Val McDermid Libri

The mermaids singing: "A serial killer is on the loose in the northern city of Bradfield. Four men have been brutally killed by savage knife wounds. In each case, the men have been mutilated and tortured, though the mutilations are not identical and nothing obvious appears to connect the victims. Fear grips the city; no man feels safe. Clinical psychologist Tony Hill is brought in to profile the killer, to work alongside Detective Inspector Carol Jordan."

Forensics draws on interviews with top-level professionals, ground-breaking research, and McDermid's own original interviews and firsthand experience on scene with top forensic scientists.

In the course of researching her best-selling books, McDermid has become familiar with many branches of forensics, and now she uncovers the history of this science and the people who make sure that for murderers, there is no hiding place. Forensic scientists can unlock the mysteries of the past and help serve justice using the messages left by a corpse, a crime scene, or the faintest of human traces. Now available in paperback, "Forensics" goes behind the scenes with some of these top-level professionals and their groundbreaking research, drawing on original interviews and firsthand experience on scene with top forensic scientists. Along the way, we discover how maggots collected from a corpse can help determine time of death; how a DNA trace a millionth the size of a grain of salt can be used to convict a killer; and how a team of young Argentine scientists led by a maverick American anthropologist were able to uncover the victims of a genocide. The journey takes us to war zones, fire scenes, and autopsy suites, reveals both extraordinary bravery and true wickedness, as we trace the history of forensics from its earliest beginnings to the cutting-edge science of the modern day.

Criminal profiler Tony Hill and his ally Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan are back in a terrifying psychological thriller in which the team tracks down a brutal killer targeting a group of young people through a social networking site.

Young girls are disapppearing around the country. They vanish without trace - society's disposable children. There is nothing to connect them to each other, let alone the killer whose charming manner hides a warped and sick mind.

'Somebody has been here before us. And he's still here . . .' When a body is discovered in the remote depths of the Highlands, DCI Karen Pirie finds herself in the right place at the right time. Unearthed with someone's long-buried inheritance, the victim seems to belong to the distant past - until new evidence suggests otherwise, and Karen is called in to unravel a case where nothing is as it seems. It's not long before an overheard conversation draws Karen into the heart of a different case, however - a shocking crime she thought she'd already prevented. As she inches closer to the twisted truths at the centre of these murders, it becomes clear that she's dealing with a version of justice terrifyingly different to her own . . . Number one bestseller and queen of crime Val McDermid returns with her most breathtakingly atmospheric and exhilarating novel yet.

Troubled criminal profiler Dr Tony Hill may have problems of his own but when Bradfield CID need him, he's the best they've got. While the police sometimes view him with the same suspicion as some of their suspects, DCI Carol Jordan is one of the few who appreciates his unique talents. For Tony, the feeling is more than mutual. Both have survived horrifying ordeals of their own. In BENEATH THE BLEEDING they must risk them again. As the two return to duty, it's Val McDermid at her terrifying best.