The Grave Tattoo
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kate Reading
-
By:
-
Val McDermid
About this listen
In The Grave Tattoo, suspense master Val McDermid spins a psychological thriller in which a present-day murder has its roots in the eighteenth century and the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty.
After torrential summer rains uncover a bizarrely tattooed body on a Lake District hillside, a long-disregarded old wives' tale takes on a chilling new plausibility. For centuries, Lakelanders have whispered that Fletcher Christian, made infamous by Mutiny on the Bounty, staged the massacre on Pitcairn so that he could return home. And once there, what if he could tell his story to an old friend and schoolmate, William Wordsworth, who turned it into a long narrative poem—a poem that remained hidden lest it expose Wordsworth to the gallows for harboring a fugitive?
Wordsworth specialist Jane Gresham, herself a native of the Lake District, feels compelled to discover once and for all whether the manuscript ever existed—and whether it still exists today. But as she pursues each new lead, death follows hard on her heels. Suddenly Jane is at the heart of a 200-year-old mystery that still has the power to put lives on the line.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Cuckoo's Calling
- By: Robert Galbraith
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he’s living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry - known to her friends as the Cuckoo - famously fell to her death a few months earlier.
-
-
Unbelievable debut mystery set in London
- By Tracey on 05-26-13
By: Robert Galbraith
-
A Place of Execution
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Paddy Glynn
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Greek tragedy in modern England, A Place of Execution is a taut psychological thriller that explores, exposes and explodes the border between reality and illusion in a multi-layered narrative that turns expectations on their head and reminds us that what we know is what we do not know.
-
-
Truly amazing
- By KismetKat11 on 11-17-09
By: Val McDermid
-
Killing the Shadows
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Vari Sylvester
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A killer is on the loose, blurring the line between fact and fiction. His prey - the writers of crime novels who have turned psychological profilers into the heroes of the nineties. But this killer is like no other. His bloodlust shatters all the conventional wisdom surrounding the motives and mechanics of how serial killers operate. And for one woman, the desperate hunt to uncover his identity becomes a matter of life and death.
-
-
Too much
- By RITTAM! on 04-02-10
By: Val McDermid
-
The Vanishing Point
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
thriller with a nightmare scenario: a parent who loses her child in a bustling international airport. Young Jimmy Higgins is snatched from an airport security checkpoint while his guardian watches helplessly from the glass inspection box. But this is no ordinary abduction, as Jimmy is no ordinary child. His mother was Scarlett, a reality TV star who, dying of cancer and alienated from her unreliable family, entrusted the boy to the person she believed best able to give him a happy, stable life: her ghost writer, Stephanie Harker.
-
-
So close to being great
- By Brock on 03-19-13
By: Val McDermid
-
Trick of the Dark
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Gerri Halligan
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Trick of the Dark, forensic psychiatrist Charlotte Flint is in desperate need of a distraction after her testimony in a high-profile case comes under fire, threatening her career. Enter Dr. Corinna Newsam, an old professor of Charlotte’s who is convinced her son-in-law was murdered by her daughter’s new lover.
-
-
Almost a good listen------
- By Jackie on 03-05-15
By: Val McDermid
-
The Mermaids Singing
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. 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.
-
-
Not for weak stomach or LGBTQ
- By Kai Gussman on 08-27-24
By: Val McDermid
-
The Cuckoo's Calling
- By: Robert Galbraith
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he’s living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry - known to her friends as the Cuckoo - famously fell to her death a few months earlier.
-
-
Unbelievable debut mystery set in London
- By Tracey on 05-26-13
By: Robert Galbraith
-
A Place of Execution
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Paddy Glynn
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Greek tragedy in modern England, A Place of Execution is a taut psychological thriller that explores, exposes and explodes the border between reality and illusion in a multi-layered narrative that turns expectations on their head and reminds us that what we know is what we do not know.
-
-
Truly amazing
- By KismetKat11 on 11-17-09
By: Val McDermid
-
Killing the Shadows
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Vari Sylvester
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A killer is on the loose, blurring the line between fact and fiction. His prey - the writers of crime novels who have turned psychological profilers into the heroes of the nineties. But this killer is like no other. His bloodlust shatters all the conventional wisdom surrounding the motives and mechanics of how serial killers operate. And for one woman, the desperate hunt to uncover his identity becomes a matter of life and death.
-
-
Too much
- By RITTAM! on 04-02-10
By: Val McDermid
-
The Vanishing Point
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
thriller with a nightmare scenario: a parent who loses her child in a bustling international airport. Young Jimmy Higgins is snatched from an airport security checkpoint while his guardian watches helplessly from the glass inspection box. But this is no ordinary abduction, as Jimmy is no ordinary child. His mother was Scarlett, a reality TV star who, dying of cancer and alienated from her unreliable family, entrusted the boy to the person she believed best able to give him a happy, stable life: her ghost writer, Stephanie Harker.
-
-
So close to being great
- By Brock on 03-19-13
By: Val McDermid
-
Trick of the Dark
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Gerri Halligan
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Trick of the Dark, forensic psychiatrist Charlotte Flint is in desperate need of a distraction after her testimony in a high-profile case comes under fire, threatening her career. Enter Dr. Corinna Newsam, an old professor of Charlotte’s who is convinced her son-in-law was murdered by her daughter’s new lover.
-
-
Almost a good listen------
- By Jackie on 03-05-15
By: Val McDermid
-
The Mermaids Singing
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. 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.
-
-
Not for weak stomach or LGBTQ
- By Kai Gussman on 08-27-24
By: Val McDermid
-
1979
- Allie Burns, Book 1
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Katie Leung
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year started badly and only got worse - blizzards, strikes, power cuts, and political unrest were the norm. For journalist Allie Burns, however, someone else's bad news was the unmistakable sound of opportunity knocking, and the year is ripe with possibilities. But Allie is a woman in a man's world. Desperate to get away from the "women's stories" the Glasgow desk keeps assigning her, she strikes up an alliance with wannabe investigative journalist Danny Sullivan. From the start, their stories create enemies.
-
-
Not my cuppa
- By Donna on 10-08-21
By: Val McDermid
-
Dead Beat
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a favor to her rock journalist boyfriend, Thai-boxing, rock-and-roll private detective Kate Brannigan agrees to track down a missing song-writer Moira Pollock, a search that takes her into some of the seediest parts of Leeds and Bradford. But little does she realize that finding Moira is only a prelude to murder. Juggling her other cases, including a search to uncover the source of counterfeit luxury goods, Brannigan finds herself for the first time on the trail of a killer.
-
-
I don't think Val McDermid wrote this book
- By Reinette Visser on 09-05-21
By: Val McDermid
-
The Torment of Others
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a small grim room, the body of a woman is discovered, panic and pain etched in her face. The scene matches in every detail a series of murders two years ago-murders that ended when irrefutable forensic evidence secured the conviction of a deeply disturbed young man named Derek Tyler. But there's no way Tyler could have killed the latest victim. He's been locked up in a mental institution since his trial, barely speaking a word. So is there a copycat?
-
-
Very good BUT an abridged version
- By P. C..S. on 04-06-07
By: Val McDermid
-
A Long Time Dead
- A D.I. Duncan McAdam Mystery (The Misty Isle, Book 1)
- By: J M Dalgliesh
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
D.I. Duncan McAdam is dispatched home to the Misty Isle. A body has been found buried in a remote location on the Waternish peninsula. Well-preserved in the peat, Isla Matheson—missing for the better part of two decades—is revealed to a shocked island community. A teenage runaway is dead...and no one is talking.
-
-
totally enjoyed this
- By Owl8988 on 11-21-23
By: J M Dalgliesh
-
An Accidental Death
- A DC Smith Investigation Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another case that has led to tensions between officers at Kings Lake police headquarters. As an ex-DCI, Smith could have retired by now, and it is clear that some of his superiors wish that he would do so.
-
-
Excellent British Mystery
- By Customer on 09-07-16
By: Peter Grainger
-
Reykjavík
- A Crime Story
- By: Ragnar Jónasson, Katrín Jakobsdóttir
- Narrated by: Bert Seymour, Tamaryn Payne
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland‘s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there? Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára's case.
-
-
Better than expected
- By Shopper on 11-18-23
By: Ragnar Jónasson, and others
-
Silvermeadow
- A Kathy and Brock Mystery, Book 5
- By: Barry Maitland
- Narrated by: Angele Masters
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When his longtime nemesis, the amphetamine-juiced killer known as "Upper" North, is spotted in England, Detective Chief Inspector Brock is on the trail. His manhunt centers on Silvermeadow, a huge and glittery new shopping mall on the outskirts of London, where North was seen. Lying in wait, he and Kathy Kolla take on a seemingly unrelated case as camouflage, that of a missing girl who had worked in the mall. But what to make of the rumor of other girls gone missing?
-
-
love this author - thank you for adding him
- By L on 04-30-13
By: Barry Maitland
-
The Fireground
- By: Dervla McTiernan
- Narrated by: Ben Chapple, Harriet Gordon-Anderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flynn was only a teenager when her parents were killed in a terrible accident. Too young to lose her parents, too young to take on responsibility for her younger sister Kaiya, too young to protect Kaiya from the harshness of their new lives in the following years. Desperate to help her sister, Flynn reaches out to Willa Tomlinson, a grief counsellor renowned for helping her patients cope with profound loss. Under Willa’s influence and care, Kaiya finally seems to turn a corner, joining the climate action collective that Willa leads.
-
-
Just what I needed
- By Grape_Ape on 12-11-23
By: Dervla McTiernan
-
The Cold, Cold Ground
- Detective Sean Duffy, Book 1
- By: Adrian McKinty
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force.
-
-
Listen to this book. You won't be disappointed.
- By Christopher on 01-21-12
By: Adrian McKinty
-
A Winter Grave
- By: Peter May
- Narrated by: Peter Forbes
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice. Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat. Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.
-
-
Futuristic stories not my thinh
- By LouA on 03-28-23
By: Peter May
-
The Turning of Our Bones
- DI Rob Marshall Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Ed James
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Met cop DI Rob Marshall is hot on the trail of the serial killer known as the Chameleon, who has abducted, tortured and killed a series of young women in Northwest London. As they close in, the Chameleon—who switches identity to get close to his victims—shoots Marshall’s partner and escapes.
-
-
DI Marshall sanctimonious and stupid
- By Stephanie on 04-30-23
By: Ed James
-
The Plinko Bounce
- By: Martin Clark
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker, Morgan Hallett
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For seventeen years, small-town public defender Andy Hughes has been underpaid to look after the poor, the addicted, and the unfortunate souls who constantly cycle through the courts, charged with petty crimes. Then, in the summer of 2020, he’s assigned to a grotesque murder case that brings national media focus to rural Patrick County, Virginia—Alicia Benson, the wife of a wealthy businessman, is murdered in her home. The accused killer, Damian Bullins, is a cunning felon with a long history of violence, and he confesses to the police.
-
-
Compelling read
- By Nikki Fortier on 01-17-24
By: Martin Clark
Critic reviews
"Against the backdrop of England's idyllic Lake District, McDermid...renders a supremely satisfying tale in which matters of heart and mind are entwined." (Booklist)
"Absorbing modern mystery....McDermid's mix of historical and literary clues with modern detection is handled with panache." (The Times, London)
"One of our most accomplished crime writers...compelling." (Glasgow Herald)
Related to this topic
-
Blood Atonement
- By: Dan Waddell
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A body is discovered with her throat cut and her daughter believed missing. DCI Foster quickly sees parallels with the disappearance of a teenager three years earlier. With hopes fading, he calls on genealogist Nigel Barnes to piece together the links between the families of the two girls. The trail leads back to 1890, and a young couple fleeing a terrible crime in their past....
-
-
Superb
- By Madeleine on 04-13-10
By: Dan Waddell
-
Left for Dead
- A Maeve Kerrigan Novella
- By: Jane Casey
- Narrated by: Sarah Coomes
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A violent rapist is attacking women, leaving them for dead on south London streets. When young policewoman Maeve Kerrigan responds to a domestic disturbance, she's horrified to stumble across the latest victim. But as a new recruit - and a female to boot - she'll have to face down not only her own nerves but rampant sexism from her colleagues if she wants to be taken seriously enough to even assist on the case.
-
-
Waste of time & $
- By Mary Ann on 12-11-16
By: Jane Casey
-
Are You Watching Me?
- DS Claire Boyle, Book 2
- By: Sinead Crowley
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dear Elizabeth, I've been watching you. I hope to see you...soon. Liz Cafferky is on the up. Rescued from her dark past by the owner of a drop-in centre for older men, Liz soon finds herself as the charity's face - and the unwilling darling of the Dublin media. Amidst her claustrophobic fame, Liz barely notices a letter from a new fan. But then one of the centre's clients is brutally murdered, and Elizabeth receives another, more sinister note. Running from her own ghosts, Liz is too scared to go to the police.
-
-
Fantastic!!
- By Brett McAteer on 03-06-19
By: Sinead Crowley
-
No Name Lane
- By: Howard Linskey
- Narrated by: David Leon
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hunt for a serial killer unearths an unsolved cold case from over 60 years ago. Young girls are being abducted and murdered in the Northeast. Out of favour detective constable Ian Bradshaw struggles to find any leads - and fears that the only thing this investigation will unravel is himself. Journalist Tom Carney is suspended by his London tabloid and returns to his home village in County Durham. Helen Norton is the reporter who replaced Tom on the local newspaper. Together they are drawn into a case that will change their lives forever.
-
-
A Lot to Like, but Weak Narration
- By Carole T. on 07-18-16
By: Howard Linskey
-
A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
-
-
series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
-
Falling Off Air
- By: Catherine Sampson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robin Ballantyne's life is finally coming together. After learning she was pregnant with twins and being abandoned by her irresponsible boyfriend, Adam, she's settling into life as a single mother. But one night, after putting the children to bed, she hears an argument and suddenly, a body falls past her window. Running outside, she finds the body of Paula Carmichael, a renowned activist.
-
-
Rich, developed and unusual
- By Hannah Coale on 02-02-05
-
Blood Atonement
- By: Dan Waddell
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A body is discovered with her throat cut and her daughter believed missing. DCI Foster quickly sees parallels with the disappearance of a teenager three years earlier. With hopes fading, he calls on genealogist Nigel Barnes to piece together the links between the families of the two girls. The trail leads back to 1890, and a young couple fleeing a terrible crime in their past....
-
-
Superb
- By Madeleine on 04-13-10
By: Dan Waddell
-
Left for Dead
- A Maeve Kerrigan Novella
- By: Jane Casey
- Narrated by: Sarah Coomes
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A violent rapist is attacking women, leaving them for dead on south London streets. When young policewoman Maeve Kerrigan responds to a domestic disturbance, she's horrified to stumble across the latest victim. But as a new recruit - and a female to boot - she'll have to face down not only her own nerves but rampant sexism from her colleagues if she wants to be taken seriously enough to even assist on the case.
-
-
Waste of time & $
- By Mary Ann on 12-11-16
By: Jane Casey
-
Are You Watching Me?
- DS Claire Boyle, Book 2
- By: Sinead Crowley
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dear Elizabeth, I've been watching you. I hope to see you...soon. Liz Cafferky is on the up. Rescued from her dark past by the owner of a drop-in centre for older men, Liz soon finds herself as the charity's face - and the unwilling darling of the Dublin media. Amidst her claustrophobic fame, Liz barely notices a letter from a new fan. But then one of the centre's clients is brutally murdered, and Elizabeth receives another, more sinister note. Running from her own ghosts, Liz is too scared to go to the police.
-
-
Fantastic!!
- By Brett McAteer on 03-06-19
By: Sinead Crowley
-
No Name Lane
- By: Howard Linskey
- Narrated by: David Leon
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hunt for a serial killer unearths an unsolved cold case from over 60 years ago. Young girls are being abducted and murdered in the Northeast. Out of favour detective constable Ian Bradshaw struggles to find any leads - and fears that the only thing this investigation will unravel is himself. Journalist Tom Carney is suspended by his London tabloid and returns to his home village in County Durham. Helen Norton is the reporter who replaced Tom on the local newspaper. Together they are drawn into a case that will change their lives forever.
-
-
A Lot to Like, but Weak Narration
- By Carole T. on 07-18-16
By: Howard Linskey
-
A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
-
-
series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
-
Falling Off Air
- By: Catherine Sampson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robin Ballantyne's life is finally coming together. After learning she was pregnant with twins and being abandoned by her irresponsible boyfriend, Adam, she's settling into life as a single mother. But one night, after putting the children to bed, she hears an argument and suddenly, a body falls past her window. Running outside, she finds the body of Paula Carmichael, a renowned activist.
-
-
Rich, developed and unusual
- By Hannah Coale on 02-02-05
-
Down Cemetery Road
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Julia Franklin
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a young girl disappears in the aftermath, Sarah Tucker becomes obsessed with finding her. Accustomed to dull chores in a childless household and hosting her husband’s wearisome business clients for dinner, Sarah suddenly finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew, as her investigation reveals that people long believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead.
-
-
A bit of a slog....
- By rhl60 on 01-26-24
By: Mick Herron
-
Dear Amy
- By: Helen Callaghan
- Narrated by: Michelle Ford
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margot Lewis is a teacher at an exclusive high school in the English university town of Cambridge. In her spare time, she writes an advice column, "Dear Amy", for the local newspaper. When one of Margot's students, 15-year-old Katie, disappears, the school and the town fear the worst. And then Margot gets a "Dear Amy" letter unlike any of the ones she's received before. It's a desperate plea for rescue from a girl who says she is being held captive and in terrible danger - a girl called Bethan Avery, who was abducted from the local area 20 years ago and never found.
-
-
Stunning debut
- By Mystery Maven on 11-18-16
By: Helen Callaghan
-
Give Me the Child
- By: Mel McGrath
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr Cat Lupo aches for another child despite the psychosis which marked her first pregnancy. So when Ruby Winter, a small girl in need of help, arrives in the middle of the night, it seems like fate. But as the events behind Ruby's arrival emerge - her mother's death, her connection to Cat - Cat questions whether her decision to help Ruby has put her own daughter at risk.
-
-
Give Me the Child will give you a heck of a read!
- By Cassandra on 08-04-17
By: Mel McGrath
-
Hero: A Simon Serrailler Short Story
- By: Susan Hill
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Simon Serrailler was a rookie constable with the Met, he did something reckless in the course of a night's work which caused a man's death. But his act was praised by his colleagues, and he was called a hero. Years later, now a detective chief superintendent who has been badly injured in the course of duty, he receives a medal for bravery at Buckingham Palace while recollecting that fateful night of his early career, when chance disguised itself as bravery.
-
-
This 'story' makes no sense to me
- By Pamela Donaldson on 05-10-17
By: Susan Hill
-
A Feast of Carrion
- By: Keith McCarthy
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
St Benjamin's Medical School is the greatest of its kind, any death occurring within its walls would have created ripples within the academic world, but the death of Nikki Exner is far from being ordinary. Raped, and then grotesquely executed, her theatrical murder horrifies everyone. John Eisenmenger, a former forensic pathologist, finds himself dragged unwillingly into the case. Teaming up with solicitor Helena Flemming, Eisenmenger sets out to discover what really did happen to Nikki Exner.
-
-
excellent book
- By Yves on 06-27-09
By: Keith McCarthy
-
A Great Deliverance
- Inspector Lynley, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth George
- Narrated by: Donada Peters
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an ax in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father's headless corpse. Her first and last words were "I did it. And I'm not sorry".
-
-
good debut novel
- By Stevon on 11-11-19
By: Elizabeth George
-
The Stranger House
- By: Reginald Hill
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years, the Stranger House has stood in the village of Illthwaite, offering refuge to travellers. People like Sam, a brilliant young mathematician, who believes that anything that can't be explained by maths isn't worth explaining. And Miguel, a historian running from a priests' seminary, who sees ghosts. Sam is an experienced young woman, Miguel a 26-year-old virgin.
-
-
an OK read
- By Jen Terry on 01-18-08
By: Reginald Hill
-
Do or Die
- An Inspector Green Mystery
- By: Barbara Fradkin
- Narrated by: Kevin Kraft
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Another freezing winter descends in seeming peace upon the Northern Ontario lake where realtor Belle Palmer lives genteelly with her dog, tropical fishes and classic film collection. But the snow-laden tranquility is tragically disturbed when a good friend is lost in a freak snowmobile accident on an isolated lake. Or so it seems. Belle and others suspect foul play, but a motive and a criminal prove hard to find. Resort owners, anti-environmentalists and the new local drug dealers may all have had reason to want Jim Burian quietly removed, and information isn't forthcoming.
-
-
Good Mystery but Investigators Back-Story Weak
- By Sires on 09-04-14
By: Barbara Fradkin
-
Truth Will Out
- By: K C Wells
- Narrated by: Seb Yarrick
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathon de Mountford’s visit to Merrychurch village to stay with his uncle Dominic gets off to a bad start when Dominic fails to appear at the railway station. But when Jonathon finds him dead in his study, apparently as the result of a fall, everything changes. For one thing, Jonathon is the next in line to inherit the manor house. For another, he’s not so sure it was an accident, and with the help of Mike Tattersall, the owner of the village pub, Jonathon sets out to prove his theory - if he can concentrate long enough without getting distracted by the handsome Mike.
-
-
Disappointed
- By L.D. on 03-29-20
By: K C Wells
-
66° North
- A Magnus Iceland Mystery
- By: Michael Ridpath
- Narrated by: Seán Barrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Iceland, 1934. Two boys playing see something they shouldn't have. The consequences will haunt them and their families for generations. Iceland, 2009. The credit crunch bites. The currency has been devalued, savings annihilated, lives ruined. Grassroots revolution is in the air, as is the feeling that someone ought to pay.... And in a country where everyone knows everybody, it isn't hard to draw up a list of exactly who is responsible. And then, one by one, to cross them off.
-
-
Fantastic story!
- By Far Side on 11-07-23
By: Michael Ridpath
-
Evans Above
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evan Evans is a young police constable who has traded in the violence of city life for idyllic Llanfair, a Welsh village tucked far away from trouble. Nestled among the Snowdonia mountain range, Llanfair looks to Constable Evans like a town forgotten by time, but he quickly learns that even the bucolic countryside has its share of eccentric - and deadly - characters.
-
-
Interesting....
- By brian on 01-22-17
By: Rhys Bowen
-
Stranger on the Shore
- By: Josh Lanyon
- Narrated by: Jeremy York
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty years ago little Brian Arlington was kidnapped from his family's Long Island estate and was never seen again. The trail went cold, but investigative journalist Griff Hadley has always thought there was more to the story - much more. When the Arlingtons' patriarch invites him to stay at their estate to research his true crime book, Griff can't say no. It's the story of a lifetime. But not everyone is happy about Griff's presence. Relatives and staff alike regard him coldly, including Pierce Mather, the Arlingtons' attractive lawyer.
-
-
Possibly the most enjoyable mystery romance I've ever read! Quintessential Lanyon!
- By Christopher P. on 09-19-15
By: Josh Lanyon
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
A Place of Execution
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Paddy Glynn
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Greek tragedy in modern England, A Place of Execution is a taut psychological thriller that explores, exposes and explodes the border between reality and illusion in a multi-layered narrative that turns expectations on their head and reminds us that what we know is what we do not know.
-
-
Truly amazing
- By KismetKat11 on 11-17-09
By: Val McDermid
-
Killing the Shadows
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Vari Sylvester
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A killer is on the loose, blurring the line between fact and fiction. His prey - the writers of crime novels who have turned psychological profilers into the heroes of the nineties. But this killer is like no other. His bloodlust shatters all the conventional wisdom surrounding the motives and mechanics of how serial killers operate. And for one woman, the desperate hunt to uncover his identity becomes a matter of life and death.
-
-
Too much
- By RITTAM! on 04-02-10
By: Val McDermid
-
The Vanishing Point
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
thriller with a nightmare scenario: a parent who loses her child in a bustling international airport. Young Jimmy Higgins is snatched from an airport security checkpoint while his guardian watches helplessly from the glass inspection box. But this is no ordinary abduction, as Jimmy is no ordinary child. His mother was Scarlett, a reality TV star who, dying of cancer and alienated from her unreliable family, entrusted the boy to the person she believed best able to give him a happy, stable life: her ghost writer, Stephanie Harker.
-
-
So close to being great
- By Brock on 03-19-13
By: Val McDermid
-
Dead Beat
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a favor to her rock journalist boyfriend, Thai-boxing, rock-and-roll private detective Kate Brannigan agrees to track down a missing song-writer Moira Pollock, a search that takes her into some of the seediest parts of Leeds and Bradford. But little does she realize that finding Moira is only a prelude to murder. Juggling her other cases, including a search to uncover the source of counterfeit luxury goods, Brannigan finds herself for the first time on the trail of a killer.
-
-
I don't think Val McDermid wrote this book
- By Reinette Visser on 09-05-21
By: Val McDermid
-
The Mermaids Singing
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. 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.
-
-
Not for weak stomach or LGBTQ
- By Kai Gussman on 08-27-24
By: Val McDermid
-
Trick of the Dark
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Gerri Halligan
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Trick of the Dark, forensic psychiatrist Charlotte Flint is in desperate need of a distraction after her testimony in a high-profile case comes under fire, threatening her career. Enter Dr. Corinna Newsam, an old professor of Charlotte’s who is convinced her son-in-law was murdered by her daughter’s new lover.
-
-
Almost a good listen------
- By Jackie on 03-05-15
By: Val McDermid
-
A Place of Execution
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Paddy Glynn
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Greek tragedy in modern England, A Place of Execution is a taut psychological thriller that explores, exposes and explodes the border between reality and illusion in a multi-layered narrative that turns expectations on their head and reminds us that what we know is what we do not know.
-
-
Truly amazing
- By KismetKat11 on 11-17-09
By: Val McDermid
-
Killing the Shadows
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Vari Sylvester
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A killer is on the loose, blurring the line between fact and fiction. His prey - the writers of crime novels who have turned psychological profilers into the heroes of the nineties. But this killer is like no other. His bloodlust shatters all the conventional wisdom surrounding the motives and mechanics of how serial killers operate. And for one woman, the desperate hunt to uncover his identity becomes a matter of life and death.
-
-
Too much
- By RITTAM! on 04-02-10
By: Val McDermid
-
The Vanishing Point
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
thriller with a nightmare scenario: a parent who loses her child in a bustling international airport. Young Jimmy Higgins is snatched from an airport security checkpoint while his guardian watches helplessly from the glass inspection box. But this is no ordinary abduction, as Jimmy is no ordinary child. His mother was Scarlett, a reality TV star who, dying of cancer and alienated from her unreliable family, entrusted the boy to the person she believed best able to give him a happy, stable life: her ghost writer, Stephanie Harker.
-
-
So close to being great
- By Brock on 03-19-13
By: Val McDermid
-
Dead Beat
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Chloe Massey
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a favor to her rock journalist boyfriend, Thai-boxing, rock-and-roll private detective Kate Brannigan agrees to track down a missing song-writer Moira Pollock, a search that takes her into some of the seediest parts of Leeds and Bradford. But little does she realize that finding Moira is only a prelude to murder. Juggling her other cases, including a search to uncover the source of counterfeit luxury goods, Brannigan finds herself for the first time on the trail of a killer.
-
-
I don't think Val McDermid wrote this book
- By Reinette Visser on 09-05-21
By: Val McDermid
-
The Mermaids Singing
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. 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.
-
-
Not for weak stomach or LGBTQ
- By Kai Gussman on 08-27-24
By: Val McDermid
-
Trick of the Dark
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Gerri Halligan
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Trick of the Dark, forensic psychiatrist Charlotte Flint is in desperate need of a distraction after her testimony in a high-profile case comes under fire, threatening her career. Enter Dr. Corinna Newsam, an old professor of Charlotte’s who is convinced her son-in-law was murdered by her daughter’s new lover.
-
-
Almost a good listen------
- By Jackie on 03-05-15
By: Val McDermid
What listeners say about The Grave Tattoo
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Molly M.
- 02-09-23
One needs to “stayed tuned”
Intertwining the story of”Mutiny on the Bounty” with a current murder mystery! Not easy - but well done!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hannah
- 11-29-22
Nice homage to Wordsworth!
It’s a fun go back and forth of the two stories, past and present, enjoy!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- salamander
- 06-01-10
Sort of like AS Byatt's Possession,
This book pleasantly reminded me of A.S. Byatt's Possession, which I loved (and you should go get, if you haven't read it yet.) Like Byatt's book, this book plays on a literary mystery, bringing together the mystery of the mutiny on the bounty with the life of William Wordsworth and a modern-day search for documents that could make or break careers, and be worth a small fortune to the owners. I am an English professor (of American literature, however), so I love this stuff, if it's done well, and this one is.
Sometimes detective fiction seems to approach non-straight characters almost with tongs and a crinkled nose, so I especially like about this book is that gay and lesbian characters are included as a matter of course (although the central character is straight), and they are fully human.
Finally, I don't know where the other reviewer got the idea that this is Christian fiction (must have been a mis-characterization based on the name Christian Fletcher). Obviously, this is not a "Christian" text, thank heavens, and the language is suited to the areas that the people are coming from and the lives they are leading.
(And I suspect Christ hung out with a lot of people whose language was deemed crude--ironically, in fact, St. Augustine rejected Christianity for a long time simply because the Gospels were written in such a crude, street language, not the Classical Greek he was trained to respect. End of sermon!)
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AnonymousNC
- 05-05-12
Ehhh so-so
Val McDermid writes some great books that I love; this isn't one of them. I give her credit for an imaginative idea...Fletcher Christian in a British village mystery. But it's just boring. I didn't care a whit about the characters and some situations were out of character as well. I really didn't care who the killer was and the ending was ... "oh how convenient."
I don't really recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- night owl
- 02-08-19
Not my favorite McDermid,But still very good.
Loved the description of the Lake district. Interesting characters and plot. Drags some, and rather predictable. Good narration but oh, what these female readers do to the male voices., is awful. I'm sure they do as well as they can. Worth a listen and a credit. Even when McDermid isn't at her best ,she's still better than most
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cyndi
- 05-10-23
Entertaining
I enjoyed the book although not as much as some of McDermid’s others.
The narration was wonderful!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Megom
- 06-20-22
Casually racist
I listened to one great Val McDermid book and have been disappointed by the casual racism and classism pervasive in her books. Such a waste from an otherwise skilled writer.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 03-27-08
Disappointing
The rated category was misleading. This is not a good representation of Christian authorship. I was very disappointed as the content which was filled with ill advised use of crude language. Often times it required turning down/off the volume or skipping ahead to avoid it, destroying the continuity of the story. Had the author kept to the plot and omitted the swearing punctuated through out, I would have rated it between 3-4 stars. This should be reclassified, off the category of Christian mystery.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful