1979 - Allie Burns (Paperback)

'A brilliant novel by a supremo of the genre at the height of her powers. A cast of engaging new characters promise to make this an unmissable new series and a thrilling addition to the genre' - Peter James

'A tour-de-force by the amazing McDermid. From the very first pages she effortlessly transports us back in time . . . The plot and characters are remarkable and compelling. Hopefully, we will see the crackerjack Allie Burns back on the pages. The Queen of Crime has delivered another masterpiece' - David Baldacci

'Val McDermid is the absolute QUEEN. It's great that this is the first of a new series. Allie is a fabulous character, I'll go wherever she takes me and I'm dying to see what she does next' - Marian Keyes

'Packed full of Val McDermid's trademark brilliance, 1979 is a thrilling snapshot of a fascinating era' - Jane Harper

'A brilliant thriller, as well as a perfect snapshot of the social and political issues of the time. If there's a novel that better captures what working on a newspaper was like back in the day, I can't think of it' - Linwood Barclay

'Unrivalled. Unmissable. Unforgettable. 1979 is Val McDermid at her nail-biting, heart-rending best' - Chris Whitaker

'A new series from Val McDermid promises to be an event - and 1979 delivers. It's full of wit, thrills and incisive social observation, and features, in Allie Burns, a marvellous new character to follow through the years to come' - Mick Herron

'Absolutely fantastic. I have been reading Val McDermid for twenty-five years, so I am really saying something when I tell you I enjoyed this novel the most. Immersive in its authenticity and pungently atmospheric . . . For someone who remembers the print newsrooms in their heyday, it was a trip into the past so realistic I could smell the fag smoke on my clothes' - Chris Brookmyre

'Brilliant characters, masterful plotting and a pitch-perfect evocation of the heyday of newspapers. I loved it' - Chris Hammer

'A fast-paced triple whammy of a thriller, with all three plots, each credible, running simultaneously. It uses all the crime-writing skills she has honed over the years, and adds something else - a pin-sharp portrait of tabloid journalism in its messy, misogynistic 1970s heyday. Allie Burns is off to a flying start, and well worth following down the decades' - The Scotsman

'Val McDermid was a newshound at the time and it shows . . . This is her best book in years' - The Times, Book of the Month

'Allie is a gratifyingly multi-faceted character, and the sociopolitical elements here add a frisson' - Financial Times

'The work of a writer at the peak of her powers' - Herald

'The fast-paced storytelling flows irresistibly, and McDermid marshals a wide-ranging cast of characters with aplomb' - Irish Times

'Her evocation of the Winter of Discontent is spare and skilful . . . allowing the characters, not the period, to take centre stage' - Scotland on Sunday

'Captures the bleakness and misery of the era with pitch-perfect accuracy' - Irish Independent