[CLOSED] Win a Trio of Val McDermid Books, Including Her Newest Thriller, 1979

"A tour-de-force by the amazing McDermid." —David Baldacci

It’s only January, and the year 1979 has already brought blizzards, strikes, power cuts, and political unrest. For Allie Burns, however, someone else’s bad news is the unmistakable sound of opportunity knocking, a chance to escape the “women’s stories” to which her editors at the Scottish daily The Clarion have confined her. Striking up an alliance with budding investigative journalist Danny Sullivan, Allie begins covering international tax fraud and a group of Scottish ultranationalists aiming to cause mayhem ahead of a referendum on breaking away from the United Kingdom. Their stories quickly get attention and create enemies for the two young up-and-comers. As they get closer to the bleeding edge of breaking news, Allie and Danny may find their own lives on the line.

Drawing on McDermid’s own experiences as a young journalist, 1979 is redolent of the thundering presses, hammering typewriters, and wreaths of smoke of the Clarion newsroom. A journey to the past with much to say about the present, it is the latest pitch-perfect, suspenseful addition to Val McDermid’s crime pantheon.

The dead can tell us all about themselves: where they came from, how they lived, how they died, and, of course, who killed them. Using the messages left by a corpse, a crime scene, or the faintest of human traces, forensic scientists unlock the mysteries of the past and serve justice. In , international bestselling crime author Val McDermid guides readers through this field, drawing on interviews with top-level professionals, ground-breaking research, and her own experiences on the scene.   Along the way, McDermid discovers how maggots collected from a corpse can help determine one’s time of death; how a DNA trace a millionth the size of a grain of salt can be used to convict a killer; and how a team of young Argentine scientists led by a maverick American anthropologist were able to uncover the victims of a genocide.   Prepare to travel to war zones, fire scenes, and autopsy suites as McDermid comes into contact with both extraordinary bravery and wickedness, tracing the history of forensics from its earliest beginnings to the cutting-edge science of the modern day.

A mysterious illness appears in Scotland while a reporter searches for the truth in this graphic novel by the bestselling author of the Karen Pirie series.

The first graphic novel from Britain’s “Queen of Crime” (Scotsman) and gorgeously illustrated by up-and-comer Kathryn Briggs, Resistance is a chilling but incredibly moving and inspiring story of individuals pressed to rise above their station, first to nail down the truth of a looming pandemic, and later to try to fight it.

Journalist Zoe Meadows has taken a break from hard-hitting investigative reporting to spend more time with her family, which is how she finds herself doing celebrity Q&As at an outdoor music festival near the Scottish border. She and her friends, who run a food truck, head north, along with 150,000 festivalgoers for a weekend of music and camping.

Then, some of the food truck’s customers begin to fall ill, and many point to food poisoning. But when the festival ends and the attendees scatter across England, more people begin to get sick and die. What’s worse, it is spreading fast and baffles doctors, resisting all efforts to contain or cure it. With time running out, Zoe is compelled to fight for the truth, even as she loses that which she holds most dear.

Please note this thriller is in graphic novel, or comic book, format.