The Mermaids Singing
Winner of the CWA/The Macallan 1995 Gold Dagger Award for
Best Crime Novel of the Year
HarperCollins, 1995 (HarperCollins Pbk Sep 96)
You always remember the first time. Isn't that what they say
about sex? How much more true it is of murder...
Synopsis:
Up till now, the only serial killers Tony Hill
had encountered were safely behind bars. This one's different -
this one's on the loose. In the northern town of Bradfield four
men have been found mutilated and tortured. Fear grips the city;
no man feels safe. Clinical psychologist Tony Hill is brought in
to profile the killer. A man with more than enough sexual problems
of his own, Tony himself becomes the unsuspecting target in a battle
of wits and wills where he has to use every ounce of his professional
skill and personal nerve to survive.
'Compelling and shocking' Minette Walters
'Terrifying but stylish, cruel and compassionate. Truly, horribly
good.' Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday
'Gripping, intelligent stuff.' Marcel Berlins, The
Times
'A superb psychological thriller.' Cosmopolitan
'Think of psychological profiling and TV's Cracker springs to
mind, but McDermid's latest thriller goes one better -- a must for
all crime fiction lovers.' Company
'A deliciously gruesome serial killer thriller. Ms McDermid
finds new ways to shock and revolt us.' New York Times
'Turns the serial killer subgenre upside down with compelling
but gruesome results. McDermid has many startling surprises in store
and brilliantly pulls the rug out from under our feet, exploding
the psychological cliches commonly found in more one-dimensional
portraits of the twisted criminal mind.' San Francisco
Chronicle
