Open And Shut

Lindsay Gordon #3

by Val McDermid

When Lindsay returns from Italy to find that Alison Maxwell has been strangled and that Jackie Mitchell has been imprisoned for the crime, she tries to get Jackie off the hook despite ever-changing loves and loyalties

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Lesbian, Queer, Audiobook, LGBT

Hardcover

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Val McDermid is a No. 1 bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold over eleven million copies.

She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009 and was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for 2010. In 2011 she received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award.

She writes full time and divides her time between Cheshire and Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Ingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back to Back reading of Val McDermid's Lindsay Gordon-Series.
Started this one December 20th, 2012.
Wow! Best book so far in the Lindsay Gordon-Series.
Just to say that a scene late in the book started like an Agatha Christie-Scene: a who-dunnit-confontration. Could have provoked me to give 3 stars or less, except ... but no spoilers here. Read for yourself.
Highly recommended. Do you have to read the first two books before that? Yes, for context and background I think it is necessary.
Next!

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it and shall read more in series I hope

[Debby Hallett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was book 3. They are steadily improving. This one had more polished writing but I did manage to figure out who dunnit before the author told me.

So I can give this one 3+ stars.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was early. 1990. Times have changed. Gay panic, rentboys, friends to lovers, lovers prodding emotional catharsis, and a surprise villain that no one could have seen coming. It was very different from the later books I've read.

[John Toffee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Val McDermid's third book and the third in the Lindsat Gordon series is quite a mixed read. Gordon is, a newspaper journalist who goes way beyoned the call of duty in pursuit of a story and, like the author, is a lesbian and boy, don't you know it by the time you've finished! I had really enjoyed the first two books with one nagging issue in that I felt that the lesbian angle was over-played. I have no problems with her being a lesbian whatsoever but I don't need to keep being told.
The reviews I've read say that this is the best of the series so far (there are another three later) and I did enjoy the mystery put before me. I found this a really hard book to rate in that it hovered between a 4 & 5 for some things but a 2 for others. Firstly the mystery itself, in which Lindsay return's from hiding in Italy (see previous book) to find one of her lesbian (of course) friends, Jackie, is in prison for the murder of one of Lindsay's ex-colleagues and lovers (here we go again), Allison. Jackie's partner, Claire (lesbian of course), asks Lindsay to investigate. However to rub salt into the wound and to her disgust and dismay Lindsay finds that Claire is living with the woman Lindsay thought was her own partner, Cordellia (lesbian). Tensions are obviously very high throughout. I must admit the thriller element was top drawer and kept me enthralled and I am proud to say I did guess the murderer althought got nowhere near the motive!b There's a hetrosexual friend (do what??) of Lindsay's involved to as her brother, a Scotish Tory MP (see later), who is involved in a rent boy scandal (ahh back to homosexuality), which all becomes intertwined with the original murder. So this element a 4 or 5 rating.
Now the other elements of the book. As I said I have no issue whatsoever with lesbianism, and as they say one of my best friends truely is gay, but I don't have to have oit continually shoved down my throat on every single page and believe me IT IS. Reading this you would think that Glasgow and the surrounding areas are some kind of gay colony and why do we keep being 'treated' to their lustful desires and them jumping into bed together every time it rains in Scotland. I t all becomes exceedingly tedious and distracts from the story.
The next thing I get fed up with in McDermid's books are her predudsts. The first is her total off-the-scale left wing bias. Constant Labour promotions and Anti-Tory slurs is a theme in her writing as well as anti / incompident Police, all tiresome. Note that even the rentboy scandal involves just about the only Tory MP in Scotland, it couldn't be one of the many Labour or SNP MPs.
So parts of this I loved and parts I hated. I'll definitely read the next but I am hoping for a bit more of a mature direction, particularly from someone of McDermid's age.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this some years ago. Rereading it this week was an absolute pleasure, possibly biased by a slight crush I have on Lindsay Gordon (I probably would find her difficult in real life). It would have been even better I think to reread the one before, so if you get the chance read these in the right order for continuity.

Lindsay returns to Glasgow to find an ex lover has been murdered and a good friend is in gaol for it. The friend's partner has shacked up with Lindsay's partner and I have to admit I found some of the emotional drama around that a bit awkward and not completely to my liking. Lindsay has nowhere to go so stays with another old friend who has recently broken up with her own girlfriend.

See all these strong, feminist, lesbian characters had me already enjoying myself (even years ago when I read it and I was still kidding myself I was straight and I couldn't have said why I liked Lindsay better than McDermid's other -also fantastic- female sleuth Kate Brannigan). But the people around Jackie (the accused) know she didn't do it and the police have not had the resources to keep looking after finding someone who looked like the murderer. It's up to Lindsay to untangle the plot of the murder as well as a burglary she herself gets accused of, all while trying to work around her residual attraction to her faithless ex, Cordelia and her hatred of Cordelia's new lover, Claire.

I am not sure whether I guessed who the murderer was, or sort of remembered from the past. I suspect the latter. All the clues were there but it is an involved enough plot that not everything is immediately clear. Some of Lindsay's conversations are full of needless drama but she is solid and likeable on the whole. The writing flows well with sometimes a touch of over-explanation...but it didn't manage to grate me. Sex happened in the book but we didn't have to watch it!

I will definitely be trying to get copies of all the Lindsay Gordon books to reread them and I recommend them to anyone who likes a bit of feminism in their mystery or to see some lesbian characters centred for a change. Also just anyone who likes a fast-paced and well-twisted mystery without too much gore or psychologising.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the story to be okay but I didn't really like most of the characters. They were just so stupid. Even when all the evidence was put forth the characters just wouldn't accept it simply because they knew the killer. Claire wouldn't accept her gf was the killer and attacked Lindsay for figuring out that her gf was the killer. AND THEN SHE BLAMES LINDSAY. And then Lindsay lets the killer get away with murder simply because she used to date her and the killer is claustrophobic and doesn't want to go to prison. I mean, the chick that got killed was a horrible person but they let the killer get away with murder. An innocent person was put in jail because of the killer. I frankly don't care whats happens to any of the characters to be honest.

[Cloud · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read 60+ lesbian detective fiction novels in the past year and a half and what I gathered is that lovers jump into cohabitation within a week from knowing/screwing each other. That everyone is ex-lover with everyone else. And more importantly that you can always always cheat on your lover and it'll be fine, and this novel confirms all. Lindsay cheated on Cordelia with Deborah while she and Cordelia explicitly were in a committed monogamous relationship and living together. But Lindsay f*cks off to the other end of the continent for an undetermined period of time because she is marked by the Secret Service and Cordelia has to remain faithful. What is this bullsh*t. Published lesbian fiction is a whole mess fam. Go read fanfiction, it's free and it's more ethical.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 3 of the Lindsay Gordon series. Gordon returns to Scotland after a nine month retreat to seclusion in Italy. Upon returning she learns of the murder of a previous lover supposedly by a friend of her who is incarcerated for the crime. She is hired by a lawyer friend to investigate if there is anyway to find reasonable doubt about the friend accused of the crime to try to appeal the conviction. The lawyer friend also happens to be the new lover of the woman Gordon left behind when she fled the country at the end of the previous book in the series. Gordon's investigation takes some surprising turns with a nice surprise of an ending. Best of the three in the series I have read.

[Jackie Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very good. I liked both the previous Lindsay Gordon books, the first books that Val McDermid published, but in this one she really got into her stride. It has great characters and an interesting story gradually revealed with strands of stories weaving together to provide a witness to break open the case in a quite remarkable manner. As well as the immediate murder mystery, it provides a satisfying next instalment in Lindsay's life. The locations and methods used by Lindsay feel concrete and realistic.

[Mary Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is enjoyable to read. Lynsey is quick witted and careful in her soothing to find out who killed an ex of hers. Lyndsey has been able to return to Glasgow after a self exile at the end of the last book. And surprise, surprise her most recent ex is now in Glasgow with a new partner. I do like the normalisation of non heterosexuals and the political bias that the author includes in her books. Not so keen on the ending of this story.

[Ashleigh Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, I didn’t see the ending coming. The writing is getting more and more advanced. However I do miss Cordelia as Lindsays lover. She was much more interesting then Sophie. Sophie is a very washed out and boring character so I’m not sure how I’m going to enjoy the next 3 books. But I do plan on finishing the series

[Terese · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, though the writing seemed so different from Val McDermid’s later work that I had to check it was in fact the same author. I loved the Glasgow setting and the political feel. Loved the Agatha Christie homage.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Val McDermid mystery, Lindsay Gordon is a lesbian detective

[Turi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Val McDermid's books.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early McDermid book continues the tales of Glaswegian lesbian journalist as she seeks to overturn a murder conviction

[Rania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering myself a crime novel expert, I didn’t see the ending coming! Got to love Val McDermid

[Karen Kneller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cracking listen

[Nadine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Melanie Peak · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd book I have read in this series and really enjoyed it even though I had worked out who the killer was and why.

[Karin Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable mystery and a bit of a period piece.

[Marney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is good, the writing is good, I just wish Lindsay was not quite so objectionable.

[Gail Kennon · Rating 3 out of 5]

mostly enjoyed...

[Bernita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each book in the series gets better and better!

[Darren Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read with an ending I didn't see coming!

[Ian McNair · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy had a different title - Final Edition. It’s a gruesome crime and it looks like the perpetrator gets away with it. The clever thing is, it’s also a love story. A good read.

[Jennifer Jank · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's interesting to read the earlier books from a fave author. I enjoyed the read but she's definitely improved her storytelling as she's written more.

[Outlander · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 12th Val McDermid but my 1st Lindsay Gordon Mystery. As always, a great read if a short one. Like Ms Gordon I picked the wrong murderer till the last !

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

🎧 4.5⭐️ This is the 3rd book in the Lindsay Gordon series and may be the best so far. It's a good mystery with a satisfying solution!

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

THAT TWIST GAGGED ME.