Dead Beat cover art

Dead Beat

PI Kate Brannigan, Book 1

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Dead Beat

By: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Chloe Massey
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.99

Buy Now for $25.99

About this listen

The stunning first novel in the Kate Brannigan series, from number one Sunday Times best seller Val McDermid.

As a favour, Kate agrees to track down a missing songwriter, Moria Pollock. It was supposed to be a nice simple case, but the search soon leads Kate into the dark underworld of Leeds, Manchester and Bradford – and finally to a shocking confrontation with a killer....

©1992 Val McDermid (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Mystery Private Investigators Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Crime

Critic Reviews

"This is crime writing of the very highest order." (The Times)

"No one can plot or tell a story like McDermid." (Daily Express)

All stars
Most relevant
I enjoyed this story, with the pedigree of the author l expected something deeper but as this is the first in the line perhaps depth comes in stages. This for me was a light read, but enjoyable, nice pace and not boring. The narration was very good - its a holiday read and yep good enough to buy the next in the series. The main character is a Private investigator and the storyline on what is uncovered (which is more than one thing) comes across as highly credible. Good stuff

First time l have read anything from this author

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Nice topic of murder in music industry . Good first person narrative. Believable and exciting . A good read . Could not put it down

Twists and turns

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An easy read. Very light but lacking some character depth and story depth. If this was the first Val McDermid is picked up is probably not read any more of hers which is a shame as she’s a brilliant author. I’m hoping that this series develops. I’ll give one more a try and if it doesn’t then just leave it. I didn’t like her series with the journalist either but from memory that was a better written book than this.

Not up to her normal exceptional standard.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thank you Val and Chloe for opening up a new world for me. I am already hooked on Karen's PI universe and into book 2.

A Mancunian blend of Poirot, Holmes, Marple

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Val McDermid always writes great characters who engage you in a tale of suspense and intrigue.

Always a good read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.