Crack Down & Clean Break

Kate Brannigan #3-4

by Val McDermid

There was only one reason Manchester-based private eye Kate Brannigan was prepared to let her boyfriend help out with the investigation into a car sales fraud nothing bad could happen. In Crack Down, Kate learns that once again with Richard you have to expect the unexpected.

With the unexpected being Richard behind bars, Kate seems to be the obvious choice to look after his eight-year-old son who proves even more troublesome than his father. She soon finds herself dragged into a world of drug traffickers, child pornographers, fraudsters and violent gangland enforcers, bringing her face to face with death in the most terrifying investigation of her career.

And in Clean Break, Manchester-based private eye Kate Brannigan is not amused when thieves have the audacity to steal a Monet from a stately home where she's arranged security. She's even less thrilled when the hunt for the thieves drags her on a treacherous foray across Europe as she goes head to head with organized crime. And as if that isn't enough, a routine industrial case starts leaving a trail of bodies across the Northwest, giving Kate more problems than she can deal with.

Cleaning up the mess in Clean Break forces Kate to confront harsh truths in her own life as she battles with a testing array of villains in a case that stretches love and loyalty to the limits.

Genres: Mystery Thriller, Mystery, Crime

512 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2018

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

[Nancy]

There was only one reason Manchester-based private eye Kate Brannigan was prepared to let her boyfriend help out with the investigation into a car sales fraud nothing bad could happen. In Crack Down, Kate learns that once again with Richard you have to expect the unexpected.
With the unexpected being Richard behind bars, Kate seems to be the obvious choice to look after his eight-year-old son who proves even more troublesome than his father. She soon finds herself dragged into a world of drug traffickers, child pornographers, fraudsters and violent gangland enforcers, bringing her face to face with death in the most terrifying investigation of her career.
And in Clean Break, Manchester-based private eye Kate Brannigan is not amused when thieves have the audacity to steal a Monet from a stately home where she’s arranged security. She’s even less thrilled when the hunt for the thieves drags her on a treacherous foray across Europe as she goes head to head with organized crime. And as if that isn’t enough, a routine industrial case starts leaving a trail of bodies across the Northwest, giving Kate more problems than she can deal with.
Cleaning up the mess in Clean Break forces Kate to confront harsh truths in her own life as she battles with a testing array of villains in a case that stretches love and loyalty to the limits.

Good.

[Wisterious Woman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reason I liked it has everything to do with the fact that I listened to each book on audio. Loved the accents. Manchester and Liverpool aren't what you expect to hear in most detective novels. I also listened to Kickback but gave up on Blue Genes. Interesting enough but not fantastic. The Karen Pirie series is better and more modern day.

Val McDermid stories are very confusing because two things are going on at once. If I spread out the the days I listen by too much it is hard to figure out the story line especially if I drift off to sleep at any point. She is good with description though, so I had no trouble imagining some of the characters and settings.

One of my big complaints is that the characters are a bit cardboard. Your knowledge of who they really are doesn't change from book to book in the series. Richard writes about rock bands, smokes pot and eats Chinese food. To top it off they are happiest together living next-door rather than with each other. I don't like him and cannot see why Kate does, except for the sex. I wouldn't mind if the author killed him off so Kate could find someone that she was more compatible with in other ways.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are two novels dating to around 1990. The first - crack down - was frankly dull. The second however McDermid (who is a widely respected crime writer these days) hit her stride. The character's voice was interesting, there were sarcastic metaphors and similes sprinkled in. It was an altogether good read.

I'd give Crack Down 3, maybe 3.5 stars. But Clean Break is first rate. 4 or 5 stars. I'll be reading other McDermid novels, although perhaps I'll skip Kate Brannigan.

[Kenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun cop series - properly like a 3.5 if only because I read others I liked so much more and though Kate is a very different protagonist than classic cop novels I don't think I like her that much, remains very old school.