Blue Genes (Kate Brannigan, #5)

I really like Val McDermid in general but this one is the only Kate Brannigan s book I ve read so far, and I wasn t too impressed I really prefer the Tony Hill series or the books outside any series.Maybe because I haven t started with the first book in the Brannigan series, and it left me with the feeling of missing some inside jokes references.

When I read the first two chapters of this book, I nearly threw it back in the library stack Kate Brannigan is supposed to be the sharpest of P.I.s, but she does something so dumb, so lacking in common sense, that she gets caught out on what should be an easy investigation Apparently McDermid s need to inject humor into this series overcame her better judgement I stuck with it, and found that as usual Kate has three cases going at once This time it s con artists targeting survivors, sabotage Whe [...]

Read this while travelling, and it was marginally diverting than staring out the window at clouds In future I would rather poke out my eyes than read another Val McDermid I have tried to remove the one star from this review, as it s overly generous.

I normally love McDermid s books but this one isn t her best The subject of fertility treatment for lesbian couples that the main plot revolved around was interesting as were the two minor investigations But the characters and writing, especially the humour fell flat for me.

Predictable and cheesy, but very well written McDermid s skill is to keep you engaged despite the blatantly obvious plot twists and in fairness, often acknowledged bad jokes Plus, Kate Brannigan, her boyfriend Richard, and her motley crew of friends are such a likeable bunch of characters that you re willing to forgive a lot However, there was one bit of the story that was so implausible that I genuinely thought it would turn out to be revealed to the bunkum that it was it wasn t I won t Predict [...]

The series got better as it went on I was just getting into the series as it comes to an end Will look at another series of her books now.

The whole thing is just don t think that s all DON T GIVE A SHIT

Not one of Val McDermid s best offerings I struggled through to the end of this but found it totally unbelievable.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers To view it, click here Kate Brannigan, Manchester s tough talking crime stalking PI, isn t just having a bad day She s having a bad week The worst week of her life, in fact Her boyfriend s obituary is in the newspaper, her plans to capture a team of heartless crooks are in disarray, and a Celtic neo punk band under siege wants her to rescue them from the saboteurs who are trashing their posters and gigs Kate can t even cry on her best frie [...]

Privatdetektivin Kate Brannigan hat gleich mehrere F lle zu l sen Zun chst einmal erleichtern zwei Trickbetr ger trauernde Familienangeh rige, indem sie ihnen einen nicht existenten Grabstein verkaufen Dann taucht ihr Lebensgef hrte, Musikjournalist Richard, mit zwei Mitgliedern einer Band auf, deren musikalisches Leben zur H lle gemacht wird Tourplakate werden abgerissen, Ticketverk ufe sabotiert, Neonazis auf ihre Gigs geschickt und zuletzt wurde sogar der Tourbus abgefackelt Zu guter Le Priva [...]

This is the fifth novel featuring Kate Branigan, the Manchester based private investigator, and probably the best one so far which is saying something as the previous books had all been very strong As usual, Kate finds herself investigating several cases simultaneously, carefully balancing her time and skills, and somehow managing to keep a grasp on all of them.The principal storyline, however, which gives the book its name, revolves around the apparently mindless murder of a doctor engaged i Th [...]

I ve reread this a couple of times now and I still enjoy it even though the twists don t work than once My thoughts on various ethics in the book have changed over the years than once and over time I have begun to think one of the strengths of the book is it is ethically challenging, it forces you to think through some complex situations and develop some sort of a stance.I like Kate Brannigan, she is one of my all time favourite detectives for all that Richard is not good enough f I ve reread th [...]

While trying to find a new business partner, Kate tackles three cases a fly posting scam, a burial scam, and a murder case involving a murdered fertility specialist This last was particularly interesting to me since my own Seminal Murder also features such a scientist McDermid s scientist, however, is ambitious than my fictional one, creating female babies with the X chromosomes of two women In the acknowledgments to this 1996 novel, McDermid writes, What is outlined in this novel is mo W [...]

I took a break from this series, but do want to finish it, and enjoyed this one than the last couple As before, Kate investigates a few unrelated cases and solves a personal dilemma at the same time, solving the murder of a fertility specialist who has been treating her best friend Alexis, helping out a punk band whose gigs are being sabotaged by Mancunian organised crime elements, and finding a new partner when Bill falls in love with an Australian and decides to emigrate The book came o I took [...]

I picked this up because we were fans of the TV series Wire in the Blood and I was mildly concerned the murder might be a little gory and dark Imagine my surprise when I found myself laughing out loud Ms McDermid has a very English, than slighty snarky turn of phrase which I found most amusing and was the main reason I liked this book so much and would be happy to read.The story was a science based mystery but she didn t drag us into too much excruciating detail There were some good I picked thi [...]

This is the first Val McDermid I ve read, and I am willing to try her again particularly because I gather her fans don t think this her strongest book The running of three mysteries in one was at first a positive for me, but towards the endwell, it gave a scattered, breathless sort of approach to it all Can t fault her for being superficial when dealing with grave matter, because most of the mysteries I read are I mean, they start with someone dead, and what could be grave than that This is the [...]

Val McDermid has all the trains on track with this fifth Kate Brannigan outing She makes good use of Brannigan s friends, keeps us moving through 3 or 4 stories, and just has everything spot on Apparently, this book followed her planned one off story with Carol Jordan and that guy who helps Carol Jordan When that turned into a series, it must have quickly been clear that no matter how tuned in McDermid could be with Brannigan, there was a much complex set of stories to tell with Carol Val McDerm [...]

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers To view it, click here Val McDermid is breathe of fresh air and gives mystery a new edge Kate Brannigan and the characters of Blue Genes are colorful.The quips wisecracks on page one drew me into the meat of the book all the wAY to page 297 Brannigan talks tough and has the energizer bunnies pace, but is full of twist turns to get to the basis of the crimes she is trying to solve.I read many genre, many authors , American International I b [...]

This book left me seriously curious about in vitro fertilization and the possibilities thereof As McDermid says in her forward, the subject of the mystery is something that science could probably do and just hasn t yet It s funny because this book is well over ten years old, so you d think the science would sound like even of a reality todaybut I think we re still hamstrung by those same ethical issues that the mystery in this book surrounds.In any case, this was another great entry in This book [...]

This was another good book in the series I m coming towards the end of the series and will miss it I think the next book is the last in the series, so far I do hope that the author continues to add new books to the series.I love the development of the characters from book to book and this didn t disappoint As usual, the main character was investigating several cases in her role as a Private Investigator.

Second book this month I ve wanted to give a 3.5 it s better than my light summer reads, but not up to Val s usual standard Kate Brannigan s investigation was a bit all over the place and the pieces shouldn t have fit quite as easily as they did A few nice twists, and again well written but just not my favourite Most of her Tony Hill series would get a 5 from me And usually Kate would get a clear 4.

A Kate Brannigan mystery Kate has a lot on her plate in this one her business partner is selling his share of the agency and moving to Australia, her lesbian friends are expecting a baby, a sleazy couple are running a scam selling non existent headstones, and someone is sabotaging Dan Druff and the Scabby Heided Bairns.I am really enjoying this series Unfortunately, this the last one of the series in the local library so I will have to resort to inter library loans for the other three.

Blue Genes is a crime novel about Kate Brannigan who is a private investigator I think this is the fifth book about Kate It bothered me a bit that I hadn t read the previous parts, but I think this can be read seperately too I liked the themes in Blue Genes, even though some topics made me a bit uneasy The life of Kate seemed nicely real in a way and I enjoyed the different characters But now I miss Manchester again

This was a quick, fun read, centering around the theme of In Vitro Fertilization, with a subplot involving music band promoters This is the first Val McDermid book I ve read, and I will probably read The detective, Kate Brannigan, is another one of those tough talking female private eye stereotypes yawn , but McDermid writes with a great, snarky sense of humor.

I like the author and Kate but this time the plot is a bit extreme ,so if the theme of infertility is serius , that envisaged in the book is pure sci fi, in contrast the other two misteries that are simple Must also admit, that first few pages have upset me, this I must give credit to the skill of the writer for how knows mislead the reader.

Better than average private eye book The plot is creative and moves along well I have now added a new author to my favourite mystery writersis is McDermid,s first novel starring pi Kate brannigan Now she has written several about this pi, some of which have been filmed for television I love mysteries set in London England.

Not as compelling as the other Brannigan novels The plotlines felt a bit unbalanced, with none of the investigations feeling like it was the main focus Plot developments came out of nowhere, and the resolutions felt a bit truncated However, Val McDermid s wry style makes any Brannigan novel a pleasure to read Blue Genes just isn t her best.

The only McDermid I ve read so far is this series and I m just starting the last one I m not crazy about them but they pass the time Too dated now, for one thing, plus so much slang jargon that is local and not easily gotten by someone from California I look forward to reading her other works.

J ai beaucoup aim cette histoire de d tective priv e qui part dans tous les sens, avec un bon rythme et beaucoup d humour

excellent read