Goodreads Choice Awards Finalists 2025
Val McDermid

Val McDermid’s Followers (5,271)

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Val McDermid


Born
in Fife, Scotland
June 04, 1955

Website

Twitter
valmcdermid

Genre
Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Influences
Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, Reginald Hill, William McIlvanney, Ian Rankin, R ...more


Val McDermid is a No. 1 bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold over eleven million copies.

She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009 and was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for 2010. In 2011 she received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award.

She writes full time and divides her time between Cheshire and Edinburgh.

192 posts
Val McDermid's Blog

Val McDermid isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed.

In My Own Words

In My Own Words – BBC One – Val McDermidIn My Own Words

This documentary will be shown on BBC1 – November 4th, at 10:45pm.

If you can’t wait, you can catch it on iPlayer now.

In her own words, ‘Queen of Crime’ Val McDermid reflects on her colourful writing career with unapologetic honesty and a black sense of humour. Val opens up about the real-life inspirations behind her award-winning novel

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View more on Val McDermid's website »
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Published on October 23, 2025 06:07
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.97 · 393,385 ratings · 32,814 reviews · 347 distinct works • Similar authors
The Mermaids Singing (Tony ...
3.95 avg rating — 27,365 ratings — published 1995 — 127 editions
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The Distant Echo (Karen Pir...
3.99 avg rating — 22,772 ratings — published 2003 — 99 editions
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The Wire in the Blood (Tony...
4.17 avg rating — 20,188 ratings — published 1997 — 108 editions
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A Place of Execution
4.14 avg rating — 18,738 ratings — published 1998 — 97 editions
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Still Life (Inspector Karen...
4.22 avg rating — 15,017 ratings — published 2020 — 32 editions
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A Darker Domain (Inspector ...
4.01 avg rating — 15,391 ratings — published 2008 — 82 editions
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Out of Bounds (Inspector Ka...
4.19 avg rating — 13,043 ratings — published 2016 — 41 editions
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Forensics: What Bugs, Burns...
4.10 avg rating — 12,571 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions
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1979
3.77 avg rating — 12,800 ratings — published 2021 — 42 editions
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The Skeleton Road (Inspecto...
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 11,844 ratings — published 2014 — 61 editions
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More books by Val McDermid…

Series by Val McDermid

The Mermaids Singing The Wire in the Blood The Last Temptation The Torment of Others Beneath the Bleeding Fever of the Bone The Retribution
(11 books)
by
4.08 avg rating — 134,592 ratings

The Distant Echo A Darker Domain The Skeleton Road Out of Bounds Broken Ground Still Life Past Lying
(8 books)
by
4.10 avg rating — 100,289 ratings

1979 1989
(2 books)
by
3.80 avg rating — 19,338 ratings

Dead Beat Kick Back Crack Down Clean Break Blue Genes Star Struck
(6 books)
by
3.72 avg rating — 17,493 ratings

Report for Murder Common Murder Deadline For Murder Conferences Are Murder Booked For Murder Hostage To Murder
(6 books)
by
3.53 avg rating — 7,725 ratings

More series by Val McDermid…

Related News

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105 likes · 20 comments
Quotes by Val McDermid  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“A society gets the criminals it deserves.”
― Val MacDermid, Killing the Shadows
tags: crime
57 likes
Like

“Time for the likeliest story since Mary told Joseph it was God’s.”
― Val McDermid
tags: humor, sarcasm
48 likes
Like

“He frowned as he struggled to remember. It was like watching an elephant crochet.”
― Val McDermid, Kick Back
tags: humor
29 likes
Like

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
Mystery/Thriller ...: TOP/BOTTOM M/T 2009 29 113 Jan 10, 2010 02:38PM  
Pick-a-Shelf: A Mini Game to shave off the ever growing TBR - ended Mar. 10, 2010 146 445 Apr 08, 2010 10:31PM  
The Mystery, Crim...: Recent Acquisitions...Splurges...Buying Sprees! 23 104 Jun 19, 2010 07:27AM  
Between the Lines: Crime Fiction 12 100 Aug 22, 2010 10:42AM  
Readers and Reading: This topic has been closed to new comments. August 2010 reads 25 87 Sep 19, 2010 09:12AM  
Mystery/Thriller ...: Bouchercon in retrospect 39 137 Nov 05, 2010 01:53PM  
The Mystery, Crim...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Winner Chosen: Dec 2010-Jan 2011 Group Read 45 324 Dec 02, 2010 07:40PM  


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