Val McDermid: Portrait of a Criminal (2020 Event)

With Val McDermid’s iconic detective soon set to hit our screens, it couldn’t be a more perfect time to revisit Police Scotland's Historic Cases Unit and the savvy, no-nonsense DCI Karen Pirie.

A thrilling new head-scratcher from the undisputed ‘Queen of Crime,’ Still Life sees the much-loved detective inspector confronted by a decade-old cold case, drawing her into a historical cover-up that someone would do anything to keep under wraps. With all the dizzying narrative trickery and canny characterisation we’ve come to expect from one of our finest literary minds, this sixth instalment in the bestselling series is Val McDermid at the top of her game.

Inspired in part by the wildly popular Portrait Artist of the Year competition, the ever-inventive author teases the mysterious connection between Still Life and the Sky Arts series in a conversation with one of its widely-admired presenters, Dame Joan Bakewell, recorded live at the 2020 Book Festival.

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Friday 13 December

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