Still Midnight (Alex Morrow Book 1)

From Bookmarks Magazine Critics called Still Midnight an auspicious debut to Mina's new police procedural series, and its heroine "just as beguiling as O'Donnell and Meehan"--and just as dark, rude, and troubled by gender politics ( Times ). Although the novel contains the same wry wit and compassion that mark her other books, here Mina casts a sharp eye on her characters' mental states, blurring the lines between the villains and the good guys as she explores their life trajectories. The only criticism was that this focus on inner motives and personal tragedies overwhelms the plot. A minor complaint: critics are anxiously awaiting the next in the series. Also see our discussion of Mina on page 17 of this issue. --This text refers to the audio_download edition. 'Mina proves what a consumate storyteller she is...' -- Cath Staincliffe TANGLED WEB --This text refers to the audio_download edition. Denise Mina is the author of Slip of the Knife , The Dead Hour , Field of Blood , Deception , and the Garnethill trilogy, the first installment of which won her the John Creasey Memorial Prize for best first crime novel. She lives in Glasgow. --This text refers to the audio_download edition. From Booklist Eddy and Pat, two Glasgow yobs, are hired to snatch a man named Bob from a modest home in a Glasgow suburb and hold him for a two-million-pound ransom. They botch the job, finding no one named Bob, accidentally shooting a teenage girl, and snatching the girl’s father, a Ugandan émigré who owns a none-too-prosperous convenience store. Police-department sexism leads to DS Alex Morrow’s dim rival, Grant Bannerman, being placed in charge of the investigation; but Alex’s efforts uncover the only leads in the case. An award-winning crime novelist, Mina knows her gritty hometown, and Still Midnight offers a stunning portrait of transcendent bleakness. Alex is close to a breakdown; curiously, we don’t learn the full why for 270 pages. The kidnap victim is haunted by his mother’s rape as they fled Uganda. Even Eddy and Pat are tormented. Similarly, Glasgow is vividly portrayed as an avatar of urban poverty, violence, and utter despair; the lashing rains and raw winds of October in Scotland only serve to deepen the sense of desperation. Grim but compelling. --Thomas Gaughan --This text refers to the audio_download edition. From AudioFile An Asian merchant is mistakenly abducted by an inept gang of Glaswegian thugs. Detective Sergeant Alex Morrow of the Strathclyde Police catches the case. Morrow is uncomfortable in social situations, often abrasive and pig-headed, filled with confusion about what is "right." When it comes to police work, however, she's spot-on. Morrow interviews witnesses, interrogates suspects, all the while running an inner dialogue confronting her own uncertainties. Grim and darkly amusing, Denise Mina's latest, inspired by a true crime, affords narrator Jane MacFarlane a host of eccentric characters to inhabit. While MacFarlane's voice is a bit soft for the gritty descriptions, her characterizations in dialogue exchanges are lively, vivid, and credible. Mina raises serious social questions about race, politics, and community, and MacFarlane makes the listening distinctive. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the audio_download edition. 'the added mystery element could make this Mina's breakthrough book from critics' darling to big seller' THE BOOKSELLER 'The strength of this well written novel lies in the characterisation...I felt as involved with the villains as with the police and victims' SHOTS 'Gritty, bizarre, true to life, and hinting at racial tension running high in the city, this enthralling story will hold your mind hostage until the shocking climax' WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY 'There is a rich ordinariness, a believability, a recognisable quality about Mina's characters, who are better drawn than those of anyone else writing in her genre in Scotland. A good example is Mina's heroine. Detective Sergeant Alex Morrow is instantly believable, instantly placable' -- David Leask SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'Suburban Glasgow has a new cop to conceal the cracks. But even DS Alex Morrow finds she's up against it when a grandfather is snatched by an armed gang and the attacks presents more questions than answers' DAILY MIRROR 'She's probably not that chuffed being dubbed the Queen of Tartan Noir, but we'll do it anyway' THE LIST 'Good fiction is defined by characters we can believe in. Denise Mina, author of the Garnethill and the Paddy Meehan trilogy, has won herself many fans by writing thrillers with realistic characters. Still Midnight, a rather tame title for a robust book, is an honest depiction of Glagow's south side community, as well as a beguiling crime novel' GLASGOW HERALD 'Mina's bungling crims, the cops chasing them (including bolshie DS Alex Morrow, with her conflicted past), her 'innocent' victims and even her minor characters are startlingly believable, and she conjures up the seamier side of Glasgow with flair' METRO 'Unquestionably Britain's finest unheralded crime novelist' -- Paul Connolly LONDON LITE 'Mina is acutely sensitive to characters' mental states, rendering them with a precision which blurs the line between heroism and villainy. At the same time, her prose is both nimble and muscular' -- John O'Connell GUARDIAN 'It's Ian Rankin saying that Denise Mina is one of the most exciting writers to have emerged in Britain for years - and I think he's right. She has a fresh voice, her own style and a talent for telling a good story. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work' THE BOOK BAG 'Like all the best crime writers, Mina can make melodramatic events seem credible because her characterisations and settings are so authentic: if she described Alex sprouting wings and flying to Pluto she would make it plausible. There are probably now as many crime writers in Scotland as criminals, but Mina may be the pick of the bunch' -- Jake Kerridge DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Morrow juggles personal problems and a difficult case in this dark, edgy story told with verve, bite and bleak humour' BIG ISSUE IN SCOTLAND 'Still Midnight is suffused with telling social commentary and wry humour, while exposing the hypocrisy and passive racism at the heart of modern, intercultural Scotland' -- Janette Curie TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'Still Midnight is classic Mina. Not one word is wasted, every page counts, and the end result never disappoints' -- Shari Low DAILY RECORD 'The narrative is inspired by a real-life kidnapping, but Mina parleys this into something richer and stranger than the real case, taking on board politics, racism and a prickly but basically sympathetic community. The final effect of Still Midnight is both unsettling and exhilarating' -- Barry Forshaw THE INDEPENDENT 'page-turning' EDINBURGH EVE NEWS 'This crackling police procedural is lovingly marinated in the dank atmosphere of grimmest Glasgow' TIME OUT 'I suspect it's her rare ability to make readers explode with laughter in the middle of reading about grimness and tragedy that has seen Denise Mina rise so rapidly to the first division of British crime writers' -- Mat Coward MORNING STAR 'There's something all too real in all of Mina's characters that might make you squirm just a little bit! Sure Alex and Maureen come from different sides of the law, but they are both flawed, complicated and frequently annoying characters who seem somehow familiar and extremely sympathetic. Add to that strong procedural elements, a great sense of place and pace, and STILL MIDNIGHT is a terrific book - let's hope it's the start of a new series' DEADLY PLEASURES 'I found myself completely gripped and also convinced' -- Antonia Fraser THE LADY --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. [A] stellar first in a new series...Mina, who's as much at ease with cops as she is with the people they chase, laces this potent crime thriller with colorful Scottish slang and delivers a sucker-punch climax. -- "Publishers Weekly" A startling exploration of characters who stubbornly refuse to stay in the boxes they've been assigned. -- "Kirkus Reviews" Alex Morrow, a detective sergeant with the Strathclyde police force, is another of Mina's prickly heroines, the kind you love at your own risk...She's also the smartest cop in the shop, the only one sensitive enough to interpret the subtle vagaries of human behavior. It's a huge pleasure to watch her crack the 'family myths and fables' that blood relatives instinctively adopt as protection from outsiders-and as a way of preserving themselves from members of their own clan. -- "New York Times" Mina is acutely sensitive to characters' mental states, rendering them with a precision which blurs the line between heroism and villainy. At the same time, her prose is both nimble and muscular. -- "The Guardian" Mina is adept at capturing the rhythms of life in Glasgow among the down-and-out. She vividly portrays the squalor of the underworld while depicting even her bad guys in all of their human complexity, which gives her novels a rare grace. -- "Library Journal" Mina shakes the tired format of the thriller until all the cliches come out... Still Midnight is both unsettling, exhilarating, [and] ferociously gripping. -- "The Independent" The book really has everything you want in a crime novel: enormous suspense, acerbic wit, arresting detail, and an ever-mutating plot. But there is improbable sweetness here too. There is a word I would never have used to describe Denise Mina's work until now; but the truth is, this intense, fast-moving crime drama is, in the end, utterly charming. -- "Barnesandnoble.com Review" --This text refers to the audioCD edition. Read more