It’s been almost a year since the night Katie Farrell died. Her father’s due to stand trial in a few weeks. Funny how many rats came out of the woodwork to lay stuff at his door once they knew we had him bang to rights on something major.
It’s been a long journey for all of us. Karen Wilson’s still adrift in grief and her kids look like lost souls. We kept Ben’s name clean and I think that’ll survive the trial. But I feel like I’ve paid a high price for that. After Ben, I can’t find it in me to trust anyone. Something I couldn’t hide from Stella. She left for Knoxville, Tennessee and the Body Farm a couple of weeks ago. As far as I can see, the only winners have been a bunch of charities that help homeless kids, drug addicts and women sold into sexual slavery.
Like I said, when a child dies, everybody hurts. And some hurts can’t ever be healed.
About the Author
Cleanskin
Val McDermid grew up in a Scottish mining community then read English at Oxford. She was a journalist for sixteen years, spending the last three years as Northern Bureau Chief of a national Sunday tabloid. She is now a full-time writer and divides her time between Cheshire and Northumberland.
Her novels have won international acclaim and a number of awards. A Place of Execution won both the Anthony Award for best novel and the Los Angeles Times 2001 Book of the Year Award Mystery/Thriller, while The Mermaids Singing took the 1995 Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year.
By the same author
The Grave Tattoo
The Distant Echo
Killing the Shadows
A Place of Execution
Tony Hill novels
Beneath the Bleeding
The Torment of Others
The Last Temptation
The Wire in the Blood
The Mermaids Singing
Kate Brannigan novels
Star Struck
Blue Genes
Clean Break
Crack Down
Kick Back
Dead Beat
Lindsay Gordon novels
Booked for Murder
Union Jack
Final Edition
Common Murder
Report for Murder
Non-fiction
A Suitable Job for a Woman
Copyright
While some of the characters and incidents portrayed herein
are based on historical events, this novel is entirely the work
of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely
coincidental.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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Val McDermid asserts the moral right to
be identified as the author of this work
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are
the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is
entirely coincidental.
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
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EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2008 ISBN:9780007290086
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