This is a great taut, cat and mouse psychological thriller. This book is extremely graphic from start to finish. I think the writer could of lightened up a bit in that area, so I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. Not for the squeamish and certainly not for anyone under 18. That cost it a star in the rating. If this were a movie it would get a harsh NC-17 rating.

Disturbing but riveting read. May be too graphic for some.

I must disagree with the below comments - in regard to "transphobia". We all have dark sides to our makeup; Heterosexuals, gays, lesbians, Christians, Muslims, blacks, whites, browns, poets and plumbers. Serial Killers must come from all walks of life and to include transsexuals is to include them where we all are - equal and human.
All forms of murder are cruel. The use of torture can be simple or complicated, but it's all torture. McDermid's books are edgy, dark, unpredictable and at times, funny. This is simply another of her magical creations.

Val McDermid felt a need to add to the fake transsexual psychokiller genre, only her crime is greater being an openly lesbian author. The transphobia is so heinous one doesn't need a murder to make it blood curdling. She creates other killers in subsequent books that are so much more realistic that this book pales in comparison. Skip it and try any other.

Well, I had high hopes, based on all the other four- and five-star reviews, but I honestly think this was trash. I didn't finish it, didn't care "whodunit." Unless you love detailed, highly graphic descriptions of the most horrific kinds of torture mankind (mancruel?) has ever devised, steer clear of this one. While Tony Hill is an interesting character, and MdDermid writes some good ones, this novel has utterly no redeeming social value. If violence can be porn, this is it.

First in the series that lead to the Wire in the Blood TV series. Scottish crime. Not at YPRL.