1989

McDermid can do edge-of-seat suspense better than most novelists . . . An excellent opener to what promises to be an outstanding series

Allie is a fabulous character, I'll go wherever she takes me and I'm dying to see what she does next

Studded with a wealth of period detail . . . It whips along like bushfire

Praise for 1979

While "gripping" is an adjective over-used in book reviews, it's a fitting description of a sensational novel. A surefire bestseller from one of Britain's most accomplished writers

A nail-biting new series

A book of many parts . . . [McDermid is] subverting the crime genre to her own ends. How the remaining three volumes will turn out is anyone's guess

McDermid convincingly recreates the grim era of AIDS, Lockerbie and Hillsborough while providing several juicy mysteries for the reader to gnaw on

One of Britain's most successful crime novelists . . . The novel evokes glorious nostalgia for those who recall mobile phones like house bricks and laptops the size of suitcases

A new series from Val McDermid promises to be an event - and 1979 delivers . . . A marvellous new character to follow through the years to come

Allie Burns is off to a flying start, and well worth following down the decades

McDermid is at her considerable best here

The Queen of Crime has done it again . . . Irresistible

There is a great deal to enjoy in this novel . . . McDermid remains a masterly setter of a scene and developer of a storyline. There is an agreeable warmth to much of the book, and the evocation of the world of journalism and politics of the late 20th century is convincing . . . [A book] that will be deeply enjoyed

A supremo of the genre at the height of her powers . . . An unmissable new series

A tour-de-force . . . The Queen of Crime has delivered another masterpiece

1989, by reigning queen of UK crime Val McDermid, is a sequel to her change-of-pace 1979 , the memorable beginning to a quintet of books set in a Glaswegian tabloid office . . . This is every bit as accomplished as its predecessor, with the same crisp sense of an increasingly distant era

Packed full of Val McDermid's trademark brilliance, 1979 is a thrilling snapshot of a fascinating era