Garnethill

Took awhile for an American to get accustomed to the language but it was delightful and I couldn’t put it down the last 100 pages. Good character development

Here is a mystery with splendidly conceived characters, a plot like a snake that winds sinuously in and out of dark places, and a powerful sense of place. The Glaswegian manners of speech and terms of affection (hen, pet) are rendered with kindness and humor. It's literally one of those books that you can't put down. I have just one quibble: Why did the author feel it necessary to muddy the waters by introducing the issue of recovered memories/false memory syndrome? For those unfamiliar with the tragic, and ongoing, repercussions of the recovered memory craze (from the mid-80s to the latter part of the 90s), the issue won't be clarified by Denise Mina's tinkering with her heroine's history. She gives Maureen (one of the spunkiest, most likable characters I've read in ages) a history that contends she actually forgot egregious sexual abuse by her father. Initially, it appears as if there was only one occasion of abuse. But as the book progresses, it transpires this was a long-term ongoing thing. With all due respect to Ms. Mina, people simply do not forget, wipe out, or otherwise misplace recall of repeated sexual abuse. There are legions of us who dearly wish that were possible. So while she's got the emotions and the details just right of how an abuse victims thinks and behaves, she's got this part wrong. And it's something that isn't even essential to the plot of this book. A large number of families of sexually abused people refuse to believe the truth. It wasn't necessary to include recovered memories in order to paint Maureen O'Donnell's family in dark shades. Their characters are so well drawn that the darkness is there, and denial is central to disfynctional families. Fortunately, the author doesn't overdo this issue. But it was of concern to me to see that, according to her biographical material, she is currently researching a book on false memory syndrome. That smacks of obsession, which is a pity, because her sympathy for the dispossessed, the disturbed and the victimized is everywhere evident in her work. It would be a shame to see another book from this talented author that, again, beats a dead horse. Garnethill is otherwise a great reading experience, with characters I'd certainly like to see again.

When Maureen O'Donnell is just about to end her affair with Douglas Brady, her therapist boyfriend, he is found murdered and tied up in her flat. She is the prime suspect, despite her alibi during the time period estimated. An incest survivor, Maureen has been a patient at a psychiatric hospital. Her experiences have made her less than credible, but then others seemingly have set out to frame her as well. With no other option, Maureen and her pal Leslie set out to uncover the identity of the killer. Along the way, they realize that another heinous set of crimes is at the root of the murder, compounding the motivations and the path leading to the killer. What does Maureen uncover as she tries to figure out what happened to Douglas? How do her family members add to the quandary she is in? And how will the police who are dogging her footsteps suddenly become her allies? Almost immediately, I felt as though Maureen could have been someone I knew. Perhaps even a friend or family member. She was so richly drawn, and I felt as though I hovered nearby as she very carefully uncovered the necessary clues and then set out to bait the killer. An intensely compelling read, Garnethill , by Denise Mina, is the first novel in a trilogy; I can't wait to read the rest. I definitely awarded this book five stars.

This is a good book, with creative characters and a grimy setting (Glasgow) but I thought it was a bit overdone. The lead character, Maureen O'Donnell, a victim of incestual abuse and resultant emotional meltdown, sets out to find the murderer of her lover. The search takes her all over Glasgow and through its mental health infrastructure until she IDs and deals with the bad guy. Maureen is a most unlikely sleuth -- although a ticket seller at a cinema she seems to possess insights that rival Sherlock Holmes. But, on the other hand, she is a remarkably well-drawn character, as are most of the others in this first novel. But I still found it a bit overdone. I thought the plot was too long and entirely predictable. Some of the dialogue was too artificially flippant. And Mina has a slight tendency to drift. But, these are small points. Denise Mina has crafted an enjoyable book about unenjoyable subjects: abuse and rape. I'd say it's worth a read.

First-time Denise Mina reader here so why not start at the beginning, right? On the plus side, this novel has a distinctly female perspective which makes it compelling and especially relevant. The writing evidences an abundance of talent. The story held my interest and I'd certainly describe the book as worthwhile. On the other hand, as a mystery, the book leaves much to be desired. There is so much superfluous and redundant descriptive prose that I was reminded of the pulp fiction practice of paying a penny per word. More significantly, although she does some sleuthing, the main character doesn't solve the crime: the police do, and they tell her who did it. What's more, they tell her about 70 pages or so before the author tells the reader. In addition, this reader, at least, had a very hard time understanding how in the world the crime that begins the tale could have come about -- having more questions than answers at the end of a crime novel is less than satisfying. An auspicious debut novel, then, but far from perfect.

This is such a good series I am surprised that the author is not better known in America. This book, is about a normal young woman, Maureen, who is not a "super sleuth", but is thrown into trying to find out who killed her boyfriend in her very own living room while she was out getting severely drunk. She wasn't trying to clear her name, like I would have expected, she just wanted to find out who killed her married lover right before she was going to break off with him. As you can guess, Maureen is not the perfect person that some authors make their protagonists, but neither is she all bad. Like the other characters in the series she is a combination of good and bad, strong and weak. The characters are well developed and very believable. The plot kept me up nights reading. In fact, when I finished this book I immediately started on "Exile" and after that "Resolution". These are all full novels, not skimpy novellas, so it is a testament to the draw of the series that I read them in succession without taking a break to read another genre from my voluminous "to read" pile. Excellent series. The only "improvement" I would make would be to add a Scottish-American English dictionary as I was lost on some of the Glasgow slang for the first book and a half. Highly recommended, but I suggest you read them in order as, although they can be enjoyed separately, they are really a continuation of a story.

Have you ever read a book or seen a movie and wanted to immediately reread it or see it again? That was the feeling I got after completing Denis Mina's mystery novel, "Garnethill". It didn't matter that I now knew who committed the crime. I began to miss the characters and wanted to start at the beginning, so that I could experience meeting them once more. In "Granethill", Mina created a real world peopled by a mentally troubled but loveable heroine, Maureen O'Donnell, and her dysfunctional family and friends along with a host of other solid and believable characters. The novel's setting is Granethill, a bleak Glasgow neighborhood where a grisly murder has taken place and where the only person who can solve the case is Maureen. After a night of heavy drinking with her best friend Leslie, a social worker, Maureen decides to break up with her therapist boyfriend Douglas Brady who she recently discovered is married. Her mind made up, she arrives home extremely drunk and goes straight to bed. The next morning when she is returning from the bathroom, a blood soaked raincoat catches her eye, she looks away from it down the hall to her living room. There is Douglas, tied to one of her kitchen chairs with his throat slashed. The police, led by Chief Inspector Joe McEwan, first set their sights on Maureen, but later change their focus to her brother Liam, who although a supportive and loving elder brother, just happens to be a drug dealer. It is up to Maureen to solve the case and take the police's attention away from Liam.

The first book in this trilogy starts with an unlikely protagonist. Maureen is a damaged young woman, doing her best to live her life. Her mother is an alcoholic and can be dramatic and difficult. With the exception of her one brother, who is a drug dealer, her family is in denial about the abuse she received as a child from their now absent father. After a breakdown, Maureen went into therapy, and began dating one of the therapists at the first clinic she went to. When she wakes up one morning from a drinking binge with a friend, she finds her boyfriend murdered in a dramatic fashion in the middle of her living room. When the evidence points to Maureen, the police begin investigating in earnest. Maureen knows she did not do this, and is upset to find others, some of whom should be supportive of her, think she is guilty as well. Puzzling pieces come to light as she digs, finding connections to other women who were in therapy. Maureen must figure out who she can trust to find out the truth before it is too late. While not entirely likeable as a character, you appreciate Maureen's determination and wits. This is a gritty, dark tale that shows an underside to Glasgow.

A wonderful read, with a resourceful and courageous hero setting the world to rights after a series of shameful and distressing crimes against women and the men who make token efforts to help them.

I loved this book! The plot and pace kept me thoroughly intrigued, and descriptions left vivid images in my mind, especially a few which caused me to pause and reflect, wonderfully different. And such heartfelt characters and touching moments, so beautifully written! I am so glad this novel is one in a trilogy and I can see what's next for Maureen.

This story won an award for a debut crime novel, and I can well see why. Without wishing to suggest that it is `perfect' (whatever that is), I would say it is outstandingly accomplished and exceptionally readable. I bought it on the strength of its title and absolutely nothing else. Garnethill is an area of Glasgow that I knew very well when I was young, and nostalgia is strong in Glasgow's émigré children. Apart from other factors, this city is full of unique and distinctive place-names, and I was looking longingly to hear them again. In fact the book has less of that than I expected, so I had to concentrate on the story. There is nothing distinctively concerned with Garnethill for one thing, but that makes a better title than, say, Springburn. One flank of Garnethill descends to Sauchiehall Street, the opposite flank to the Cowcaddens, but neither of these gets so much as a mention. If I had hoped to find some such statement as `A man was stabbed in the Gorbals' I did not find that either. The story is the thing, and quite a story it is too. I liked basically everything about it. The dialogue and patois are distinctive enough to warm an exile's heart, but not so distinctive as to be unintelligible to anyone else. There are some very good lines here and there, most of them too indecorous for quotation in a review. It is all seedy stuff, what we used to call `kitchen sink' material back in the 50's. Being old enough to remember, say, Up The Junction, or A Kind of Loving, I started with a slight suspicion that we were meant to be shocked at such scenarios and goings-on, but happily that was just my own age showing and not the way the book is. In a sense it is pretty grim material, but for all the show of gritty unflinching realism the narrative has a sense of proportion, good taste and even a grimy dignity about it. The characterisation is distinctly good in my opinion. I could recognise many or most of the types delineated, and there is a particular kind of brutality about Glasgow crime that came over to me very clearly, and that I hope will be recognisable to others lacking my own background, because the sense of it is captured with genuine perceptiveness and sensitivity. The real sleuthing is done by someone with rather an exceptional interest in finding the truth, miles ahead of the police in her thinking while not being any kind of genius, and a real down-to-earth personality rather than any specialist like Poirot or even Marlowe. The characters in this book are never boring or superfluous, but I'd say the best thing about the story is how well the narrative is paced. The identity of the killer emerges gradually and tantalisingly, known to the main participants before they mention it to the rest of us. What happens to the killer is then full of poetic justice and very satisfying, I thought, as well as highly original. Not a page too long, it seemed to me as I waved farewell to them down Duke Street.

I was enthusiastic about this book because it seemed so different from the unimaginative, one dimensional crime novels such as the ones by John Grisham. However, there is so much happening it's impossible to understand the story. It just rambles on and on at a confusing pace. Gave up after about 3 chapters.

I love this story and the main character, who is from a history and world totally unknown to me. But she is smart, sassy and curiously sympathetic. She isn't a detective but because of the world she occupies she gets involved in criminal happenings and then has to extricate herself and her famiy, her brother. Hard edged, like a female Jo Nesbo story. Be warned though, my husband felt differently--but he did finish Denise Mina's books, and he couldn't put them down, even though he didn't find our heroine sympathetic at all. I loved her, riding across Glasgow on the back of her best friend's motorcycle.