Past Lying

Karen Pirie Novels, Book 7

De: Val McDermid

Narrado por: Lauren Lyle

In this latest installment to her acclaimed detective series, internationally bestselling author Val McDermid returns with DCI Karen Pirie in a propulsive new thriller of deceit and vengeance, set against the disquiet and investigative challenges of a global pandemic

Hailed as Britain’s “Queen of Crime” (Scotsman), Val McDermid is the award-winning, internationally bestselling author of over thirty novels that have enthralled readers and listeners for the past three decades. The long-awaited seventh novel in McDermid’s acclaimed Karen Pirie series, Past Lying is a breakneck collision of ego, retribution, and just how far one will go to settle the score.

It’s April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown, but that doesn’t mean crime takes a holiday. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hot—the streets all but empty, an hour’s outdoor exercise the maximum allowed—but when a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie’s team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems it’s game on again. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, but no one quite expects how many twists it will turn out to have.

Tense, atmospheric, and relentlessly captivating, Past Lying is another winner from Val McDermid, and new and longtime readers alike will delight in this triumphant return to a stellar series.

©2023 Val McDermid (P)2023 W.F. Howes, Ltd.

Another great read by Val

Great suspense, vivid characters and setting , lives up to McDermid’s abs fab reputation yada yada

Narration not as good as past books

I really like this series, this is book 7. I will only be listening to more of her books if the narrator is different from this one

Val at Her Best

The growth of characters in a real and caring way entwined with appalling masochist behavior.

Excellent story line

It took a while to understand the narrator’s Scottish accent, but the more I listened to her the clearer her narration became.

Characters and plot kept me interested and enjoying the mystery.

Nice and twisty

Not only an interesting mystery but commentary on the relationships between men and women, women and women and the impact of the Covid lockdown in Scotland with the accompanying degrees of compliance (or lack thereof). I was amused by Karen's acerbic reaction to idiots who wear masks covering only their mouths.

Editing makes narrator look poorly

Love the story! Cannot wait to see it on the screen if it ever comes to fruition. Enticing and complex plot, great character development and personal thread - well done.

However, There are too many instances where it seems as if the narrator either messed up, couldn’t pronounce a word, or they simply wanted a retake.
The problem is, it sounds as if, either a different narrator spoke the line or she did it in a different room with poor microphones. It was very blotchy and annoying for the first 20 chapters.
After that, I just got used to it because the story was so good.
Sorry, I just miss the old narrator.

Love that Karen! Narrator was up to the Scottish task.

Loved sorting out the twisted story. Good portrayal of life in Covid. This made me remember in sharp focus what I wanted to forget; the boredom, the isolation, the ever present stress. The secondary story of immigration grief and fear for one’s life was an addition to the plot, not a deterrent.

The narrator is the worst

I have listened to many Val McDermid books. She is an incredible author. The narrator on this book is terrible. It’s like she’s reading aloud for the very first time.
Usually, I am hard pressed to stop listening to Val’s books but this one is a whoopin’ to get through because the narration is so bad.

Story is pretty good, narration is not

I like this series quite a bit and enjoy the author's character development. Although I guessed the big bad near the beginning of the book, I was still on edge to hear the story play out. On the narration...I love Lauren Lyle as Karen Pirie on the series (when is season two coming???) but a good narrator she is not. Stick with it, though. A combination of getting used to her style AND her injecting a bit more emotion into her reading as the story progresses combine to make this production just bearable. I was even impressed with her Aussie accent for Tamsin! That's about the only good thing I can say about it, though.

Good story, subpar narration and sound quality

This is a high-quality entry into the Karen Pirie series but the narration and sound quality compromise the audiobook — I had to stop listening. Please return to the previous narrator. I loved Lauren Lyle in the television series but audiobook narration doesn’t seem to be in her wheelhouse.