1979: The unmissable first thriller in an electrifying, brand-new series from the Queen of Crime (Allie Burns)

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Sitting on the story, both Danny and Allie knew they’d need to take action if there was any chance of catching the exclusive. Danny worked from the inside, befriending the group and discovering their ties to the IRA, while Allie used her superior writing skills to pen the story they’d present for publication. It was around this time that Allie learned another secret that Danny had been keeping, one that could really cause him grief. However, this was one story that Allie vowed to keep under her hat. Remarkable and compelling . . . the Queen of Crime has delivered another masterpiece‘ DAVID BALDACCI On 23 October 2016 McDermid married her partner of two years, Jo Sharp, a professor of geography at the University of Glasgow. [34] [35] I totally enjoyed this slowly evolving but never dull story set in the era of big hair and big shoulder pads. Allie Burns is compelling, and I loved her relationship with Rona. It’s loving and supportive, as the two contend with professional problems and opportunities. Mcdermid's writing is, as always, excellent. Her characters are humanly flawed and relatable, the plot superbly crafted. I can always 'hear' her characters as I read, and 1979 was no exception.

Resistance: A Graphic Novel (2021), illustrated by Kathryn Briggs ( Profile Books/ Wellcome Collection, London, ISBN 978-1-78816-3552)Modern-day Queen of Crime . . . 1979 is classic Val McDermid and great fun from start to finish.” —Ray Palen, Book Reporter There are few other crime writers in the same league as Val McDermid. Her stories are ingeniously plotted, moody . . . Absorbing . . . It’s Karen’s character that’s the enduring draw of this series . . . Out of Bounds is another terrific and intricate suspense novel by a writer who has given us 30 of them. As I said, there are few other crime writers in the same league as Val McDermid.”– Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post on Out of Bounds

A Scottish journalist is drawn into a world of corruption, terror, and murder in the new novel by “one of crime fiction’s most eminent writers” ( Entertainment Weekly ).

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Soon Allie and fellow reporter Danny Sullivan are making powerful enemies with their investigations - and Allie won't stop there. When she discovers a terrorist threat close to home, she devises a dangerous plan to make her name. is book one in a new series by Val McDermid - the Allie Burns series. This book is about Allies role as an investigative journalist in Glasgow. Allies on the look out for the next big story to launch her career into the big leagues. Poor Allie doesn't have it easy especially since its the 70s and equality for women in the workplace wasn't as advanced as it is today. She always lands the small, insignificant stories and lings for a bigger one. Allie starts an alliance with another journalist- Danny Sullivan but the duo start to get enemies crawling out of the woodwork, especially the more they dig up. Danny is found murdered and Allie feels the threat to her own life hanging in the balance. Will she uncover enough for her big break and keep her life in doing so!

A] remarkably vivid picture of the tabloid newsprint culture of 40 years ago . . . McDermid can do edge-of-seat suspense better than most novelists. But what really lingers in the mind is the world she has created in 1979, long before the internet and the end of the Cold War. Among other things, she reminds us how much newspapers mattered in those days . . . enjoy this excellent opener to what promises to be an outstanding series.” —Andrew Taylor, Spectator The second in the Allie Burns series has moved ten years ahead to 1989. Because of the large move forward in time, it can easily be read as a stand-alone.

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is the second book in the Allie Burns series about a determined Scottish journalist, inspired by the author’s own career and experiences before she became a bestselling crime writer. I had been quite disappointed by 1979, so was somewhat hesitant about having to read this one, but actually enjoyed it more, despite there being way too much going on for one book to cover properly. This would work as a stand-alone if you haven’t read the first book, and there are no major spoilers here for 1979. McDermid, Val (5 April 2016). "Scotland is now a place where you can be glad to be gay". The Guardian.