Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Shop small, give big!
With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.
Start gifting
Limited-time offer
Get two free audiobooks!
Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.
Sign up todayThe Grave Tattoo
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreIn The Grave Tattoo, suspense master Val McDermid spins a psychological thriller in which a present-day murder has its roots in the eighteenth century and the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty.
After torrential summer rains uncover a bizarrely tattooed body on a Lake District hillside, a long-disregarded old wives' tale takes on a chilling new plausibility. For centuries, Lakelanders have whispered that Fletcher Christian, made infamous by Mutiny on the Bounty, staged the massacre on Pitcairn so that he could return home. And once there, what if he could tell his story to an old friend and schoolmate, William Wordsworth, who turned it into a long narrative poem—a poem that remained hidden lest it expose Wordsworth to the gallows for harboring a fugitive?
Wordsworth specialist Jane Gresham, herself a native of the Lake District, feels compelled to discover once and for all whether the manuscript ever existed—and whether it still exists today. But as she pursues each new lead, death follows hard on her heels. Suddenly Jane is at the heart of a 200-year-old mystery that still has the power to put lives on the line.
Val McDermid was a journalist for sixteen years and is now a full-time writer living in South Manchester. In 1995, she won the Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year for The Mermaids Singing. Her novel A Place of Execution won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel, and named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
Kate Reading is the recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been named by AudioFile magazine as a “Voice of the Century,” as well as the Best Voice in Science Fiction & Fantasy in 2008 and 2009 and Best Voice in Biography & Culture in 2010. She has narrated works by such authors as Jane Austen, Robert Jordan, Edith Wharton, and Sophie Kinsella. Reading has performed at numerous theaters in Washington D.C. and received a Helen Hayes Award for her performance in Aunt Dan and Lemon. AudioFile magazine reports that, "With subtle control of characters and sense of pacing, Kate’s performances are a consistent pleasure."
Reviews
“A world-class crime novelist at the top of her game.” —George Pelecanos, author of Hard Revolution
“Val McDermid at her very best.” —Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Company Man
“It is difficult to find words to capture the masterful achievement that is Val McDermid's The Grave Tattoo.” —Laura Lippman
“If you haven't discovered her genius yet, you are in for a rare treat.” —Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author of The Innocent
“Absorbing modern mystery...McDermid's mix of historical and literary clues with modern detection is handled with panache.” —The Times (London)
“One of our most accomplished crime writers...compelling.” —Glasgow Herald
“An irresistible combination of contemporary psychological thriller and historical mystery filled with the moody atmosphere of the Lake District.” —Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of Harvest
“I've been a Val McDermid fan forever...like all her work, The Grave Tattoo is an experience...a visceral entertainment that leaves you panting right up to the shattering climax .” —Ridley Pearson, New York Times bestselling author of The Kingdom Keepers
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores!
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks