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1979

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1979

By: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Katie Leung
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About this listen

The first in a thrilling new series from the queen of crime and an instant Sunday Times best seller narrated by acclaimed Scottish actress and Harry Potter star Katie Leung.

The shadows hide a deadly story....

1979. It is the winter of discontent, and reporter Allie Burns is chasing her first big scoop. There are few women in the newsroom, and she needs something explosive for the boys' club to take her seriously. Soon Allie and fellow journalist Danny Sullivan are exposing the criminal underbelly of respectable Scotland. They risk making powerful enemies - and Allie won't stop there. When she discovers a home-grown terrorist threat, Allie comes up with a plan to infiltrate the group and make her name. But she's a woman in a man's world...and putting a foot wrong could be fatal.

©2021 Val McDermid (P)2021 W F Howe Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Historical Mystery Psychological Thriller Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Exciting Suspense

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Critic reviews

“McDermid is at her considerable best.” (Guardian)

"No one can plot or tell a story like she can." (Daily Express)

"One of today's most accomplished crime writers." (Literary Review)

"'As good a psychological thriller as it is possible to get." (Sunday Express)
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I love Val McDermid and this was a good book. The narrator didn't do a bad job but there were some avoidable mispronuniciations of fairly common words and in addition her Northern Irish accent was appallingly bad. Someone else could have voiced those characters or she could have got an accent coach for those bits. Took me right out of the story.

Issues with accents

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I wasn't sure what to expect as I haven't read other books by Val Mcdermid but this was enjoyable and not too gruesome. I wonder how autobiographical it is.
I was disappointed that the playlist was not included as with the hardback book.

Good listening and reminiscent of 70's

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Wish I’d read the reviews before I bought this. It’s painful to listen to. Stop start. Big gaps. Awful accents and weird pronunciations.
Buy the book. This doesn’t do it justice. Sorry Val.

Good book. Terrible narration.

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Fantastic furs book, in what I hope is a long long new series. Wonderful, well done 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Awesome

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A gripping story though I thought the narrator often spoke too quickly and her sometimes broad Scottish accent was difficult to understand.

Journalism versus the law

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Good story. Narrator had a habit of mispronouncing famous people's names. But good overall.

1979

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Trip down memory lane for me as I moved to Glasgow in the late 70s
Recognised and enjoyed all the period details
Also enjoyed the story and the ins and outs of newspaper production

I liked the timbre of the narrator’s voice but found the mispronunciations jarring and distracting
Could this have been better edited?

Am hoping for a sequel - to remind me of the 80s

Very enjoyable

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Witty and real … would’ve loved to know what that old parrot said.
Great accents in this performance and I don’t mean the parrot!

A Scottish success

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Much less gory than some of VM’s writing and a great period piece for those of us of a similar age to the protagonists in 1979.. but the pace was a bit uneven as there was a very slow build to the somewhat predictable action in the last part of the book.

Well crafted but a little slow

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I am a Scot about the same age as McDermid. I chuckled at the vivid details of 1979 Glasgow and Edinburgh. The outcome was a wee bit predictable but the characterization was excellent and I loved the gentle development of the love affair. Once I got used to the narrator’s gloomy tone I enjoyed the different voices for each character.

1979 brought back to life

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