I thought that this book was very entertaining. It had an interesting plot. I liked the way it switched between the killers point of view and the cops. The torture scenes were a bit gruesome and they had me twisting in my chair in discomfort, but isn't that what a good novel should do? It made the horror of what the killer was doing to these men seem that much more disturbing and made the reader really want the cops to succeed in stopping the killings. I was up until 2:30 in the morning the other night and I couldn't put it down, even though I had to be up early for work. I really like the characters in this book (Jordan, Hill, Merrick). I first picked up The Torment of Others in the Charles de Gaulle airport having never heard of the author. I so enjoyed that novel and the characters therein, that I went and purchased all of McDermid's novels with these characters. The Mermaids Singing did not disappoint, and I look forward to reading the Wire in the Blood.