Internationally bestselling crime writer Val McDermid is renowned for her acutely suspenseful, psychologically complex, seamlessly plotted thrillers. Her millions of fans know that she is also a playful storyteller with a delightful, wry wit. Now, in Northanger Abbey, her mastery and humor are both on display in an updated take on Jane Austen's classic novel about a young woman whose visit to the stately home of a well-to-do acquaintance stirs her most macabre imaginings. Cat Morland is ready to grow up. A homeschooled minister's daughter in the quaint, sheltered Piddle Valley in Dorset, she loses herself in novels (and, of course, her smartphone) and is sure there is a glamorous adventure awaiting her beyond the valley's narrow horizon. So imagine her delight when the Allens, neighbors and friends of her parents, invite her to attend the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh as their guest. With a sunny personality, tickets every night, and a few key wardrobe additions courtesy of Susie Allen, Cat quickly begins to take Edinburgh by storm and is welcomed into the bosom of the Thorpe family, particularly by eldest daughter Bella. And then there's the handsome Henry Tilney, an up-and-coming lawyer whose family home is the beautiful and forbidding Northanger Abbey. Cat is entranced by Henry and his charming sister Eleanor, but she can't help wondering if everything about them is as perfect as it seems. Or has she just been reading too many novels? A delectable, note-perfect modern update of the Jane Austen classic with an extra frisson of suspense that ony McDermid could provide, Northanger Abbey tells a timeless story of innocence amid cynicism, the exquisite angst of young love, and the value of friendship. -- Jacket flap.