Fever of the Bone: A Novel

“McDermid is as smooth a practitioner of crime fiction as anyone out there….She’s the best we’ve got.”
—New York Times Book Review

Scottish writer Val McDermid is one of the most respected authors at the scene of the crime, and Fever of the Bone offers a bravura display of her exceptional storytelling talents. Criminal profiler Tony Hill and his ally Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan are back in this terrifying psychological thriller, tracking down a brutal killer who’s targeting a group of young people through a social networking site. A winner of the Gold Dagger Award, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and an Edgar® Award nominee—a New York Times Notable author whose writing Entertainment Weekly calls, “smooth, confident, deeply satisfying,”—Val McDermid is a crime fiction force of nature. And Fever of the Bone is among her best.

He is psychologist and criminal profiler Dr. Tony Hill’s worst nightmare—a killer driven by the most perverted hungers and unmoved by youth and innocence, a killer with a long shopping list of victims who leaves no trail. The murder-mutilation of teenager Jennifer Maidment is horrific enough on its own, but Hill quickly realizes that it’s just the beginning of a chilling campaign targeting an apparently unconnected group of young people—victims that the monster has been grooming through a social networking site.

It is a case that is reawakening ghosts of Tony Hill’s past. And the longer it takes to uncover a motive and a maniac, the more innocent youth will die.

“As good a psychological thriller as it is possible to get. . . . FEVER OF THE BONE is everything a great detective novel should be: pacey, gripping, clever and stylish and, most of all, a fantastic read.” - Sunday Express

“Another cracker in the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series from the most imaginative creator of serial killers we have. . . . McDermid’s killers and their motives are always scarily plausible and the relationship between Tony and Carol continues to intrigue.” - Daily Mail (London)

“McDermid is especially good at serving up a mix of hi-tech and old-fashioned coppering, as well as showing how proximity to extreme brutality can take its toll on even the toughest police officer.” - The Guardian

“If you believe that every patch of ground comes with its own story, then Val McDermid is the storyteller for you. . . . Ingenious.” - New York Times Book Review, in praise of The Grave Tattoo

“McDermid is unusual in her abilility to keep the suspense high while constructing social mysteries that are far-ranging in their implications. . . . McDermid brings to her mysteries an unusual capacity for compassion, both for victims and for the detectives whose lives are shattered tracking down the killers.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review), in praise of The Torment of Others

“Smooth. Confident. Deeply satisfying. What else can you say about McDermid’s writing.” - Entertainment Weekly (editor's choice), in praise of The Torment of Others