Dead Beat (PI Kate Brannigan): 1 - Tapa blanda

‘Solid pleasure... this moves along with the speed of a Porsche, so smooth you can almost kid yourself you haven’t been sitting on the edge of your seat throughout’
Mail on Sunday

‘Zippy action, a well-crafted plot and some refreshingly gritty northern truths’
The Times

Praise for Val McDermid:

'No one rivals Val McDermid’s skill at writing truly terrifying thrillers’ Good Housekeeping

‘The real mistress of psychological gripping thrillers' Daily Express

'McDermid's capacity to enter the warped mind of a deviant criminal is shiveringly convincing' The Times

‘Val McDermid is undoubtedly the queen of British crime’ Observer

'McDermid’s expertly juggled plotlines and masterful handling of pace and tension tick all the best boxes’ Guardian

‘The queen of crime is still at the top of her game’ Independent

‘One of today’s most accomplished crime writers’ Literary Review

‘Her writing is never less than excellent’ Crime Time

The stunning first novel in the Kate Brannigan series, from No.1 Sunday Times bestseller Val McDermid.

‘This is crime writing of the very highest order’ The Times

Dead Beat introduces Kate Brannigan, a female private detective who does for Manchester what V.I. Warshawski has done for Chicago.

As a favour, Kate agrees to track down a missing songwriter, Moira Pollock, a search that takes her into some of the seediest parts of Leeds and Bradford. But little does she realize that finding Moira is a prelude to murder...