STILL MIDNIGHT by Denise Mina (McArthur), 356 pages, $24.95 paper. Rating: NNN
Glasgow writer Denise Mina brings her hometown back to centre circle with a new protagonist in her latest crime novel, Still Midnight.
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Detective sergeant Alex Morrow of the Strathclyde police is typical of Mina’s female characters – strong-minded, blunt-speaking and on the outs with her bosses. Lately she’s pissed off at everything and is pulling all-nighters to avoid going home. She is also damn good at her job.
Morrow is sent to a fumbled home invasion in one of the city’s gentler working-class suburbs. A schoolgirl has been shot and her father kidnapped. What looks to be a simple case of mistaken identity grows more complicated, and Morrow is forced to seek help from people in her past she’d rather forget about.
The story plays out from the viewpoints of an increasingly stressed-out Morrow, the terrified victim and the kidnappers – a soft-hearted petty criminal, his wee junkie cousin and a wanker with anger management issues. I found all the back and forth a bit distancing at first, but Mina’s clever plotting soon enough rewards.
There’s no mention of whether this is a one-off or the start of a new series, but Alex Morrow certainly intrigues. We only find out what’s eating away at her near the book’s end, and the tragedy is laid out in such a no-fuss, no-bother way that we’re left wishing we knew more.
Mina takes a big chance in the story’s final pages, and it pays off. What seems at first a bit far-fetched on second thought works perfectly.
Mina joins the panel discussion Writing Scotland with Murray Grigor, Richard Holloway and Andrew O’Hagan on Saturday (October 24) and reads on Tuesday (October 27) with Michael Connelly, Dani Couture and William Deverell.
