A Place of Execution

By: Val McDermid

Narrated by: Paddy Glynn

Winter 1963: two children have disappeared off the streets of Manchester; the murderous careers of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady have begun. On a freezing day in December, another child goes missing: 13-year-old Alison Carter vanishes from her town, an insular community that distrusts the outside world. For the young George Bennett, a newly promoted inspector, it is the beginning of his most difficult and harrowing case: a murder with no body, an investigation with more dead ends and closed faces than he'd have found in the anonymity of the inner city, and an outcome which reverberates through the years.

Decades later he finally tells his story to journalist Catherine Heathcote, but just when the book is poised for publication, Bennett unaccountably tries to pull the plug. He has new information which he refuses to divulge, new information that threatens the very foundations of his existence. Catherine is forced to re-investigate the past, with results that turn the world upside down.

A Greek tragedy in modern England, A Place of Execution is a taut psychological thriller that explores, exposes and explodes the border between reality and illusion in a multi-layered narrative that turns expectations on their head and reminds us that what we know is what we do not know.

©2001 Val McDermid (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

A Great Listen

Where does A Place of Execution rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

So good I listened to it straight through to the end.

What other book might you compare A Place of Execution to and why?

Her works remind me of the BBC series Midsomer Murders that I own.

What about Paddy Glynn???s performance did you like?

She did a great job with developing different voices for different characters . . . was easy to listen to. Would look forward to listening to other works she has narrated.

Any additional comments?

First introduced to V. McDermid through the PBS series WIRE IN THE BLOOD that I liked so much I wanted to read more from her. Since then I have listened and downloaded most of her books and am enjoying the prospect of reading all of them. She tells a great story . . .

Fantastic -

I have not read this author before and found the writing exceptional. I like the characters and thought the story was fantastic. While I do agree with some other readers - I "figured" it out before the end that didn't spoil it for me, it was merely an "ah hah" moment a bit before the end of the book. Excellent book. S

So frustrating

I really enjoyed this book, up until the last twenty minutes or so. Without spoiling the ending, all I can say is that one character acts radically out of character, in a way that really spoiled it for me. A storyline should be guided by its characters, so if an author wants an outcome that is inconsistent with the character, the author should either provide a very good explanation for the character's unexpected reversal or just rewrite the character. That character was caricature anyway. A lazy ending to an outstanding book. Actually, if the book had just consisted of the first half, I would probably have given it 5 stars. What a shame.

Incredible

WOW!! What a great book. I couldn't wait for my commute to get caught back up in it. it was a highly visual book, so I was transported to the times and places discussed. I was present during every critical moment like a fly on the wall!! Five stars just isn't enough.

Narration was confusing...

If you could sum up A Place of Execution in three words, what would they be?

Loved the story

If you’ve listened to books by Val McDermid before, how does this one compare?

Good, but not my favorite. I figured out the end way before the reader does which made me very happy!!

Would you be willing to try another one of Paddy Glynn’s performances?

No - she needs to learn how to distinguish one character from another. Half the time I couldn't tell who was talking interrupting the flow.

Any additional comments?

Narrator needs to listen to some Davana Porter to learn to distinguish characters -