Star Struck

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Thrilling! Couldn't put the book Down! - Rated
This was my second Val McDermid book, when I started to read it I was on a lovely holiday in Ireland! Exciting is an understatement really ! What can you say about her? Every woman must strive to be as confident as she, she is a total Heroine. As for her boyfriend- He is a star, he can hardly compete for the attention.
Lets hope Gizmo finally gets the girl soon!
I will carry on reading Val's books 5****! Sarah

Great story but a little too PC for some tastes - Rated
This Kate Branigan adventure rolls along at a fair old pace and is a great read from start to finish. Val McDermid may not be the greatest writer in the world. (Check out some of her early Branigan books - they read like the work of someone straight off a creative writing course) but she is undoubtedly an excellent storyteller and gets the reader turning those pages to see what happens next. Her real ability is to produce a simple yet engaging plot that makes you want to keep going until you find out 'whodunit'.

Unfortunately what lets the whole book down (and the Kate Branigan series in general) is the relentless 'right on' attitudes shown by the author. There is never any danger of the reader being allowed to forget where Val McDermid' s political and social sensibilities lie. You just know that certain groups will always be seen as 'good' and others as 'bad'. So (most) women, lesbians, gays, those differently sexual (transsexuals/transvestites) and those from ethnic minorities will be noble, put upon, hard done by and exploited. Whilst virtually all men (especially those middle class and white) will inevitably be stupid, brutish and nasty.

The only exceptions being the nerdy men (such as boyfriend Richard and Computer expert 'Gizmo' who are tolerated by the never ending stream of clever, witty, brilliant women who inhabit the Branigan books. From Kate herself to her female friends such as the ace crime reporter; dazzling Police Chief Inspector and unbeatable Solicitor. All leaders in their field and who without doubt would be at the very top were it not for the aforementioned chauvinistic, bullying but ultimately useless middle class men in their respective professions keeping them down. Indeed one ongoing male Police Inspector is so unremittingly stupid and idiotic it is a wonder he keeps his job, little loan ever achieved his rank in the first place.

The ultimate irony of course being that McDermid is as prejudiced as those she clearly sets out to parody and ridicule. Which is a shame, because if you removed the bolted on PC stuff, the Branigan Books are really very good indeed So if you want to indulge in a little feminist/lesbian wish fulfilment, this is the book for you. Those wanting more realistic crime novels, try Ian Rankin's 'Rebus' series.

Sharp, funny and right in touch with contemporary life - Rated
Star Struck is a must for anyone who has ever watched a soap opera. McDermid takes us inside the world behind the scenes and is not at all star-struck at the antics of the cast of her ficitonal soap opera. The dialogue is, as always, very realistic and often very funny indeed. And there's a clever murder mystery worked out as well when the Seer to the Stars gets bumped off without seeing it coming.

On Par with all her other brillant books - Rated
I have read all Val Mcmid books with the same zest as this book. Once started i was unable to put this down. As a person who knows Manchester fairly well i was able to picture the places she was writing about. Keep up the good work, i can't wait for her next book to come out.

boring - Rated
I kept losing my place because where I was was really not exciting. I got utterly fed up of hearing the word 'chuck' to denote a local person. I couldn't be bothered to finish it. I went on to Vanity Fair and Sunboiled Onions.