VAL McDERMID
A Place of Execution
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers in 1999
Copyright © Val McDermid 1999
Val McDermid asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780007217144
Ebook Edition © MAY 2009 ISBN: 9780007327591
Version: 2016-12-16
Praise for A Place of Execution
‘Compelling and atmospheric…a tour de force’
MINETTE WALTERS
‘Val McDermid is a roaring Ferrari amid the crowded traffic on the crime-writing road…a crime writer capable of holding her own in any company…she is a strong enough writer to create her own distinctive world’
JANE JAKEMAN, Independent
‘A gut-wrenching tale that spans two decades and brings the resonance of Greek tragedies to England. Psychological suspense that probes, prods and disturbs. A terrific achievement’
MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI, Time Out
‘This is an engrossing story, with its atmospheric portrait of a closed, inbred community…A Place of Execution is a substantial book and an impressive one, possibly the best McDermid has written, and it takes this most accomplished writer into higher territory’
SUSANNA YAGER, Sunday Telegraph
‘Beautifully written…this book is not simply a puzzle; it is almost an archaeological delving into a multi-layered, enclosed society. It may be that McDermid will write better novels than this in the future, but I do not see how’
GERALD KAUFMAN, Daily Telegraph
‘A Place of Execution has verve, depth and an unerring grasp of human responses’
She
‘Like a complex jigsaw puzzle, the pieces eventually fall into place, and for those who choose crime fiction for plotting and denouement, this will prove surprising and completely satisfying’
SUSIE MAGUIRE, Scotland on Sunday
‘A Place of Execution makes you question your assumptions about the whole crime genre…A crime novel about a miscarriage of justice, A Place of Execution is a wake-up call to crime writers everywhere. A terrific and original novel, brilliantly executed’
PAUL DAVIES, Daily Mirror
‘It [A Place of Execution] must be in the running for best crime novel of the year. She has propelled herself into the ranks of the very best in the business…If you’ve never read any McDermid, try this. Basically, if you can read at all, try this. Atmosphere, characters, strong plot, tension, menace – it’s got the lot’
JANICE YOUNG, Yorkshire Post
‘Deserves to be the crime novel of the year’
Prima
‘There is a great deal to admire in this novel…above all the book’s formal adventurousness and subtle orchestration of different narrative levels, that sets it apart from most thrillers. With A Place of Execution, McDermid has wrought a powerful, resonant novel about power and its abuse, about the past’s hold on the present, about the nature of knowledge’
LIAM MCILVANNEY, Glasgow Herald
‘Arguably her finest yet…Fear infuses every page…in this epic tragedy’
ERIC JACKSON, Manchester Evening News
‘This is an extraordinarily accomplished book…the whole affair is a complete success’
F. E. PARDOE, Birmingham Post
To my evil twin; laissez les bon temps rouler, cher.
You shall be taken to the place from whence you came, and thence to a place of lawful execution, and there you shall be hanged by the neck until you be dead, and afterwards your body shall be buried in a common grave within the precincts of the prison wherein you were last confined before your execution; and may the Lord have mercy on your soul.
The formal death sentence of the English legal system
LE PENDU: THE HANGED MAN
Divinatory meaning: The card suggests life in suspension. Reversal of the mind and one’s way of life. Transition. Abandonment. Renunciation. The changing of life’s forces. Readjustment. Regeneration. Rebirth. Improvement. Efforts and sacrifice may have to be undertaken to succeed towards a goal which may not be reached.
Tarot Cards for Fun and Fortune Telling S. R. Kaplan
Contents
Praise for A Place of Execution