Blog archive
June 2023
Bridget Brewster Discovers Village Benefits
06/04/2023
Rumor of Humor #16
06/04/2023
Communications Project with Cal State LA
06/02/2023
Creative Aging
06/01/2023
May 2023
One Villager's Story
05/31/2023
Pasadena Area Liberal Arts Center
05/31/2023
Pasadena Village Responds to Rainbow Flag Burning at Pasadena Buddhist Temple
05/31/2023
Plan Ahead - And Be Prepared
05/31/2023
Tuesday, May 23 Pasadena Celebrated Older Americans
05/31/2023
Reparations, Social Justice Activity
05/24/2023
Rumor of Humor #14
05/19/2023
Rumor of Humor #13
05/12/2023
Issue #12
05/09/2023
Science Monday - Review of Meeting on April 10, 2023
05/09/2023
Conversations Re African American Artists Before 1920
05/08/2023
Beyond the Village – Suzi and Phil Hoge
05/01/2023
Congratulations Wayne April! Honored at UNH
05/01/2023
Table Topics
05/01/2023
Volunteer Appreciation at the Village
05/01/2023
“ACCIDENTAL HOST—The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease”
05/01/2023
April 2023
Jumbo Joy
04/24/2023
Pasadenans Recent Experience With Racism
04/23/2023
Recent Events Reflecting Racism
04/23/2023
Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
04/18/2023
Photography for Social Justice
04/11/2023
Issue #8
04/07/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - Catherine Deely
04/06/2023
Creative Writing in Older Adults
04/06/2023
Gifts of Love
04/06/2023
March 2023
Issue #7
03/31/2023
Issue #6
03/26/2023
Great Decisions update
03/14/2023
Dominion Lawsuit, South Africa and 710 Stub
03/08/2023
February 2023
2023 DEI Progress
02/27/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - Doug Colliflower
02/26/2023
CONVERSATIONS WITH ART
02/26/2023
GREAT DECISIONS
02/26/2023
OLDER ADULTS RESOURCE FAIR
02/26/2023
The Important, Influential Books in our Lives - Revisited
02/26/2023
History, Resolution of the 710 Freeway
02/19/2023
Eminent Domain, 710 Highway
02/13/2023
Bernard Garrett, 710 Freeway
02/06/2023
Men's Times Gatherings
02/03/2023
January 2023
Pasadena's Senior Commission
01/30/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - JIM HENDRICK
01/27/2023
GRATITUDE - IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!
01/27/2023
JEFF GUTSTADT - FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST
01/27/2023
Bernard Garrett, Incredible Black Entrepreneur
01/17/2023
What is the "Spirit Talk" Group About?
01/16/2023
Same Ol’ New Year, Brand New Me
01/12/2023
Review of 2022, Consideration of 2023
01/06/2023
BEYOND THE VILLAGE - PATTI LA MARR
01/03/2023
FROM THE CHAIR
01/03/2023
WALK WITH EASE
01/03/2023
Featured Author: Val McDermid
By Ms VykPosted: 08/24/2020
International best seller Val McDermid is a renowned author with over 32 books under her pen. She has won several awards and is described as “Britain’s reigning Queen of Crime.” Her books mostly fall into four series, with most helmed by female lead detectives. There are standalone books as well as nonfiction books about forensics. She is, to say the least, a prolific writer who knows the dark and smarmy side of human nature.
I’ve gotten hooked on the Carol Jordan/Tony Hill book series. She’s the lead detective and he’s the psychological profiler, and both are part of an elite “murder squad” of a police department in South Yorkshire, England. I have zipped through THE RETRIBUTION, CROSS AND BURN, SPLINTER THE SILENCE AND INSIDIOUS INTENT in less than 14 days. They are that compulsively readable and hard to put down. Yes, I’ve lost sleep reading deep into the night. While I did not start at the beginning of the series it was easy enough to “catch up” with the main characters and background references.
What makes reading this author so addictive? First, her excellent writing style. McDermid knows how to turn a phrase. Her vocabulary is refreshingly extensive. She is elegantly crisp with her prose and she does not clutter the page with needless and endless exposition.
Secondly, her complex characters come alive on the page. Her team is comprised of colleagues with individual quirks and conflicts, emotional depth and intelligence, tangled relationships and personalities that hold your interest. They are compassionate about the victims of the hideous crimes they investigate. Consequently, you, as a reader, are drawn in to care about the team and what happens to and with them during the course of each book.
Thirdly, the murder plots are intricate as well as atrocious. They are not only violent but also viciously disturbing and demented. The murderers themselves are deranged yet cunning and self-righteous with their points of view. The storylines veer from stalking, internet trolling to arsonists to wedding crashers with more than a little hint of feminism thrown in for good measure.
A plethora of crime, mystery, thriller and suspense books are out there to choose from. The genre is jam packed. But if you’re looking for taut, smart, riveting, edge-of-your seat story telling you won’t go wrong choosing a Val McDermid novel. But be warned: you will undoubtedly lose some sleep.
Ms. Vyk