The Mermaids Singing (Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, #1) (Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mysteries, #1)

by Val McDermid

The Gold Dagger award-winning serial killer thriller that began the Number One bestselling crime series featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill, hero of TV's much-loved Wire in the Blood.

You always remember the first time. Isn't that what they say about sex? How much more true it is of murder...

Up till now, the only serial killers Tony Hill had encountered were safely behind bars. This one's different - this one's on the loose.

Four men have been found mutilated and tortured. As fear grips the city, the police turn to clinical psychologist Tony Hill for a profile of the killer. But soon Tony becomes the unsuspecting target in a battle of wits and wills where he has to use every ounce of his professional nerve to survive.

A tense, beautifully written psychological thriller, The Mermaids Singing explores the tormented mind of a serial killer unlike any the world of fiction has ever seen.

• ISBN10: 0061011746
• ISBN13: 9780061011740
• Publish Date: 1 December 1996 (first published 6 November 1995)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 21 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 276
• Language: English

Reviews

[brokentune]

Meh. Written in 1995, this actually reads dated. Also, there is a lot of explaining things - mostly Hill explaining to Jordan - which read a bit like a lecture. Not a fan of the gory / torture parts, and it did not help that the book starts with some pretty gruesome descriptions.

[wyvernfriend]

Interesting serial killer story. Tony Hill is a psychologist working for the home office and being brought into a serial killer mystery. Along with Detective Inspector Carol Jordan they race to find the killer.

It's gruesome but I did enjoy it.