A Darker Domain: A Novel

“[A Darker Domain] combines a thrilling story with heartbreaking questions of social justice and history.”
—Seattle Times

The New York Times calls Val McDermid, “As smooth a practitioner of crime fiction as anyone out there…the best we’ve got.” Time spent with her extraordinary thriller, A Darker Domain, will prove that it’s true. Set in Scotland, the milieu of Ian Rankin’s John Rebus, McDermid’s brilliant exploration of loyalty and greed intertwines the past and present. It was chosen as a New York Times Notable Crime Book of the Year and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Past and present intertwine in this rare stand-alone novel of taut psychological drama—a brilliant exploration of loyalty and greed from the bestselling mistress of suspense.

Fife, Scotland, 1985. Heiress Catriona Maclennan Grant and her baby son are kidnapped. The ransom payoff goes horribly wrong and Grant is killed. Her son disappears without a trace—until 2008, when a tourist in Tuscany stumbles upon dramatic new evidence that reopens the investigation.

Fife, 1984. At the height of the politically charged national miners' strike, Mick Prentice abandons his family to join the strikebreakers down south. Labelled a blackleg scab, he's as good as dead as far as his friends and relatives care. Twenty-three years later, a young woman walks into a police station to report Mick Prentice missing. Detective Karen Pirie, head of the Cold Case Review Team, wants to know why it's taken so long for anyone to notice.

For Pirie, already immersed in the Prentice investigation, a second foray into a 1980s investigation gone cold—this time, the Grant kidnapping—offers an opportunity to make her mark. But it's sure to come at an extremely high price. As she works to unravel these mysteries, two decades of secrets will lead Karen Pirie into a dark domain of violence and betrayal—darker than any she has yet encountered.

“The plot weaves between the past and the present, the two cold cases, and the two women investigating them until it reaches a startling conclusion. This is McDermid’s storytelling at its best, and DI Pirie, with her blend of humor and tenaciousness, is both likable and believable. A great read; highly recommended for fans of the genre.” - Library Journal

“Complex and layered plotlines come together, and McDermid does an excellent job creating tension around a cold case. Sure to be a hit with McDermid’s large fan base, it should also appeal to those who read other Scottish police mysteries.” - Booklist

“Multifaceted and relentlessly gripping. . . . McDermid advances each of the storylines separately until they are so intertwined that it becomes impossible to separate them, the intrigue mounting with each page turned.” - BookPage (Mystery of the Month)

“This is McDermid’s storytelling at its best, and DI Pirie, with her blend of humor and tenaciousness, is both likable and believable. A great read; highly recommended for fans of the genre.” - Library Journal

“McDermid pulls us deeply into the lives of the victims and their families. . . . Pirie is a complicated heroine made all the more appealing by her everywoman demeanor.” - USA Today

“McDermid keeps the suspense high as she also delivers an emotionally wrenching story about people abandoned by those they trust the most.” - South Florida Sun Sentinel

“Gripping and intense. . . . A strong, suspenseful psychological thriller. . . . McDermid pulls together these disparate cases with the aplomb and skill that will remind readers of her masterpiece, A Place of Execution. McDermid takes us into the heart of a mining community where unity meant survival.” - Mystery Scene

“This renowned Scottish writer’s fascinating new book is dark, less violent than some previous titles and heartbreakingly vivid. Its greatest strength is its depiction of the horrendous miners’ strike of the mid-1980s. . . . This is a wonderfully written book you can’t put down.” - Romantic Times

“A long-overdue Tip of the Ice Pick award goes to Scottish crime writer Val McDermid for her multifaceted and relentlessly gripping A Darker Domain. . . . McDermid advances each of the storylines separately until they are so intertwined that it becomes impossible to separate them, the intrigue mounting with each page turned.” - BookPage (Mystery of the Month)

“A DARKER DOMAIN is a prime example of a crime novel that manages to encompass politics, sexual relations and social changes as it examines two unsolved crimes of the mid-1980s. . . . McDermid digs into the two cold cases through a pair of terrific investigators.” - Connecticut Post

“Complex and layered plotlines come together, and McDermid does an excellent job creating tension around a cold case. Sure to be a hit with McDermid’s large fan base, it should also appeal to those who read other Scottish police mysteries, such as Stuart MacBride.” - Booklist