Booked For Murder

Lindsay Gordon #5

by Val McDermid

Booked for Murder

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

Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

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

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Val McDermid's work - the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series, later adapted into the ITV series Wire in the Blood, the Karen Pirie series, the Kate Brannigan series, her amazing standalones A Place of Execution and Killing the Shadows and even her extra-genre offerings Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime and Northanger Abbey. The Lindsay Gordon series is the only one of hers I'm yet to complete.
The Gordon series has more obvious autobiographical inspiration than McDermid's other work - the central character is an investigative journalist - as McDermid herself was for many years - who also rose from working class roots in Scotland to win a place at Oxford. The central character, Lindsay, is a lesbian, as are the majority of relationships portrayed within the series. These were McDermid's first books published, at a time when she was, to quote Nicholas Wroe, more enfant terrible than the grande dame of the crime genre she is today. Consequently, the plots of the earlier instalments aren't quite as intricate and some of the dialogue not quite as convincing as in her later novels, but they're still a great read! Booked For Murder was published in 1996, the year after McDermid won the CWA Gold Dagger award for The Mermaids Singing (the first in the Hill-Jordan series), and it is clear that this is the work of an accomplished crime writer.
This story opens in San Francisco, California, where Lindsay has obtained her PhD and is working as a journalism professor, while her partner Sophie has a successful obstetrics and gynacology practice. Lindsay is shocked to hear of the sudden, violent death of their good friend, author Penny Varnavides, in London. Out of the blue, a British private detective shows up, imploring Lindsay to come at once to London to help exculpate another friend, Meredith Miller - Penny's former lover - who has been accused of the crime.
Booked For Murder uses an intriguing plot idea, one that surfaces again in Robert Galbraith's second Cormoran Strike novel, The Silkworm. Penny has been murdered in an identical manner to the victim in her next novel, the details of which only a select few individuals - her agent, her editor and publisher, could have been aware.
Somewhat reluctantly, Lindsay jets across the Atlantic and begins uncovering Penny's movements over her last days, and interviewing those who may have benefited from her death. Her methods are somewhat unorthodox - she breaks through police crime scene tape to search Penny's apartment, makes vague threats of tabloid exposure to convince reluctant witnesses to speak to her and bribes a dissatisfied receptionist for information. She also becomes involved in investigating another intrigue, relating to dodgy business practices in another friend's production company.
As in previous instalments, Lindsay puts herself into situations of serious physical danger with curious frequency, but always emerges relatively unscathed.
I found the setting in 1996 quite nostalgic at times, with references to the difficulties of travelling within the USA after the Oklahoma bombings (little did we know what was to come), and to the challenges of using up-to-the-minute technologies. Remember having to note down whole web addresses exactly in the days before robust search engines?
All in all, a quick and entertaining read. I'm glad that I've still got a couple of these left up my sleeve to enjoy.

[Enrica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really loved reading books from the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan Series, and was very disappointed with the characters in this series. I found it very difficult to keep up my interest. The plot was soooooooo slow! It was almost as if Val McDermid decided to use this series to normalise lesbianism. Frankly, I don't have any problem at all with homosexuality, but does EVERY character have to be a lesbian? I don't think it is a true indicator of the cross-section of society. Bottom line.....the book was extremely boring. I am not at all interested in the characters. The plot is static. I tried to complete the book but only got a third of the way through. I equated the experience to pushing a barrow full of bricks/concrete uphill for the time it took me to read this far.

[Sharon Mensing · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystery set in publishing world with main characters lesbians. Really, all the characters were lesbians, which seemed unrealistic to me. The plotting was jumped around and some things didn’t really make sense. The intro, especially, was meant to mislead. In the end, an underlying plot that just surfaced out of nowhere led to the killer…this was too pat of an ending for me.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lindsay once again getting into trouble while investigating the murder of her friend Penny a writer. The story revolves around the motive for her murder with several red herrings. Lindsay flies from LA to London when Meredith the partner of Penny asks her to investigate the suspicious death.

Lots of action with a subplot getting her friend Helen separated from her dodgy business partners. Overall an entertaining story drawn I suspect from Val Mcdermid’s journalistic past.

[Iris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This starts off with a very intriguing murder, but instead of getting on with the clues etc. the relationships of the characters were hashed and rehashed.
This may be acceptable for many readers but I became bored.

[John Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

read

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the extreme escalation of violence in this book.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A 2.5 stars read for me. I get the distinct sense that this was not the McDermid to start with and will try one of her other books. This one isn't terrible, but it does take a while to get going (problematic in a short book) and there are enough editing misses (one character changes surnames multiple times in several pages, some words are very overused by way of characterization, etc.) that it was some effort to get through the first 30 pages or so. After that. things picked up enough that I wasn't so distracted. It's a fast read fro that point forward, with tantalizing snippets about British publishing and news reporting that I've liked to have seen more of.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

The continued adventures of Lindsay Gordon, the Scots Lesbian former reporter turned journalism professor and crime solver. One expects well drawn (if not always easily likeable) characters, solid scene setting and a plot that keeps the reader guessing but provides enough clues for the dedicated armchair detective to solve the mystery or at least come close before the very end. Once more she delivers.

[KarenC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeaa! The true murderer is identified & headed for prison! The first story in the series in which this happens. Hard to believe one person could have so many friends involved in murders. Interesting characters that feel real.

[Bywater Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

"One of my favorite authors, Val McDermid is an important writer - witty, never sentimental, taking us through mean streets with the dexterity of a Chandler." -Sara Paretsky

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

3½ stars

This was another good book in the series and brought you up to date with the characters and their lives.

[Kate Welsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid entry in the series, and it was fascinating to see how the YA world of 25 years ago was presented.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a crime story which takes a long time to get going. On p.144 the protagonist is asking about the publishing house she is investigating, in London, only now finding out about the man who owns it. He set it up for "Mostly fiction, mostly by young writers who don't come out of the sausage factory of university and journalism." Sensibly (for the late 1990s) he abandoned hardbacks.
This is extremely dated. A TV producer is inquiring about a woman and does not know where she lives, what she looks like, what clothes she wears, who she dates, etc. Heard of the internet? And today we'd tell her to try SM. People still sit in bars and restaurants trying to pick up information. Somewhere along the line is a killer, but we spend too much time "in the stuffy gloom of the flat" with the protag and her band of like-minded ladies.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book #: 53
Title: Booked for Murder
Author: Val McDermid
Series: Lindsay Gordon #5
Format: 230 pages, Paperback, local library
Pub Date: First published November 1, 1996
Started: October 3, 2025 Finished: October 16, 2025
Awards: Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery (2000)
Categories: PS24 A book with a happily single woman protagonist; PS35 A book centering LGBTQ+ characters that isn't about coming out; PS38 Two books with the same title (2); GR32 A mystery or true crime book;
Goodreads Rating: 3.65; 945 ratings; 58 reviews
My Rating: *** three out of five stars

A popular author dies in a freak accident. But in the unfinished draft of her latest novel, a character dies the exact same way. The only person who has seen the draft is her editor. Can Lindsay find the real killer before the killer finds her?

[Bo · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off: come on, reviewers of Goodreads--is it really so shocking that lesbians flock together? That when you're a gay person, often your friends and the people you surround yourself with are too?

With that aside, I read Booked For Murder after seeing it at a local library and thinking the plot sounded interesting, despite my never having read a Lindsay Gordon mystery, or really anything by Val McDermid. I found it followable despite that. It provided a fun, relatively light read that I could see becoming an enjoyable diversion of a series.

I always enjoy seeing old-school technology, looking back at what would qualify as a "technology thriller" in the 90's. The frequent reference to floppy disks was especially fun.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially a bit of a slow-burner, possibly because I hadn't read any of the earlier books in the series and spent too much time trying to work out backstories. Although I'd guessed the character at the centre of the 'big reveal' quite early on, I nevertheless enjoyed how the story developed.

[Skye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the aspects surrounding the publishing business. Not as much a fan of the fraud investigations, especially since those plots were not connected to each other, and one of them was mob related which was not a plot point until too late into the book.

[Janyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and unrealistic

[Robert P. Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book by the author I have read and it is masterly. All the characters have been drawn exceptionally well. Each of the main characters have qualities that are highlighted and there is not a wasted scene or a wasted line of dialogue. The beginning of the book is so great because you believe that the life of one of the main characters is in danger.

The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that some of the scenes, especially near the end, are a bit over the top. But overall a great story with characters one cares for.

[Cheryle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine book by a very good Scottish author, Val McDermid. This book revolves around the murder of an award winning author that was executed in the manner in her next novel.
Lindsay Gordon, Scottish journalist and amateur sleuth, was the first creation of international bestseller Val McDermid. Report for Murder introduced the United Kingdom’s first lesbian detective, and the series has been perennially popular ever since. Lindsay is tenacious to the point of stubbornness, intrepid to the point of stupidity, and loyal to the point of laying her life on the line. With the support of friends, family, and lovers, she takes on the world with wit and brio, unraveling criminal conspiracies and unmasking murderers. She’s feisty, feminist, and funny.

Each novel plunges Lindsay into a different milieu. Report for Murder is set against the backdrop of an exclusive girls’ boarding school; Common Murder features a women’s peace protest, where feelings run deadly; Deadline for Murder forces Lindsay to confront the darker side of her own world of journalism; Conferences Are Murder explores the deadly underbelly of trade unionism; Booked for Murder lifts the lid on publishing, showing it’s no longer a gentleman’s game; and Hostage to Murder brings Lindsay face-to-face with child custody battles and the gangsters who inhabit the world of terrorism. The hallmark of McDermid’s novels is a compassionate understanding of human relationships and a shrewd insight into contemporary society.

The Lindsay Gordon novels have been published to great critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Booked for Murder, the fifth Lindsay Gordon mystery, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. McDermid has been praised for the way her storytelling interweaves the various elements of the novel into a seamless, balanced whole. “I don’t write about issues, I write about characters,” McDermid says. The books have won a wide general readership among fans of the mystery genre.

Val McDermid grew up in a Scottish mining community and read English at Oxford. She lives in northern England.

[Sofija Kryž · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, another story by Val McDermid. I usually like her crime fiction because of interesting twists and good balance between mysterious and creepy, also, because of warm, humanly characters. I liked “Booked for Murder” but it had some limitations.

“Booked for Murder” is yet another story about Lindsay Gordon, a crime-investigating journalist. Her life away from Britain is suddenly interrupted. Her friend, a teen-/YA literature writer Penny has been murdered in a creepy and unconventional method, strangely, a replica of a murder method described in her new book. Problem is, the book’s not only not published yet – it’s still in progress, the manuscripts only seen by a handful of people, one of them being Penny’s partner and another close friend of Lindsay.

Story per se was quite interesting. What I liked less though, that it’s quite difficult to calculate the right suspect until quite late in the book. Not because I like the plots to be predictable but because certain vital information is shared quite late in the book, almost deus ex machina, rather than just the reader getting lost among red herrings.

This book was clearly targeted at LGBT community. Which is great per se, but there is a plainly visible disbalance between the numbers of female and male characters. This disbalance doesn’t feel natural, unless one lives in a social bubble. It’s fashionable to nail Tolkien to a cross for being “sexist” these days (please read shounen before doing so), but, had I not read McDermid’s other books, I would reverse nail the author for overuse of female characters here and for, uhhh… sexism? towards males here.

To sum up – an interesting story, but I think McDermid’s written some better stories.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a below-average novel, honestly. Naff and obvious, cloying in its preachiness and curiously conservative in outlook. Equal parts upper-middle-class wealth envy, smug pre-9/11 California and London lifestyles, complacent mid-90s cyber lols (.LET document format: 'that must be a letter!') and a general sense of placid accomplishment for achieving middle age.

I've only read the first novel in this series, and a lot of the things I was happy to forgive in a first novel are still here, more pronounced, and completely out of place. Clunkiness, prickliness, expositional dialogue, badly-placed description, unbelievable characters, describing places as though your audience intimately knows and cares where you're describing. The plot flags several times, Lindsay gets it wrong constantly, and I honestly didn't care that much.

There was clearly a feminist concept of pornography in the 90s, judging by the comedic overreaction Linday and Meredith have from seeing some sex tapes. Women are being exploited for the lewd pleasures of men, and here's the videotaped proof.

Only the thing is, the one who was developing and pushing this porn scheme was a powerful, vicious woman. Where's the exploration of that? Betrayal of the sisterhood? Ex-militant feminist longing? Desire for solidarity where only diversity exists? #notallwomen? Instead of looking deeper, McDermid satisfies herself with a collar-clutching expulsion of utter, venomous disgust, and pats herself and her right-on middle aged feminist characters on the back for righteously hating the whole sordid affair.

Tart noir is miles better than this, and I'm not in any kind of hurry to look for more Lindsay Gordon stuff.

[Jackie Cain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in the series about a journalist who keeps getting involved in murders. Well, at this point Lindsay Gordon is an ex-journalist, become an academic in the US, but she still uses her journalistic investigative skills and contacts.

It has a very clever sleight-of-hand opening which was pretty scary. It also had an immediate sense of the person being described and of the places - travelling at night in a plane to the US - although the easy customs described carried a sense of nostalgia for the present-day reader: that’ll change soon but this book is from the 1990s in "the Time Before".

it is a welcome mixture of friendship and sensible investigation, well, as sensible as is possible for an intrepid reporter. And, she finds time to resolve two crimes and help out two of her friends. I felt a bit sad when it was finished but I think that was my fault for gobbling up the last few chapters.

[Andy Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent piece of writing from Val McDermid, who really gets into her stride with her fifth Lindsay Gordon mystery. Taking the world of publishing as the backdrop to murder, fraud and gangster wrongdoing, Booked for Murder is a highly readable novel that serves as an excellent entree to Val's later work. Gordon is an interesting and confident character who should be brought back by McDermid as it would be fascinating to see how she copes ten years on from her initial outings as a lefty journo-come-amateur sleuth. Highly recommended.

[Huda Khan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only thing I enjoyed about this book is that it gave me great sleep! The story starts off with an interesting plot but then there are so many other plots taking centre stage that the reader is left confused. And somehow everybody is a lesbian.
The characters seem real but the story doesn't.
The book really didn't work for me.
PS - I had got this book years back (the thought of murder and lesbians seemed intriguing) but never got around to reading it. Now that I have, I wish I had gifted it to my ex!

[Balthazar Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lindsay Gordon is, yet again, asked by a friend to prove that they are innocent of murder. It means a trip back to the UK from her new home in California. However, this time things are a bit more deadly and they don't go as smoothly as she was hoping for.

This book is different from the first book in the series as it shows the passing of time in terms of technology that we all take for granted these days.

I found it an enjoyable and engaging read and like catching up with old friends.

[AnnetteW · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Val McDermid book I have read and while it didn't set the world on fire for me, it was an enjoyable read. Characters are mostly well written and the storyline was interesting (despite the disclaimer, probably not that far off what goes on in some sections of the publishing world!) Not enough for me to go and buy another of McDermid's books but if I came across one, I would give it a go.

[Megan Denby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lindsay Gordon, Val's fearless investigator, is my hero. This is a brilliantly executed thriller/mystery. All the ingredients of a fantastic read: tough, gripping plot, wise-cracking humour, passionate characters and a true journey through the relationships of women who love each other. I am hooked!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a mixed bag here. Poor editing, slow to take off, rather made-for-tv writing style. It was refreshing to read about lesbian sleuths but I was hoping for a bit more depth. The relationships between the women are about as warm as a "couple" in a James Patterson thriller--place markers at most. McDermid has certainly improved as a writer since 1996. Read something more recent by her.