Synopses & Reviews
Paddy Meehan returns in Denise Mina's most powerful mystery yet, nominated for a 2007 Edgar Award
When journalist Paddy Meehan investigates a domestic dispute, the well-dressed man who answers the door assures her the blonde in the shadows behind him is fine, and slips her money before he closes the door. In fact, the woman was tortured and left to die later that night, and Paddy has only days to uncover the truth before the newspaper learns of her bribe and the police close the case for reasons of their own. Only Paddy cares enough to pursue a dark and brutal story that could make her career-or kill her, in a novel that proves why Denise Mina is "some kind of magnificent" (Wall Street Journal).
"Brutally funny." -People
"Mina again demonstrates why she is one of the best mystery writers on either side of the Atlantic." -Miami Herald
"In all her insecurity, Paddy is achingly real . . . and Mina's note-perfect writing captures Paddy's voice dead-on." -Boston Globe
"A gloriously visceral style. . . . Mina excels at narrative and social commentary." -Newsday
Review
"Mina meticulously creates a bleak, Dostoevskian world abandoned by light and spirit, populating it with sharply drawn characters." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"In her second outing, Paddy holds up as a refreshingly realistic character that readers will eagerly embrace warts, neuroses, and all. Mina also provides a gritty, authentic look at daily journalism's sausage-making process." Booklist
Review
"Despite its intriguing premise, Mina's crime plot never picks up much momentum, but Paddy Meehan is a refreshingly down-to-earth character, and her travails in the nightworld of Glasgow ultimately make for a more compelling story than the murder she tries to solve." Library Journal
Synopsis
The most praised thriller writer to burst onto the scene in years returns with a brilliant new story of suicide, murder, violence, and greed.
Responding to a late night-call, Paddy Meehan arrives at an elegant villa, where a calm blonde with blood running from her mouth answers the door. She has already convinced the police to leave and soon Paddy realizes how she slips 50 bucks into Paddy's hands and begs her to keep the incident, whatever it is, out of the press.
The next morning Paddy sees the lead news story: The blonde woman has been murdered, and far from the spoiled trophy wife Paddy assumed her to be, the victim turns out to be a prosecution lawyer with a social conscience.
Bewildered why the woman didn't take the chance to leave the house when she could, Paddy begins to make connections no one else has seen. When she witnesses the body of a suicide victim being pulled from the river shortly afterward, Paddy suspects links between the two deaths and follows her idea to its shocking and deadly conclusion.
About the Author
Denise Mina is a "fearless" (GQ) writer "of stunning talent and accomplishment" (Publishers Weekly) and "the crown princess of crime" (Val McDermid). She is the author of Garnethill, which won the John Creasey Memorial Prize for best first crime novel, Exile, Resolution, and Field of Blood. She lives in Glasgow.