Val McDermid’s 30th novel, Out of Bounds is the fourth to feature DCI Karen Pirie, head of Police Scotland’s historic cases unit. When a teenage joyrider ends up in a coma, a routine DNA test reveals a close familial match to the perpetrator of an unsolved murder that took place in 1996. Discovering the killer’s identity should be a fairly easy task, but, the boy being adopted, Pirie and her sidekick, the doltish but earnest DC Jason Murray, find themselves in a maze of red tape. Pirie, who is struggling to come to terms with the death of her partner, also becomes involved unofficially in the case of Gabriel Abbott, a lonely obsessive who has been found shot dead. DI Alan Noble, in charge of the case, believes it’s suicide, but Pirie thinks there might be a link with the death of Abbott’s mother, 22 years earlier, in a presumed terrorist attack. McDermid’s expertly juggled plotlines and masterful handling of pace and tension tick all the best boxes, but what makes this book a real cracker is Pirie herself – grieving, insubordinate and dogged in her pursuit of the various culprits.

To say when I started this book I was struggling to get into it as I think I had a book hangover from my previous book and I love  val’s books so I couldn’t understand why I struggled but I am enjoying it thou. 
This started with a load of young lads drinking and thinking they are big hard guys who needs to go steal a car only for it to end in disaster but then the police find out one lads d.n.a makes to a historical rape and murder dating back 20 years and the lad is still critical in hospital so it’s just a matter of sitting and waiting for him to regain consciousness and for the historical crime team to find all the evidence from the rape and murder to help with finding the murderer 

I’m now listening to this on audible which I really prefer than actually reading the book cos I really struggled getting into the book when I was reading it. I actually preferred to listen to the book instead of reading it myself I got that lost in it that I nearly got myself run over as I listen to it while I’m out walking. 

Well I loved Toni and how she was determined to prove that she wasn’t involved in Nicole’s murder. But still her mother blames Toni for Nicole being at the lake and being left on her own. But least now Toni is getting her live back in order and has a job and maybe her and Ryan can get back to where they left it.

Cass Anderson didn’t stop to help the woman in the car, and now she’s dead.
Ever since, silent calls have been plaguing Cass and she’s sure someone is watching her.
Consumed by guilt, she’s also starting to forget things. Whether she took her pills, what her house alarm code is – and if the knife in the kitchen really had blood on it.

So Mathew asked Cass not to take the sort cut cos it’ll be dark and the storm is due. She decides to take it against Mathews wishes and see a car broken down and cos it’s dark and the storms brewing she doesn’t stop to help. So when next day she hears about the murder of a young woman on the road she went down, she worries what would’ve happened if she stopped and help would she have been murdered or not. 

But then the identity of the woman is revealed and cass realises she new the woman and had lunch with her week before and is now feeling guilty for not stopping. And to top it of Cass is worried that she is going mental as things are happening that she can’t remember planning or doing.

So after Cass nearly overdoses she decides to start taking control of her life and that when she discovers the horrible truth of what really happened to Jane and who was behind it all along.

I was really shocked when I got to the end I never expected it to be who it was always thought it was a random murder so glad I decided to give this book a go and can’t wait for the next book of this author to come out.