Shortlisted for British Book Awards: Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year Award 2008.

Praise for The Torment of Others 'One of McDermid's finest, which is saying a lot' Marcel Berlins, The Times 'Val McDermid is an intelligent, supremely talented novelist and with this latest tale, she is writing at the height of her power. Utterly compelling' Allan Laing, Glasgow Herald 'Serial killers, though meat and drink, to crime writers, are thankfully rare. It is a tribute to the power of Val McDermid's imagination that she made this one seem so believable' Daily Telegraph 'Complex, combative and nuanced' Barry Forshaw, Express 'Val McDermid, as ever, is adept at engendering irresistible suspense, as the fearsome attractiveness of the ever more benighted and bloody predicament works its effect on readers' Patricia Craig, Times Literary Supplement 'There are some terrific twists. McDermid gives a new jerk to the storyline and the chase is on again' Jane Jakeman, Scotland on Sunday 'No one compares to McDermid' Maxim Jakubowski, Guardian 'An especially taut and inventive thriller.This is McDermid on top form' Daily Mail

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 as Northern Bureau Chief of a national Sunday tabloid. She divides her time between Northumberland and Cheshire