The Grave Tattoo

The Grave Tattoo

by ValMcDermid (Author)

Synopsis

A superb psychological thriller in which present-day murder has its roots in the eighteenth century and the mutiny on the Bounty. When torrential summer rains uncover a bizarrely tattooed body on a Lake District hillside, old wives' tales also come swirling to the surface. For centuries Lakelanders have whispered that Fletcher Christian staged the massacre on Pitcairn so that he could return home. And there he told his story to an old friend and schoolmate, William Wordsworth, who turned it into a long narrative poem - a poem that remained hidden lest it expose Wordsworth to the gallows for harbouring a fugitive. Wordsworth specialist Jane Gresham, herself a native of the Lake District, feels compelled to discover once and for all whether the manuscript ever existed - and whether it still exists today. But as she pursues each new lead, death follows hard on her heels. Suddenly Jane is at the heart of a 200-year-old mystery that still has the power to put lives on the line. Against the dramatic backdrop of England's Lake District a drama of life and death plays out, its ultimate prize a bounty worth millions.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 480
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 06 Feb 2006

ISBN 10: 0007142862
ISBN 13: 9780007142866
Prizes: Shortlisted for British Book Awards: Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year Award 2008.

Media Reviews

`An irresistible combination of contemporary psychological thriller and historical mystery' Tess Gerritsen

`Cunning and gripping... A substantially entertaining novel which grips the reader's interest from the first page until the final deeply satisfying sentence' Express

`Trying to solve a 200-year-old mystery becomes increasingly lethal and readable' Mirror

`One of the world's leading mystery writers...Thomas Harris crossed with Agatha Christie, if you will... A great read. England's heritage history has never been so chilling' Observer

`Safe for the squeamish... one of her best' Literary Review

Author Bio

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. Now a full-time writer, she divides her time between Cheshire and Northumberland. Her novels have won international acclaim and a number of prestigious awards, including the Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year, the Anthony Award for best novel, and the Los Angeles Times Book of the Year Award. Her thriller series featuring criminal profiler Tony Hill has been adapted into the much-loved TV series Wire in the Blood.