Rating: 
Summary: Chills on the Moors
Review: As a mystery author with my debut book in its initial release, I am quite pleased with the wide recognition Val McDermid's A PLACE OF EXECUTION has been receiving. It is a fresh mystery in many ways, yet it is also as frightening and chilling a story as one would ever want to read. Alison Carter, a thirteen-year-old, vanishes in late 1963. George Bennett, a young detective, is given the case to investigate. He finds that he is not merely confronted by the mysterious disappearance of a young girl. He is also confronted by Alison's hometown itself, the village of Scardale. Scardale is an insular village along the moors--a village that is in most ways isolated from the modern world. The people of Scardale seem to close ranks against the police officer. Scardale's residents include several likely suspects, and Bennett must figure out whether a series of other disappearances has anything to do with his case. This puzzle element of the mystery is merely one part of Ms. McDermid's brilliant novel. Once the case is supposedly solved, other questions arise decades later. A PLACE OF EXECUTION is one of the most original mysteries I have read in a long time. It deserves the awards it has been receiving.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring, boring, boring...
Review: One of the most, if not the most boring book I have ever read! While the idea of the plot itself is interesting, McDermit takes us through pages and pages of boring minutia of paper thin characters in a development of a plot which could have been written in a 20 page short story. What a waste of paper and money!
Rating:
Summary: Does the introduction contradict the last chapter?
Review: Boy can this woman write! What a terrific book, and I've read lots of Rendell, Elizabeth George, Deborah Crombie, PD James, and the usual suspects. I was riveted. When I finished, I just sat for awhile thinking of the conversation about to take place between George Bennett and Alison Carter. Then I thumbed through the beginning and re-read the forward, written by Catherine Heathcote, dated Longnor, 1998. Now I'm confused. Did she publish the book after he begged her not to? Did she leave it with the original ending (Alison still dead)? Or did she drop the whole thing? I am usually fairly astute, but admit to being stumped here. HELP. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it, though, or read more McDermid.
Rating: 
Summary: A well executed novel (pun intended)
Review: Cleverly plotted, well written, Val McDermid has written a taught suspense that deals not just with the disappearance of children in England, but with the emotions of the police officers tracking the killer.The only reason I couldn't offer five stars for this beautifully written book is because I remeber the real 'Moors Murderers' in UK in the 1960s and McDermid has mixed fact with fiction in this tale. At times, I wasn't sure if I was reading a factual account or whether it was, indeed, just a novel. Maybe that was the author's intention but, for me, it distracted me a little from an otherwise brilliant piece of writing. Don't let this put you off buying this book. It's an excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Reading
Review: A girl is reported missing by her stepfather who also happens to be the squire of the very insular village of Scardale, where she lives. The officer in charge of the investigation is a young Inspector named George Bennett. It is early in Bennett's career, so this could be a make or break case for him. Because of this, he is determined to find out what really happened, leading us on a relentless pursuit of the truth. Unfortunately, the villagers of Scardale are not very forthcoming when it comes to information, almost to the point where it seems they don't want the girl found. This is an extremely intriguing plot that relentlessly drew me in as evidence slowly came to light. I found myself guessing first one conclusion, then another and still found room for another twist in the tale.
Rating:
Summary: DO believe the hype - this book is truly great
Review: Ordinarily, I'm a little suspicious of those books that absolutely everyone seems to be raving about. Can anything possibly live up to the hype? Well, after hearing for months about how fabulous A PLACE OF EXECUTION is, I finally read it, and I was totally blown away. Beautifully written, compelling, characters you'd swear were real -- this book has it all. I raced through this 400-page book in only 2 1/2 days; whenever I put it down, all I could do was think about how much I was looking forward to coming back to it! Val McDermid deserves every bit of praise she's received for this towering achievement in mystery fiction.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars doesn't give this extraordinary novel its due
Review: When 13 year old Alison Carter goes missing in rural England, in 1963, from a remote insular small village, Detective Inspector George Bennett is put in charge of the investigation. That he is newly promoted to this position and feeling a little insecure in his new job adds another dimension to the story. When people say they could not put a book down, this is one book I will think of. I was absolutely obsessed with getting to the ending and stayed up late several nights to finish it. If you enjoy crime novels without too much descriptive violence, I would highly recommend this book. I don't think you would be sorry. Definitely one of the best books I've read in the past year.
Rating:
Summary: A Fine British Mystery
Review: I am an American who loves British Mystery writers like Peter Robinson, P.D.James, Margaret Yorke and the peerless Ruth Rendell. If you have read any of these authors books, then you will know that it is high praise indeed to add Val McDermid to this list. This book boasts wonderful characterizations, and a superb feel for life in a tiny, isolated English village circa the early 1960's, but the cunning plot is what really shines through here. I will not detail the events that take place in "A Place of Execution" because I fear that I might give too many clues and ruin the experience of reading it for yourself. It was a pleasure to read a book where I was genuinely mystified by the events depicted. I just had to keep on turning the pages until I found out what really happened in the tiny village of Scardale all those years ago and why those events continued to haunt everyone touched by them.
Rating:
Summary: Original, clever and disturbing
Review: Unlike most popular crime authors, Val McDermid is not afraid to try something original. Unlike most crime authors who attempt a different approach to an overpopulated subject, she has the writing ability to pull it off - brilliantly, in the case of 'A Place of Execution'. The book is an intensive look at a single crime - the disappearance and murder of a young girl from a tiny English village in the early 1960s. The crime, its setting, victim, suspects, and investigating officers are studied minutely - at the time, and some 35 years later. This does not sound like engrossing stuff, and for quite a while I read the synopsis of this book and couldn't be bothered buying it. I'm glad I finally did - in the hands of Ms McDermid it's an enthralling and sometimes disturbing drama. The crime is awful, the courtroom scenes as tense as any legal thriller, the punishment horrible, and their effect on everyone concerned shapes their lives. Many murder books could have been set anywhere & anytime, apart from a few gratuitous references to city landmarks or using the Internet. This author has the rare knack, in all her books, of being able to exactly convey a sense of time and place. A Place of Execution owes its effectiveness to this ability. You experience the orderly world of British policing in the 60's, where policemen are always men, token WPCs are there just to make the tea (never coffee) and deal with the weepy victims, and everyone chain-smokes without a thought. The close-knit village, and its inhabitants, feels claustrophobic and sinister. When the book shifts 35 years to 1998, it's quite a culture shock - you sense the change to the here and now, in the modern dialog, the attitudes, the outlook. You'll be as surprised by the end of the book as any of the characters - it's a real journey. Val McDermid is so underrated internationally, I don't know why. I suspect a lot of US readers think that any murder books set in the UK are just about re-hashed Inspectors Morse, Dalgliesh, Wexford and so on. The truth is, most of them are, but A Place of Execution isn't one of them - it's unusual, chilling, and very, very clever. Find it, buy it and read it! It's one of the most memorable books I've read in ages.
Rating:
Summary: A NEW CONVERT,JAN.2001
Review: Although a voracious reader, I have scrupulousy avoided English mysteries. I have found them impenetrable,profoundly boring,excessively wordy,and frequently have problems with expressions and word usage foreign to this American.Such was the situation for the first 50 pages of Place of Execution. I perservered only because of a friends' strong recommendation. So happy that I did.Once into the story, it was impossible to put this book down.Such interesting character development and a description of a small English village that was so crystal clear, that one would recognize it immediately if encountered in ones' travels.The characters are at once sympathetic,compassionate and eccentric; certainly each interesting in their way. Since I was fortunate and began reading with no expectations, not having read any reviews, I was delighted to discover this jewel of a book. As for the suprise ending, well I cheated, and looked. Not many authors have the talent to make me do that.
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