Val McDermid

**THIS IS A PAST EVENT**

1979 is a brilliant novel by the mistress of the genre, and it is also the first in a new series. Set in the ‘winter of discontent’, reporter Allie Burns is chasing her first big scoop. A woman in the macho world of the newsroom, Allie begins to expose the criminal underbelly of respectable Scotland, makes powerful enemies and develops a steely determination. And she also risks her life. 1979 is Val at her dazzling best as it draws on her own experience as a journalist at that time.