is a jerk, journalists are trash and Tony has issues ie the old favourites are very much in evidence.We did have a swerve into Torin’s cyber problems and that had some interest, even real potential. It could have gone a lot further but somehow didn’t, it just fizzled out.But the ending ..oh the ending, all I can say is that if Val felt that Tony and Carol had reached the end of their story arc then I’m sure a cleaner, better and kinder ending could have been found.As it stands she has diminished the pair of them as the characters that we know and appreciate beyond acceptance.This ending is nothing short of ludicrous if not foolish...unless of course you are willing to believe that both of them become totally irrational at the same time.If you’re a fan of the team then I’d say don’t read this book.Leave it be.You will be annoyed, bemused and seriously disappointed.If I’d known what was to happen I wouldn’t have bothered with it.And if you do read it, well you’ve been warned.And unheard of for me I definitely won’t read it again (and I’ve read all the books several times.)

Carol, Tony and the rest of the team are now ReMIT but yet another serial killer is on the loose. The book is, as ever, well written and gripping but with too much padding and lack of thrill. All characters have an internal dialogue, not just Tony which irritates and a silly sub-plot involving Paula’s foster child together with knowing who the killer is a few chapters in creates a story by numbers. The book ends with a “letter” from the author asking readers not to reveal the ending; I won’t but will say it is a manipulation too far.

What a let down. Totally unbelievable (though interesting) story and the most utterly ridiculous ending lacking all credibility. I've so throughly enjoyed the rest of this series and can only presume the author had (and continues to have) completely run out of ideas for the investigating team. How very disappointing from such a commendable author.

Fairly pedestrian crime novel. Having read all the series over a number of years, this is a low point. In fact, so low it’s six feet under and I suspect the end for the Jordan/Hill series. The last few chapters were rushed and badly written but made worse by a ridiculous ending which had no real logic and was completely out of character for the main protagonists.

I think this book is a classic example of how difficult it is to move things on if you are relying on a relatively structured formula with long established characters. Books about Hill/Jordan catching serial killers have been going for a long time now and to me it seems it is increasingly difficult to say much new now.Yes it is always good to reacquaint yourself with the familiar characters but familiarity seems to be breeding a bit of boredom to me. There just seemed an air of despondency in the book with the investigation team which kind of translated to me as a reader. Appreciate that you do not read serial killer books for the laffs and giggles, but I found it difficult to get into the story as everyone seemed to be having a mostly miserable time.The secondary story revolving around Torin was mildly diverting at best, and the main players in the main story just seemed to be doing more and more out of character things without actually getting anywhere. Then the supposed so called genius killer decides to forget all about their genius and falls for a trap that even the most casual shoplifter would not fall into. Enough has already been mentioned about the surprise ending which I admit was a bit of a surprise, but to me it again added to the 'out of character' behaviour. You just think 'really???'This is by no means just a problem with the Hill/Jordan series of books regarding people catching serial killers as I read the latest Billingham/Thorne book straight after this and felt exactly the same about that. Perhaps we are a bit bored with serial killers now, things have moved on and maybe these characters have run their course.