Val McDermid is a brilliant writer. Once again, Dead Beat keeps you in suspense until the end. Kate Brannigan is such a believable character. I was quite sad to reach the end of the book.

Having read several books in the Kate Brannigan series, I realised that I had never read book one, so had to rectify that. As expected, an engrossing read from one of my favourite authors and a great opening book to the series.

I’ve only started reading Val McDermid and while I enjoy her books they somehow ‘sound’ too formal in my head. I was hoping for more of a Scottish slant, or more working class sounding people but sadly not. It’s still a decent read with a good plot.

Dead Beat was originally published in 1992 and was the introduction of Katie Brannigan a Manchester based private detective. Katie Brannigan is one half of the private investigations team of Mortensen and Brannigan, who investigate white collar crime. Brannigan’s boyfriend lives next door to her in Ardwick that is currently being gentrified, and he happens to be a rock journalist which is always good if you want a night out. Mortensen and Brannigan had been hired to look into the world of the schneid watch business. Someone was distributing top brands, all schneids, around the pubs and clubs as well as the markets of northern England. Brannigan has been spending a lot of time on steak outs and all she wants is a rest and her boyfriend drags her off to the Apollo to see his old mate and watch the Jett’s set. The off to the Midland Hotel for the after-show party. At the party Jett tells Brannigan that he wants to hire her to do a job for him, he wants her to find his old writing partner, Moira Pollock. Little does she realise how hard this job will be. She has to mix with the low life of Leeds and Bradford to find Moira. This would be nothing compared to trying to find a killer especially as Brannigan has never investigated a murder and has no idea what she is doing. Brannigan steps on people’s toes and is upsetting the local police. She cannot just connect the dots so is slow to start with and when she final picks up the trail she discovers who the killer is. A brilliant thriller.

A little fanciful in parts but still a good book. Definitely a guess who done it to the end.