Kick Back

Written by Val McDermid

Narrated by Chloe Massey

In the second in the series, Kate Brannigan investigates the bizarre case of the missing conservatories (sunrooms attached to the back of a standing house), unearthing an unscrupulous lawyer (later found hanging from his balcony in flimsy women's apparel); a supersalesman with an overstuffed bank account; and a brother-sister pair who are double-crossing everyone. And this real estate fiddling ties in with a separate scam involving Kate's best buds -- and murder of the most unexpected order.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781501990144

Val McDermid

VAL McDERMID is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty crime novels. She has won the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; her novels have been selected as New York Times Notable Books and have been Edgar Award finalists. She was the 2010 recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Crime Writing. More than 10 million copies of her books have been sold around the world. She lives in the north of England. Visit her website at www.valmcdermid.com.

Reviews for Kick Back

[thorold_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kick Back sees Brannigan investigating a commercial case, a complex and initially very opaque fraud involving conservatories and remortgaging, which soon starts to get mixed up with another real-estate fraud she's investigating on behalf of her friend, Alexis. Needless to say, a body turns up in the course of the story, but it's rather incidental this time, and the real plot is about the two frauds. You may well get rather left behind by the technical details about conveyancing here, but it all seems to make sense. And it's amusing to see Brannigan getting her first mobile phone, much against her better judgment, since she's convinced that the only people in Manchester who carry mobile phones are drug dealers...

[eyejaybee · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Now best known for her often gruesome novels featuring Detective Inspector Carol Jordan and Dr Tony Hill, Val McDermid also wrote a very entertaining series of novels following Kate Brannigan, a feisty private investigator based in Manchester.'Kick Back' is the second in the series and starts on a rather low key note when Kate is commissioned to look into the problems faced by a local building firm that specialises in constructing conservatories. The director has been advised by his bank that the business's credit lines had been suspended pending investigation of problems with a series of mortgage defalcations by his clients. Further confusion arises when Kate discovers that several of the conservatories had subsequently been dismantled and removed without the owners' knowledge.On the face of it, an investigation into some dodgy re-mortgaging transactions and the theft of a few conservatories does not sound very exciting. McDermid is, however, accomplished at constructing compelling yet believable plot, and this is a gripping story. Kate is an appealing character, capable but never smug. Even though this was only the second volume in the sequence, we are already acquainted with a strong network of Kate's associates and colleagues upon whom she can call for help and guidance. This is refreshingly different from the normal run of private eye novels where the protagonists seem capable of anything, Like the old AA adverts, Kate may not know how to do certain things, but she knows a man or woman who does.

[balthazar0lawson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in the Kate Brannigan series and Kate has to deal with two cases of fraud and along the way find out who is trying to killer her. It's an entertaining read, though it does get bogged down a bit, unlike the previous book in the series.

This book is nearly 20 years old and shows how times have changed with debate about getting a mobile phone and there is mention of the M63, but this road no longer exists. Where would a private investigator be without a mobile phone in this day and age.

[seldombites · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The plot of this book could have been quite interesting but it was spoiled by the narration. The narrator of the story (told in the first person) is what Aussies call a 'whinging Pom'. She seems to find fault with anything and everything and, along with her boyfriend, does nothing but complain the whole way through. I found this extremely annoying and it distracted me from the storyline. I doubt I'll be reading anything else by this author.

[tripleblessings_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Manchester-based P.I. Kate Brannigan starts with a case of missing conservatories, and finds crooked land deals, mortgage scams and more. Average.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although the technical references are WAY out of date still a good read.Kate investigates Missing Conservatories, Crooked Land Deals and problems in a pharmacy company.