Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing (UK 2015)

From the Publisher:
In this special 20th anniversary edition, Lee Child introduces the Gold Dagger award-winning serial killer thriller that began the Number One bestselling crime series featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill, hero of TV's much-loved Wire in the Blood.

You always remember the first time. Isn't that what they say about sex? How much more true it is of murder...

Up till now, the only serial killers Tony Hill had encountered were safely behind bars. This one's different - this one's on the loose.

Four men have been found mutilated and tortured. As fear grips the city, the police turn to clinical psychologist Tony Hill for a profile of the killer. But soon Tony becomes the unsuspecting target in a battle of wits and wills where he has to use every ounce of his professional nerve to survive.

A tense, beautifully written psychological thriller, The Mermaids Singing explores the tormented mind of a serial killer unlike any the world of fiction has ever seen.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing. 20th Anniversary edition. With a foreword by Lee Child. HarperCollins, ISBN: 9780008134761 (November, 2015), 446 p., £7.99.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing (UK 2010)

From the Publisher:
The Gold Dagger award-winning serial killer thriller that began the Number One bestselling crime series featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill, hero of TV's much-loved Wire in the Blood.

You always remember the first time. Isn't that what they say about sex? How much more true it is of murder...

Up till now, the only serial killers Tony Hill had encountered were safely behind bars. This one's different - this one's on the loose.

Four men have been found mutilated and tortured. As fear grips the city, the police turn to clinical psychologist Tony Hill for a profile of the killer. But soon Tony becomes the unsuspecting target in a battle of wits and wills where he has to use every ounce of his professional nerve to survive.

A tense, beautifully written psychological thriller, The Mermaids Singing explores the tormented mind of a serial killer unlike any the world of fiction has ever seen.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing. HarperCollins, ISBN: 9780007344673 (March, 2010), 443 p., £8.99.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing (USA 2005)

From the Publisher:
This was the summer he discovered what he wanted -- at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling.

The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim.

A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage -- or the power -- to stop it...

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing. St. Martin's Paperbacks, ISBN 9780312936938 (March, 2005), 378 S., $3.99.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
Another body has been found. The fourth. Now even the most reluctant members of the Bradfield police department have to admit they have a serial killer on their hands. A sicko. All the victims have been young men, their naked bodies broken and battered. All have been tortured. Detective Inspector Carol Jordan has been working around the clock, teamed with criminologist Dr. Tony Hill. While Jordan is hunting for clues, Hill is composing a psychological profile of the murderer. The puzzle he is piecing together is very detailed - and very disturbing. According to Hill, "Handy Andy," as they've dubbed the killer, considers the murders sheer perfection - each one meticulously planned and flawlessly executed. "Andy" is too good to leave clues and too smart to get caught. This killer is searching for something far more insidious than revenge or justice - it's a way to showcase skills. And the skills on display are murder and torture. But Tony Hill's profile of the killer is grounded in several basic assumptions - and if even one is off, the consequences could be fatal.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing. St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0312983603 (June, 2002), 378 S., $6.99.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing (UK 1999)

From the Publisher:
You always remember the first time. Isn't that what they say about sex? How much more true it is of murder...
Up till now, the only serial killers Tony Hill had encountered were behind bars. This one's different - this one's on the loose. In the northern town of Bradfield four men had been found mutilated and tortured. Fear gripped the city; no man feels safe. Clinical psychologist Tony Hill is brought in to profile the killer. A man with more than enough sexual problems of his own, Tony himself becomes the unsuspecting target in a battle of wits and wills where he has to use every once of his professional skill and personal nerve to survive. A tense, brilliantly written psychological thriller, The Mermaids Singing explores the tormented mind of a serial killer unlike any the world of fiction has ever seen.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing. HarperCollins, ISBN: 0006493580 (April, 1999), 402 p., £6.99.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing (USA 1997)

From the Publisher:
Another body has been found. The fourth. Now even the most reluctant members of the Bradfield police department have to admit they have a serial killer on their hands. A sicko. All the victims have been young men, their naked bodies broken and battered. All have been tortured. According to criminologist Dr. Tony Hill, "Handy Andy," as he and Detective Inspector Carol Jordan have dubbed the killer, considers the murders sheer perfection, each one meticulously planned and flawlessly executed. "Andy" is too good to leave clues and too smart to get caught. This killer is searching for something far more insidious than revenge or justice -- he craves a way to showcase his skills. And the skills on display are murder and torture.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing. Harper Paperbacks, ISBN 0061011754 (November, 1997), 463 S., $6.50.

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing (USA 1996)

From the Publisher:
This was the summer he discovered what he wanted -- at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling.

The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim.

A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage -- or the power -- to stop it...

Val McDermid: The Mermaids Singing. Harper Prism, ISBN 0061011746 (December, 1996), 276 S., $22.00.