2.5 stars. Haven't read a Val McDermid book in ages but did view the Wire in the Blood series a number of years ago and still had the actor's portrayal of Tony Hill in my head while reading - don't know if the book character is quite as dopey or disconnected as tv series presented.

Since it took me almost forever to finish this book (did I finish?) and it was constantly pushed aside for other more interesting audio books, I'd say I probably won't pull another from the library shelf. Not quite sure why I stopped reading this author but (obviously) absence did not make me fonder.

DD@Phila

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first two in the series. It seemed to take forever to get to the conclusions of the two cases. One case was a serial killer and the other involved the head of a crime syndicate. The two investigations were dissimilar, and yet the author did a great job bringing them together. The secondary police characters, Petra Becker in Germany and Marijke van Hasselt in Holland, were just as pushy as Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, and I liked the interaction among all four of them. The ending is marked by brutality that might be a trigger for some readers.

I’m hoping for better things when I get to the next book in the series.

THE LAST TEMPTATION is the third Tony Hill/Carol Jordan book, my ongoing series for this year.

This one is very different from the two first books. First, there is much less deviant sexuality and gruesome torture than occurred in the first two books. A bit, but not a lot. That meant that Tony’s pursuit of a serial killer played a smaller role overall than Carol’s adventure. With regards to the serial killer subplot, I felt that McDermid had qualms about the killer’s rationale for killing. Yes, it was wrong, and the killer was targeting the wrong people, but to a certain extent, I felt that McDermid felt sympathy for him. Certainly Tony does. The killer was identified at the beginning of the story; we followed his thinking pattern as he carried out his kills, as well as his daily life, and I had formed a visual image of his physical appearance, an image that did not resemble at all what he looked like when finally seen through Tony’s eyes.

Carol’s quest to entrap a major gangster via an undercover sting was the main focus of THE LAST TEMPTATION. This plot was complex and just a bit too much detailed for my liking. Hence the reason it took so long to finish this book — I read another one between sessions with this one. Also, I couldn’t quite believe that Carol would make such a major mistake in the undercover operation after being so careful previously, aware that she was likely being watched. It was so out of character. A way to bring on the conclusion quickly while placing both Tony and Carol in peril.

Overall it was not as good as the first two offerings in the series, but still good enough for me to give it four stars.

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My reviews for:
The Mermaids Singing
(Tony Hill & Carol Jordan #1)

The Wire in the Blood
(Tony Hill & Carol Jordan #2)

The Torment of Others
(Tony Hill & Carol Jordan #4)
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Another by-the-pool police drama. I had enjoyed Book 4 in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series, and wanted to read the prequel. For some reason, I didn't enjoy this book as much. The bad guys are pretty 'stock': twisted, barbaric...not terribly interesting or realistic...and the on-again/off-again romantic tension between the protagonists becomes rather tiresome after a while. Would I read Book 5? probably, but wouldn't seek it out.

Time to read/listen to someone other than Tony Hill and Carol Jordan;a good yarn but listening so closely after the first two in the series a rather similar story format and progression- how they continue to survive the constant bearings and mental torment I cannot imagine. Will read book 4 after a longer break.

This is Book 3 in the brilliant crime thriller series by Val McDermid featuring Dr. Tony Hill (a psychologist who profiles serial killers) and DCI Carol Jordan (police detective who investigates major crimes).

The first two books were primarily about Carol and Tony teaming up to track and bring to justice two very different (and very sick) serial killers. McDermid does not make the identity of the perpetrator into a mystery, because in these books (and the 3rd) the reader is given first-person insight into the serial killer. Then we can see how well Tony does at discovering the killer’s motivations from their choice of victims. There is also suspense from the question of whether Tony and Carol will be able to capture the criminal before he kills again. However another feature of McDermid’s books is that during the course of the investigation she also puts the police into extreme peril. This is particularly true in Books 1 & 3 and in both cases Tony is placed in situations which could conceivably lead to his demise. In some sense it is probably progress that McDermid avoids the damsel-in-distress themes by putting the male protagonist in mortal danger but to my mind it’s a little too facile a tactic to use to imbue the books with suspense (although we know there are well over a dozen books in the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series so it is very unlikely that Hill is actually going to ever be killed in one of these scenarios).

The key strength of the books are their very clever plots as well as their very interesting settings. Each of the first three has been very different, with the common theme being the presence of a very sick and violent serial killer, extreme danger to Tony and a complicated emotional relationship (even sexual tension) between Tony and Carol. Also, the secondary characters are generally well fleshed-out.

Overall, THE LAST TEMPTATION is another string entry into the crime thriller/police procedural genre, although with a slightly fantastical plot point involving a doppelgänger around which the entire book revolves it is not as strong as the first two in the Hill/Jordan series. However I eagerly look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

4.5 Stars.

Oof. This was a page-turner, sure, but what a disappointment. Let's start with the biggest howler: it's a doppelgänger book! Unless actual Polyjuice potion is involved, this one cannot fail to strain credibility. There is a whole "black ops" plot inspired by Carol's uncanny resemblance to a woman in Germany. This inspires (presumably very expensive) shenanigans involving the assassination of said woman, and a man in the UK, and an international undercover operation where Carol has to impersonate a gangsta lady. And for what--to catch two Eastern European gangsters. Why not just assassinate the gangsters instead? It would be cheaper, and obviously the National Crime Squad is not above just killing people.

This whole operation is so mindboggling. They put Carol in an apartment building, carefully ensuring that there are no compromising links to her real identity. But then her kind "handler" Petra arranges for Carol's long-time partner Tony to live in that same building? What sense does that make? They anticipate that she will be followed, but it does not occur to them that if she meets with him or talks to him in that building, the gangsters might notice it? Ugh.

The serial killer subplot is... fine, I guess, but it somewhat lacks emphasis compared to the Eastern European gangster subplot. The suspense is sucked out of the serial killer subplot because we are given a lot of his POV throughout the book. We know how he grew up, where he works, why he commits the murders--even the name of his ship. I don't know, I would have preferred those details to be revealed through investigative work. Consistent with Val McDermid's previous books in the series, there is a savage sadism on display here: the child's abuse is given in exquisite detail, and the mutilations of the victims. The phrase "pubic scalping" did not need to exist, but now it does. Thanks Val.

Speaking of savagery, after the restraint shown in book 2, where neither Tony nor Carol are attacked, here Val McDermid has her main character raped at the end. In the aftermath of the attack, we get a description of Carol's humiliations and injuries that is extremely vivid, but again made me cringe. I don't know what it is about McDermid that makes her come off as a literary sadist, while other writers who also describe hideous violence (including sexual violence) do not. Take Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling. She had a serial killer in book 3. She had a hideously mutilated corpse in book 2. Her main character had been raped, as revealed in book 3. But while we get occasional graphic details, they are delivered with a humanity that Val McDermid does not seem to be able to muster. Rowling's writing seems to be imbued with a compassion that McDermid lacks.

Great characters and story! Straight on to book 4 :)

DNF 54%

I just don't care anymore. All the stuff with Carol is boring af.

Wow! I really disliked this book...what a shock since I liked the first two so much. The entire premise of the story was so forced and the undercover scenario was ridiculous. It was like the author had an idea in her head and although everyone tried to talk her out of it, because it was utterly DUMB, she went ahead and wrote it anyway. What a piece of crap.

Did not enjoy this book after enjoying the first two and abandoned it at about the 30% mark; it became a real slog and completely unbelievable. The next one sounds better so I will give that one a go before giving up on this series entirely.

In this third book in the series, a couple of years have passed. Tony is now a lecturer at a Scottish university, and Carol has applied for a security position with an international police force. As part of her interview, she has to go undercover in London for a day, and she contacts Tony for help in preparing. Then she's off to Berlin to make contact with a drug dealer who also deals in human trafficking. The man's girlfriend had recently died in a traffic accident, and Carol looks remarkably like her.

Tony is also assisting a Berlin police detective and her friend, a Dutch police detective, about a series of bizarre murders taking place in both countries. All the victims were psychiatrists doing research on humans, and Tony comes to Berlin both to do a profile of the killer and to assist Carol in her undercover work. All goes well for a few weeks, then it all falls apart.

This is my second reading of this thriller and I think I liked it better this time. I intend to re-read the entire series eventually.