Val McDermid is an award-winning author of crime novels. Her latest novel is Queen Macbeth
December 2024
2024 in Culture
‘Perfect for winter nights’: the best crime novels to read at Christmas according to Ian Rankin, Bella Mackie and more
From Maigret to Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple, authors choose the whodunnits they love to hunker down with at this time of year
June 2024
How could I back anyone but the SNP and the bolshie, buoyant Scotland it stands for?
Val McDermid
Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems are branch offices – they do what they’re told, and they won’t represent Scots’ best interests, says writer Val McDermid
December 2023
The pet I'll never forget
Celebrity pet I’ll never forget: Fatty, the curry-loving cat who adopted me, by Val McDermid
I opened my front door to find a beautiful black-and-white cat on the doormat. I had no choice – Fatty was moving in
February 2023
Val McDermid on Happy Valley: ‘TV every bit as manipulative as Tommy Lee Royce’
Heartstopping for millions of us, cleansing for Catherine Cawood – and not about the feckless, violent men at all in fact. The legendary crime novelist gives thanks for a TV great
December 2022
Guess who? Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Sophie Hannah and other crime writers reveal their favourite detectives
At the end of a year when murder mysteries rode high in the charts, we ask crime writers to celebrate the best fictional detectives
July 2022
The joy of crime fiction: authors from Lee Child to Paula Hawkins pick their favourite books
Val McDermid, Nicci French, Anthony Horowitz and more reveal what makes a great novel, celebrating writers including Patricia Highsmith, Donna Tartt and Dennis Lehane
August 2021
‘I’m giddy to be here’: the risk-takers who opened bookshops during Covid
Who would open a bookshop in a pandemic? We asked five of them to share their stories, while Val McDermid remembers the bookshops of her youth
July 2021
‘Brexit changed everything’: revisiting the case for Scottish independence
Seven years after the referendum, writers including Val McDermid and William Boyd capture the mood of their country, and ask what it would mean to leave the UK
May 2021
Dreaming of a better future? Ali Smith, Malcolm Gladwell and more on books to inspire change
As our thoughts turn to life after the pandemic, authors from this year’s Hay festival choose books that have inspired lasting change in them
November 2020
Val McDermid: 'The Mermaids Singing felt like a narrative emergency'
The award-winning crime writer on how the plot of the novel that became ITV’s hit series Wire in the Blood arrived, fully formed, while she was driving on the M6
August 2019
The word is out: Val McDermid selects Britain's 10 most outstanding LGBTQ writers
The bestselling crime writer has nominated her favourite queer and trans authors and poets as part of a showcase celebrating the best in British writing
October 2018
Books blog
The inside story of judging the Man Booker prize 2018
Novelist and judge Val McDermid reports that, contrary to award lore, the drama was restricted to the books at this year’s deliberations
March 2018
Books that made me
Val McDermid: ‘I was scornful of fantasy until I read Terry Pratchett'
The author on poetry for Donald Trump, the crime novel that most influenced her – and why she wishes that she had written Treasure Island
November 2017
EU and me: writers reminisce on their relationship with Europe
From cappuccinos to constitutional rights, Stieg Larsson to Smetana – writers reflect on what Europe means to them
September 2017
Letter: Val McDermid on the importance of Kate Millett, author of Sexual Politics
Val McDermid writes: I tore through Kate Millett’s Sexual Politics over a weekend in 1973
June 2017
Reformation 2017
Val McDermid: why Westminster should copy the Scottish electoral system
In a new series to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the novelist argues for a more a representative parliament
April 2017
Book of the day
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins review – how to follow Girl on the Train?
Her debut thriller was a phenomenon, but here an embarrassment of narrators and the clunky withholding of information is death to suspense
March 2017
Colin Dexter: a mischievous, generous man every bit as clever as his creations
Val McDermid
The man behind Inspector Morse was humble, kind and warmly funny. His death marks the passing of a generation who propelled crime writing to new levels
February 2017
A retirement home for lesbians? Where do I sign up?
Val McDermid
Enabling LGBT people to grow old together is not about creating a ghetto but about helping them to live later life openly, healthily and without fear
September 2016
Val McDermid on PD James: ‘She faced the darkness head on’
McDermid explains how PD James subverted the cosiness of golden-age crime fiction
