The Mermaids Singing

Book cover of The Mermaids Singing

Book description

In this special 20th anniversary edition, Lee Child introduces the Gold Dagger award-winning serial killer thriller that began the Number One bestselling crime series featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill, hero of TV's much-loved Wire in the Blood.

You always remember the first time. Isn't that what they say about…

Explore

Topics

Genres

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

3 authors picked The Mermaids Singing as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Chelsea Cain

Author

I have said this before, but if there had been a fourth book in this series in 2004, I would not have written Heartsick and would not have had a career. I love Val’s Tony Hill/Carol Jordan books. They are the blueprint for all thrillers.

She doesn’t hold back on the violence but finds these incredibly intimate character moments that tremble my heart.

From Chelsea's list on read alone in the dark.

Stephen B. King

Author

Tony Hill is one of the finest literary characters in print. He is an emotionally troubled psychologist brought in by police to profile a serial killer who is using medieval torture methods to murder his victims. His skill is to understand why the killer is killing, and to empathize with him. This book spawned the British TV series The Wire in the Blood, book 2 in the series.

From Stephen's list on catching a serial killer and how they became monsters.

Simon Cluett

Author

The Mermaids Singing was my introduction to the character of criminal profiler Tony Hill. As good as Robson Greene was in the TV series, nothing comes close to matching how vividly this story was brought to life in my own mind. It features some truly gruesome and suspenseful moments but is utterly compelling throughout.

From Simon's list on thrillers with serial killers that get under your skin.

Death on a Shetland Longship: The Shetland Sailing Mysteries

By Marsali Taylor,

Book cover of Death on a Shetland Longship: The Shetland Sailing Mysteries

New book alert!

What is my book about?

Liveaboard sailor Cass Lynch thinks her big break has finally arrived when she blags her way into skippering a Viking longship for a Hollywood film. However, this means returning to the Shetland Islands, the place she fled as a teenager. When a corpse unexpectedly appears onboard the longship, she can run from the past no longer: Cass and her family come under intense scrutiny from the disturbingly shrewd Detective Inspector Gavin Macrae.

Even if Cass’s local knowledge and sailing wisdom help to clear the Lynch family of suspicion, they may not be enough to stay ahead of the murderer’s game...…

Death on a Shetland Longship: The Shetland Sailing Mysteries

By Marsali Taylor,

What is this book about?

When she wangles the job of skippering a Viking longship for a film, Cass Lynch thinks her big break has finally arrived - even though it means returning home to the Shetland Islands, which she ran away from as a teenager. Then the `accidents' begin - and when a dead woman turns up on the boat's deck, Cass realises that she, her family and her past are under suspicion from the disturbingly shrewd Detective Inspector Macrae. Cass must call on all her local knowledge, the wisdom she didn't realise she'd gained from sailing and her glamorous, French opera singer mother…

Topics