A new series from one of my favourite authors. Book one in the Allie Burns series introduces Allie, an investigative journalist for a newspaper in Glasgow. A girl in a mans world who is determined to make her mark but she is the only female in the office and is fed up with being given minor stories about babies and things which she is told, will appeal to women. Allie is determined to get a major scoop and prove herself. Soon Allie and a fellow journalist Danny gain information about a pending terrorist attack and start mixing with the wrong people to fact find and gain enough information to be credible but does success come at a price ? I really enjoyed this novel which is quite different to any Val McDermid book I have read and I look forward to the next episode in the newsroom.

Allie Burns is a young journalist on The Daily Clarion, a respected Scottish newspaper. She is intelligent and ambitious, and has already proven herself to some of her more junior colleagues as being an excellent writer. Unfortunately she finds herself regularly pigeonholed into the nice fluffy “women’s interest” stories, like the baby that was born on a stranded train … Allie however has bigger ambitions, and longs for her “big break”, a story that will allow her to be recognised for her talent. She finds herself inevitably clashing with some of the men that she works with, who have a very patriarchal & misogynistic outlook and have really only employed “a lassie” because they were forced to show that they were supporting equality. The author likely draws on first hand experience as a young female journalist in a “man’s world. When fellow journalist Danny Sullivan starts investigating a tax fraud story, Allie jumps at the chance to be involved even though she’s not sure about some of the risks that Danny is willing to take to get the story. However when Allie gets a sniff of another big story, she knows that Danny can help her & together the two of them set out to uncover the truth behind both stories. Throughout the book we have references to the culture, music, TV shows, and films of the 1970s, as well as research pre-internet days, phone calls pre-mobile phones (anyone know where the nearest phone box is?), photos that had to be developed rather than downloaded and everything having to be hand-typed in triplicate. Alongside this, we have the political situation of the day, from the 83% tax band, to feelings around Scottish devolution, the unrest between Catholics & Protestants that was so prevalent in Northern Ireland but now spilling into Scotland and the fact that homosexuality was still illegal. This really helps to establish the time and place as well as the authenticity of the storyline, but occasionally the “retro” elements felt a tiny bit forced – I suppose it is needed for modern readers who didn’t live through the 70’s or who don’t remember using phone boxes and looking things up in a library! The story starts slightly slowly but once the setting is established, the pace is good and allows the tension to build nicely. The characters are well portrayed, and the narrative flowed well to a satisfying ending. There is a murder, but it’s not as graphic as many of Val McDermid’s previous novels. Although long (its unabridged & runs at around 11 hrs), this really worked well as an audiobook. It would have been disappointing, even jarring, to have had a non-Scottish narrator & the choice of Katie Leung was excellent – she fitted the lead character very well having a definite Scottish accent but without it being so broad that it was difficult for a non-Scot to understand! She brought the story to life & drew me in, differentiating well between the various characters. Overall, this was a good start to a series – I don’t know where it will go next (is it going to be set in 1980/81 or will there be a jump?) but I look forward to finding out. Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book free via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the author & publisher for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own. #1979 #NetGalley

The start of a new series, 1979 marks something of a change of direction for Val McDermid as she moves away from a crime fiction setting into investigative journalism. Here we are introduced to Allie Burns, an investigative journalist working for the Glasgow Daily Clarion, looking to make a name for herself with something a little more substantial than the ‘women’s stories’ usually assigned to female journalists. Alongside her colleague Danny Sullivan, she enters a world of international fax fraud, attempted terrorism and, eventually, murder... I’m a huge fan of Val McDermid and have read the majority of her work. Although on the whole I enjoyed this book, I do have mixed feelings about it. The plot of 1979 can be roughly divided into three sections; I felt that each seemed to lack the detail and depth I would normally associate with the author and the eventual denouement seemed decidedly rushed. Some of the characters also felt a little less nuanced than I would expect; Danny in particular seemed rather unrealistically naive, given his profession. Ultimately, perhaps investigative journalism is not as engaging to me as a police procedural. There is plenty of potential for this series, moving forwards. I’m looking forward to seeing how the character of Allie develops. I also think the period setting offers plenty of scope for the author to explore the attitudes and politics of the time. I will definitely continue with the series. For me this was a solid read, but perhaps not one of McDermid’s best. Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

1979 by Val McDermid 1979. It is the winter of discontent, and reporter Allie Burns is chasing her first big scoop. There are few women in the newsroom and she needs something explosive for the boys' club to take her seriously. Soon Allie and fellow journalist Danny Sullivan are exposing the criminal underbelly of respectable Scotland. They risk making powerful enemies - and Allie won't stop there. I enjoyed the first in a new series, we are introduced to Allie Burns & Danny Sullivan who are journalists who are waiting to hit it big with the best scoops. Danny is on the cusp of getting the news on a Mr . Big and he is secretly doing it through his businessmen brother . What I like about novels by Val McDermid is that she really gets under the skin of her characters , good or bad . This gives us , the reader a real insight to the underbelly of those we'd never meet in real life. A very good read.

There is much to enjoy in this wide-ranging tale set in Glasgow in 1979. The scene setting is effective and the often robust dialogue engaging. Nevertheless I found the storylines meandered and got side-tracked, especially in the first half. The two 'big' stories that Allie and co-reporter, Danny, uncover are concerned with major crimes. However, the plots are diminished due to the unconvincing way each is discovered, developed and concluded. There is a large amount of superficiality and over-simplicity in the way both are described and enlarged upon. What could have been developed as complex criminal investigations seem almost amateurish investigations with some perpetrators almost asking to be apprehended? Many of the characters are one-dimensional. Furthermore, I know this is a very minor point but I was in my early thirties in 1979. I was one of that generation that had broken with their parents' smoking habits. This was especially the case with university graduates. I rather wished Allie, a Cambridge graduate, had been portrayed as a non-smoker. It would be disingenuous to say that I disliked this book but, on balance, I don’t think I’ll be following the career of Allie Burns any further.