★ Shortlisted for the 1999 CWA Gold Dagger Award;
★ nominated for the Edgar Award 200
★ 《龍紋身女孩》作者拉森鍾愛的犯罪小說作家之一 “非為暴力而暴力，而是透過小說討論暴力的本質。她指出，男性作家往往像局外人一樣，從外在觀點描寫暴力，但女性作家卻能從當事人立場去感同身受，那是因為她們生來就活在一個隨時可能被侵犯的環境。”---如刑具百科 《人魚之歌》女作家獲鑽石匕首獎(http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,110513+112010081600320,00.html)
“薇兒的作品節奏明快，有通俗小說的動作場面，有類型小說的繁複情節，更有關懷社會的嚴肅議題。”
版權銷售:
UK: HarperCollins, Audio: Isis, Large Print: Isis, Bookclub: BCA, Readers Digest; US: St Martin‟s Press, US Audio: Brilliance, US Large Print: Wheeler, US Bookclub: Mystery Guild; Bulgaria: Ednorog; Canada: HarperCollins Canada; Czech Republic: BB Art; Denmark: Klim, Reader‟s Digest Denmark; Finland: Otava; France: Champs élysees, France Loisirs, Le Grand Livre du Mois, French paperback: Editions J‟ai Lu; Germany: Droemer, Bookclub: Der Club Bertelsmann, Weltbild; The Netherlands: Luitingh, Italy: Sonzogno, Italian BookClub: Mondolibri, Japan: Shueisha; Norway: Cappelen, Reader’s Digest; Portugal: Gótica, Readers‟ Digest; Serbia: Laguna; Spain: RBA, Bookclub: Circulo de Lectores; Sweden: Anamma, Readers ‟ Digest; Thailand: WeLearn, TV: Sold to Coastal, 3 part drama broadcast November 2008
Reviews
‘McDermid has propelled herself into the ranks of the very best in the business… if you’ve never read any McDermid, try this. If you’re a crime fan, try this. Basically, if you can read at all, try this.’---The Guardian
‘A terrific and original novel, brilliantly executed… makes you question your assumptions about the whole crime genre… a wake-up call to crime writers everywhere.”---Daily Mirror
‘A rare novel in which the resolution is equal to the tension generated throughout… brilliantly organized and immensely engrossing, it is Val McDermid’s best work to date…’---Times Literary Supplement
‘An extraordinarily accomplished book… a complete success.’---Birmingham Post
‘Compelling… a thriller that is carefully plotted and thoughtfully executed… McDermid just gets better and better.’---Dublin Tribune
‘Deserves to be the crime novel of the year’.---Prima Magazine
’Val McDermid is a roaring Ferrari amid the traffic on the crime-writing road.’---The Independent
‘Beautifully written… exceptionally cunning… it may be that McDermid will write better novels than this in the future, but I do not see how.’---Daily Telegraph
‘Surprising and completely satisfying… masterfully told.’---Scotland on Sunday
‘Easily the best thing McDermid has ever written.’---The Scotsman
‘Absorbing… riveting… bristles with authenticity and tension… far more than a straightforward detective novel…’---Yorkshire Evening Post
‘Unputdownable… a cracking story with believable characters, a very believable plot and a most unexpected climax.’---Sunday Post
‘Engrossing… a substantial book and an impressive one…takes this accomplished writer into new and higher territories.’---Sunday Telegraph
’Tense, fast-moving, and horrifyingly convincing, this is a novel from an accomplished thriller-writer who just gets better and better.’---Andrea Deakin, Canada
’One of the best you’ll read this year.’---The Ottawa Citizen
’an intriguing mystery and a richly detailed period piece which adds to McDermid’s expanding gallery of beautifully drawn minor characters. All in all, exceptionally executed.’---Montreal Mirror