Publishers Weekly
McDermid's exhilarating fifth novel to feature Det. Chief Insp. Carol Jordan and Dr. Tony Hill (after The Torment of Others) finds Tony in the hospital after being attacked by an ax-wielding patient. Tony's eager to distract himself with Carol's latest case—the death of popular football star Robbie Bishop from ricin poisoning. Carol and her team frantically sift through Bishop's life, trying to find a link between the sports hero and the obscure poison. When an explosion rocks Bradfield's football stadium, Carol and Tony must consider whether Bishop's murder was an act of terrorism. As Carol butts heads with Britain's anti-terrorism unit, Tony works to unravel the motives behind the attacks, and his conclusions put him at odds with Carol like never before. McDermid nimbly weaves current events—the stadium bombing is eerily similar to the 2005 London tube attacks—with the ever-evolving personal and professional relationship between Tony and Carol. (Sept.)
Library Journal
McDermid's fifth novel featuring psychologist Tony Hill (after The Torment of Others) has Tony solving crimes from a hospital bed after an encounter with an axe-wielding inmate of the mental hospital where he works. Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan, with whom Tony has a complicated personal relationship but an excellent working one as a profiler consulting with her Major Incident Team, is investigating the poisoning of Bradfield's star soccer player. Shortly after, Tony finds a tenuous link to another murder, an explosion is set off during a soccer match at Bradfield's stadium, and Carol's team races to find the bomber's trail. As Carol and her team struggle to make sense of the crimes, Tony also follows the tenuous connections that should help find both the poisoner and the bomber. VERDICT McDermid keeps the tension high with a riveting plot and the complicated relationships among her characters. An excellent novel with one caveat to new readers—this series is best read in the order it was written.—Lisa Hanson O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnepeg
Kirkus Reviews
As if the usual round of serial murder (The Torment of Others, 2005, etc.) weren't challenge enough, DCI Carol Jordan and her staff at Bradfield's Major Incident Team have to deal with a bombing at the local soccer stadium-or, even worse, they don't. Someone must have it in for Bradfield Victoria. First it's the mysterious illness of their star midfielder, Robbie Bishop, which turns out to be ricin poisoning, diagnosed too late by a medical staff that can only watch helplessly as he slips into an agonizing death. Then, as the team takes the field again, their stadium is bombed in the middle of the game, killing 35 fans and injuring more than 100. Nor does it help that the Bradfield force is virtually certain that the bomber was inoffensive Yousef Aziz, a driver for First Fabrics, his family's company, because the Counter Terrorism Command Team, a bunch of bullies if ever there was one, instantly swoops down and grabs the case, leaving them on the sidelines. The only target left Carol and her team is the poisoner-who's been busy dispatching other victims as well, one of them an ex-copper who survived the stadium bomb only to keel over hours later. After hundreds of pages, both cases are wrapped up with a speed as gratifying as it is unlikely. Long and grueling, but high-octane catnip for procedural fans, especially since a violent prologue allows McDermid (The Grave Tattoo, 2007, etc.) to sideline the ongoing salt-and-pepper romance of Carol and profiler Tony Hill so that they can concentrate on business.
