The Mermaids Singing

By: Val McDermid

Narrated by: Graham Roberts

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim. A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage - or the power - to stop it....

©1995 Val McDermid (P)1996 ISIS Publishing Ltd.

Critic reviews

"Complex...powerful...psychologically terrifying...impossible to put down." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Exciting, rapid-fire...a satisfying descent into the territory of a twisted mind." ( Booklist )

"Compelling and shocking…." (Minette Walters)

Dark Torture with Light Moments

Whew! I'm glad that the book has ended. I listened to it in audible and the narrator put so much evil into his voice that you felt like you were part of the torture. Very dark and hard to listen to BUT exceptionally well done. I got hooked on McDermid when I read her recent novel about Karen Pirie, female detective. I found out that she had a series with a psychological profiler partnered with a female detective inspector and wanted to find out about the series with the first book. It's a good thing I started with the beginning. I expect future books are not quite as dark as this one but serial killers are nutters and this particular one has the murder squad running around with no clues. That is until Dr. Hill finishes his profile. Then the interesting stuff begins. Who is his phone sex caller? Will he and Carol, the inspector, become a couple? Will they track down the killer? Wow! This is a powerful story BUT be sure you are up for dark and specific torture scenes. Like the torture used in the inquisition. McDermid is a powerful author who uses her words to describe whatever she is writing about with exquisite detail. She is terrific.

Graham Roberts is a terrific narrator. His voices are truly evil but his accents capture the essence of the killer, the cops, and Tony. He is what made the words thrum with malice.

Graphic suspense

As with all the McDermid books, there is an interesting story, plausible characters, and twists you don’t see coming. However, just be aware- this does contain extremely graphic sexual content and descriptions of torture.

Not for the squeamish but a good story.

It is a very graphic novel. I was not sure I could finish it but I got easier (or I got numb). But it had a surprise twist and I enjoyed.

Torture warning

The plot is intricate and suspenseful, but I couldn’t deal with the torture scenes. I skipped through them. Not sure I’ll ever do another by this author. On the plus side, I guess, the writing was vivid enough to bring the torture to life. Too vivid for me.

Did listening change the experience?

I had never read any of Val McDermid's novels before. Someone recommended The Mermaids Singing, since I love murder mysteries where the more people who die (gruesomely) the better. I guess the title is an allusion to a line in T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock about luring men to their deaths. But wasn't it the Sirens who did that?

But to the book itself. Unlike many other reviewers who found the subject matter too distasteful to continue reading, Graham Roberts' narration softened the blow for me. Yes, the serial killer is into torture of the most gruesome kind, having learned so much about medieval methods of torment from visiting a museum of torture while on holiday in Italy, But Roberts' villain sounded too much like the actor/playwright Alan Bennett for me to take them seriously.

That's not to say I won't read other books in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series. Indeed, the Home Office's psychologist Hill - fascinated by the minds of real nutcases - is an interesting and very different character to ones usually depicted in these kinds of thrillers. A damaged man himself, he makes sense of the old adage that psychologists need plenty of therapy themselves.

The only other "negative" point I would make about this novel - and perhaps as a consequence of the sheer horror depicted so graphically by Ms. McDermid - was that I never found myself emotionally engaged with any of the characters. Perhaps that's also one of the problems when a reader knows that a novel is the first in a series. Even when things looked very dire for Tony Hill, it was obvious (spoiler alert) that he was going to survive.

Overall: not for the faint-hearted!

No room for improvement

If you could sum up The Mermaids Singing in three words, what would they be?

Fascinatingly imperfect protagonists.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The characters are all so very *human* ... the reader is left to wonder whether the next page will mean triumph or failure for the players involved (as there are plenty of opportunities for both)!

Which scene was your favorite?

Any scene where Tom "Popeye" Cross gets shut down! I HATE that guy!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed AND cried! And very few books have the powerful kind of magic required to get an emotional response from me. This is definitely one of those few

Any additional comments?

I was very skeptical about this one after reading some of the more negative reviews. Frankly, I believe anyone who finds this title too graphic must be merely too sensitive for the genre.This wasn't ripe with unnecessary gore, as some reviews seem to suggest. The historical accounts of ancient torture methods are fascinating in the context of the story; the author's research is extensive and impressive. While the story DOES depict pain and punishment, the actual narrative of the carnage is limited. Anyone who loves the tale of a psychological profiler (like an episode of "Criminal Minds") will not be bothered by this presentation.

Crime, mystery, serial killer! Oh my!

Fun listen, so much that I’m going to keep going in the series. Good characters and serial killer mystery.

Excellent Thriller

If you could sum up The Mermaids Singing in three words, what would they be?

Classy, intelligent, thriller.

What did you like best about this story?

Story was suspenseful - a real page turner.

Have you listened to any of Graham Roberts’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He was the perfect choice for narrator.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Looking forward to reading other novels in the series. Val Macdermid is an excellent writer.

Any additional comments?

I purchased the next book in the series, the Wire in the Blood and it is great too.

Not for the faint of heart!!

I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers. seeing things from the killers point of view. this is a brutal and sometimes rather uncomfortable listen, but a great story. Excellently performed.
I love Carol & Tony.
this was my 2nd time through the book and even though I knew what was coming I still felt the anticipation of what would happen next.

Wonderfully creepy. Gruesomely graphic.

This is an excellent story, the narration is superb. Parts of it were actually really hard to take it was so graphic.