Tuesday, December 28, 2004
I read Garnethill by Denise Mina while visiting the family over the holiday weekend. Her newest book got some great reviews so I thought I'd check out her back catalogue while I'm waiting for that one to get processed and cataloged. This is the first of a trilogy of mystery/crime novels and I'm really glad I checked out all three at once because I totally loved this one and started the second immediately after finishing it. The main character is Maureen, a single woman in Glasgow with a history of mental illness, a supremely dysfunctional family, a dead end job, and a dead boyfriend in her front room. She and her brother are considered suspects by the police and Maureen starts looking into the murder as a way to help clear herself and her brother. Complicating her search are the other members of her family, most of whom deny the abuse that eventually caused her to have a complete mental breakdown. It's pretty bleak stuff, but it has many moments of black humor that prevent it from becoming too overwhelming. The dialogue is fantastic, as are the characters, and the plot is compelling and moves along quickly with a few unexpected twists.
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