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Summary: A superior story but why did the characters smoke so much?
Review: I loved the style and the story of this book but found myself seriously distracted in the opening chapters by all the smoking the characters did. Why in this day and age would they do that, even though the story was set in the early '60s when people did smoke more than they do now? I began to wonder if the big tobacco was a sponsor or something and actually could not keep reading since the smoking did NOTHING for the story--it was like being told each time the characters went to the bathroom or did some trivial thing one does not need to know, and I started puzzling over why the author kept bringing it up instead of thinking about the story or being lost in the ficitonal dream. It wasn't just one character, either; it seemed to be most of them. It was an off note in a book far above the norm, which I liked otherwise, but it actually made me quit reading and start skimming, those cigarette mentions on so many pages. I just wonder if anyone else noticed it.
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Summary: A tale of depravity, duplicity and death in a small village.
Review: Val McDermid sets "A Place of Execution" in Scardale, a fictional village in Derbyshire, England. The year is 1963. One day, thirteen-year-old Alison Carter comes home from school and takes her dog out for a walk. She is not seen again. Several other children have been abducted in the area of late, and Alison's disappearance soon rings alarm bells. The police are called in to investigate.Detective Inspector George Bennett, who has never run a homicide investigation before, takes charge of the case. Bennett finds, much to his consternation, that this case will take him away for many hours from his young and lovely wife whom he adores. It will also plunge him into fits of doubt and despair that drive him to smoke endlessly and to stay up at night, worried and sleepless. One problem is that the villagers of Scardale, who are all related to one another by blood, do not trust outsiders. They refuse to open up to Bennett and they seem to be obstructing, rather than aiding, the investigation. Another problem is that there is little physical evidence to guide the police. The investigation takes many twists and turns, some of which are quite startling. The inside flap of this book calls "A Place of Execution" a Greek tragedy and that is an apt description. It is a story of people destroying one another with no one really winning in the end. The characters are beautifully drawn. Detective Inspector Bennett is a model of rectitude and compassion. Alison's mother, Ruth, is a grief-stricken wreck, and Alison's stepfather, Philip Hawkin, is devious and irritatingly nonchalant when his stepdaughter disappears. McDermid captures the physical and emotional ambiance of a small English village perfectly and her sense of time and place is impeccable. However, "A Place of Execution" falls short in several areas. The pacing is too slow. Many pages go by when little or nothing happens, and a little judicious editing would have helped. The ending should have been exciting, but since it took so long in coming, the denouement is a bit anticlimactic. Although the book seems to have as one of its themes the exploration of guilt and moral ambiguity, when the truth is finally revealed, there is little ambiguity. "A Place of Execution" is an ambitious psychological thriller that only partially succeeds in delivering a strong emotional impact.
Rating: 
Summary: Gem of a mystery not to be missed
Review: Set in England in 1963, this British thriller is anything but a "cosy". Thirteen year-old Allison disappears while walking her dog in the strange, insular and perhaps incestuous village of Scardale. Detective Inspector Bennett, assigned to the case, plunges in and gets to know the villagers, their lives and concerns. Despite his best efforts, neither Allison or her body can be found. Bennett becomes consumed with the case and cannot rest until he finds Allison for her mother. Villagers seem to be both secretive and concerned about Allison, making the job more difficult for police. Clues such as where she could have been abducted and possibly murdered do unfold and point to her stepfather as the suspect. The novel comes in parts and Part 2 begins when a novelist documents the case 30 years later. Although the crime had been "solved" 30 years earlier, the story and nightmare begin again when Bennett collapses with a heart attack after making a horrible discovery. A gripping, taut story with intriguing characters and a plot where things are not what they seem. This is my favorite book of 2001.
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Summary: A Place Of Execution
Review: A thoroughly satisfying mystery. It had me guessing right up to the very end. McDermid is a fine writer. This effort makes me want to read more of her work.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: This is my first Val McDermid novel and it definitely will not be my last. When I finished reading the book I had to take a breather to take in everything that happened in this story. It is thought provoking and disturbing. It is December 1963. George Bennett, a newly promoted inspector, is sent to Scardale, a small hamlet in England, to investigate the disappearance of 13-year-old Alison Carter. Since this is Inspector Bennett's first case, he hunts high and low trying to find the whereabouts of the missing teenager. Everybody in town is very protective and they do not make the investigation easy for the police. They do not volunteer any information and one gets the feeling that everybody in town knows something that we do not. After a week's investigation, the police find evidence that suggests that Alison was raped and murdered. Shortly thereafter, an arrest is made. The suspect is convicted and punished even though he claims to be innocent. Alison's body was never found but they still managed to find the suspect guilty. This could easily have been the end of the book but it is only the first three-quarters of the novel. In the last quarter of the book thirty-five years have already passed. Catherine Heathcote, a journalist, manages to get George Bennett, now retired, to participate in a true crime book about the murder of Alison Carter. He agrees and collaborates in the writing of the book. It is not until the last possible moment that Bennett asks Heathcote not to publish the book. During a recent visit to Scardale he uncovered some new evidence that brings a whole lot of questions regarding the crime. He refuses to say anything more regarding the case. Heathcote, not easily swayed, investigates. Her discovery has serious repercussions to a lot of people involved in McDermid's work. This is what make the book great and why I put it in my highly recommended list.
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Summary: Taut, gripping and eerie with a stunning conclusion!
Review: A friend told me about this book. He gave me the sense it was a novel that I would remember vividly for a long time. He was so right!
The village of Scardale, UK is the setting for this rich, gripping, vivid story about a 13 yr. old girl gone missing, presumed dead. And why not? All the evidenced points that way. But that is not all that drove me to stay up late, read while standing in lines and neglect responsibilities.
The is a wonderfully written story, a tribute to this author, who has written several books (This won't be the last one I read, for sure).
The novel unfolds deliberately and with increasing bits of information and descriptive that pulled me in. The English grammar was especially a treat (nowt, lass, etc.). I wondered how this would turn out. I never expected the ending I got. Stunning. Every page of this novel seemed to offer something delicious. Whether it was a character description, the details of a scene or the dialogue amongst the characters, I found this novel abundant with powerful elements. Feelings were evoked.
I found my breathing was arrested on occasion. What was the last book that did that to you? This novel is haunting. Don't miss it!
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Summary: Delicious Page Turner
Review: This book was a Christmas Gift last year from my mother who knows I like nothing better than a good thriller. She had viewed an interview with the author and thought I would enjoy the story since it took place near Manchester. My husband is from Manchester and we were heading there for the holidays. From the moment I boarded our flight I could not put this book down. McDermid is a real pro! Her knowledge of the area is impecable, her characters are alive and her story just engrosses you. A real page turner with a twist you won't expect. She weaves her tale in with real crimes that happened at that time and you never really know if this is a true story or one she just came up with. Either way, she is a brilliant author. As a result I have sought after her earlier works and devoured them all. If you love mysteries and thrillers you will love everything she has written. However, A Place of Execution is the book that sets her ahead of the pack! She is a true master of the genre. Scardale doesn't really exsist, but if you head up to the Buxton and Castleton areas in the Peak District south of Manchester, where the book is set, you have to wonder... I know I did!
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Summary: Terrific Story
Review: First time reading Val McDermid. I overheard someone in the bookstore mentioning this book so I picked it up, took it home,
and could not put it down. Brother, what an ending! If you want a good story, here's one for you.
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Summary: Revenge Is A Dish Best Eaten Cold
Review: Ms. McDermid gives us a real "stand-alone." Not only is it not a serial mystery, it can be read as a complex novel by the non-mystery lover. The characters are out of the ordinary and multifaceted. The locale is an integral part of the tale and never far from our mind. There are many players, yet the author makes each so distinctive, the reader never has the dismaying problem of trying to remember who is who and why are they are appearing or disappearing. The inbred inhabitants of Scardale may have some genetic degeneration, but lack of shrewdness isn't one of them. Also their ability to close ranks when one of their own is threatened is awe-inspiring. I felt there was a little too much agonizing and soul searching on the part of George Bennett, the newly minted Detective Inspector on the case; however, his doggedness was presented well. He was both appealing and exasperating. There were a few clunky clues, and I had a strong suspicion of the guilty party, but was mystified throughout as to how the author was going to resolve the mystery. Recommend this thoughtful, exciting book for anyone, particularly a "cozy" lover who would like to expand his or her horizons.
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Summary: Transcends Genre
Review: This is one of those novels that has a mystery at its core but which really transcends the genre to stand on its own. McDermid has created living, breathing characters whom you care about beyond the solution to the mystery. She also has a great sense of atmosphere. The figid climate of the territory in which her detective George Barrett works felt real. I also thought she caught the time (early 60's) right--not too much detail, but just enough to put you there. This book will you have you turning pages in suspense at several points, but when you are finished you will not have the so what, empty feeling of so many crime novels.
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