Customer Reviews

Field of Blood

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While this is the first of Denise Mina's novels featuring Paddy Meehan it is the second that I have read. No matter: it was nice to make her acquaintance again.

Ms Mina writes tough, uncompromising crime fiction and Paddy Meehan, aspiring journalist is on one level a most unlikely hero. Of uncompromising blue collar Catholic stock in a time and a place where such things matter, Paddy dares dream of a career. Her chance comes after an horrific crime in which three year old Brian is murdered and one of the suspects, a young lad, is part of her extended family circle.

Follow the twists and turns of this novel and a linked but secondary story about the 'other' Paddy Meehan which, while it forms part of the rich backdrop is not directly relevant. Or is it?

I'm delighted to read that Ms Mina intends to write five books about Paddy Meehan. The third is available now, and I'm off to hunt it down.

Highly recommended to those who like rich, gritty crime fiction.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Denise Mina is without peer in her detailed portrayal of the underbelly population of England's cities. Hers are the bluest-of-blue-collared people with whom we avoid eye contact if we notice them at all. And if we do notice, we look quickly away, likely without any curiosity. She uses our stereotypes of the underclass to introduce us to her stories and then smacks us down with brilliant characterizations. Unlike a previous reviewer, I think it is absolutely essential that her settings are British and that she doesn't always provide a regional thesaurus for our ease of comprehension. In fact, there isn't any pandering to the audience in any of Mina's books; she seems to write for herself without a shred of coyness or trickery and if she catches us unawares, it may be because we weren't paying attention.

In "Field of Blood", Mina uses a sensational true murder as her departure point: In 1993, two 10-year-old boys murdered a toddler in Liverpool and the resulting trial was predictably sensational, even by British standards. In her similar story, Mina delves into the background of not only the boys and their families but also the community from which they arose. Our guide is Paddy Nelson, the new copygirl at the Scottish Daily News who has visions of a life as a tough, incisive reporter but a reality that is much drearier, even in its complexity. The story weaves through the official investigation, Paddy's hit-and-miss investigation, and Paddy's fractured personal life. Perhaps this would be a good time to mention that I was initially repulsed but then truly captivated by the slobby, sophomoric girl who grew and matured over the course of the book.

Make no mistake, Denise Mina writes very tough books with mature subject matter and unflinching plotlines and these books aren't for everyone, but they are for me. In fact, she's one of a new breed of lady writers coming out of the British Isles who write big, beautifully plotted, very dark psychological thrillers. That club includes Mo Hayder, Minette Walters, and my favorite (favourite?), Val McDermid, who provided Denise Mina with the detailed workings of a regional newsroom.

in "Field of Blood," a British mystery, is penned by a fast-developing young writer Denise Mina, who has been enthusiastically welcomed into the tartan noir school of British mystery writing. And what's that? A mystery that's darker, more bloody and violent than the usual, lightened, now and then, with that dark Scottish sense of humor, praises be, and written, of course, by a Scot. At any rate, Mina here introduces us to a new detective, Paddy Meehan. A Glasgow native, and an ambitious young woman, as is her author, Meehan differs from her in some other, important ways: she just hasn't the best education, and you'd have to consider her fat. But she's smart, and determined to rise from copygirl at "The Scottish Daily News." That means taking on a mystery that nobody wants to touch. Two ten year old boys have tortured and killed a toddler: who wants to think of those implications? (This case, actually, is based on a similar, notorious, 1993 crime in Liverpool, England.)

So Meehan takes the case on, and it costs her, as its implications spread into her own, already troubled, personal world. The Glasgow presence is palpable, the life of the city is on every page. And the author has produced a harrowing, hard-driving book; you'd have to consider her a developing exemplar of the school of contemporary British fiction known as "tartan noir." And what's that, you may ask? Well, written by Scots, duh! Particularly violent, brutal, bloody-minded, but leavened by that sharp, dark Scots sense of humor. At any rate, Paddy Meehan discovers the truth behind the mystery she's set herself to investigate, though it isn't the truth she wished to find.

The owner of the local bookstore suggested I try a Denise Mina book, so I took a gamble with this one and it sure paid off. The main character is very appealing and the storyline never slows down. Showed up to work sleepy after staying up late to find out what happened next. Ended up immediately reading her Garnethill trilogy afterwards. I'm hooked on Denise Mina. Loved also the glimpse into Glasgow that her books allow. Highly recommend this book.

There are two Paddy Meehan's': one a criminal from the 1960s and the other a copyboy-cum-journalist, an ambitious young woman determined to make her mark as a reporter for the Scottish Daily News. The more infamous Paddy has been released after long incarceration for a murder he didn't commit; the younger Paddy (Patricia) has just been confronted with a moral dilemma that pits her career against her personal life. When two young boys are arrested for killing three-year-old Brian Wilcox, Paddy learns one of them is cousin to Paddy's fiancé, Sean Ogilvy. The child-murdering boy, Callum Ogilvy, is in custody with his accomplice, the public stunned by the mindless brutality of the crime and the age of the perpetrators. Adding to Paddy's discontent, religious matters remain divisive in 1980s Glasgow; her Catholicism chafes on Paddy like ill-fitting brogans, ingrained and unwieldy, perhaps the reason for the impetuous engagement to Sean, both untested by the world-at-large.

Mina's Glasgow is riddled with tenements and bruised ambitions, whole neighborhoods defeated by a stumbling economy and the constant jockeying of those clinging to survival, crime grinding away at good intentions. Poverty a breeding ground for man's inhumanity to man, Paddy stumbles upon a link to the Baby Brian murder, a eight-year old crime buried in the newspaper archives that sparks her true instincts as a reporter, fledgling or not. Fairly oblivious to danger until submerged in it, Paddy plunges ahead, suffering the ire of her family and fiancé for even touching a story that may involve one of them. It is in her nature to follow family dictates, to give in at any sign of displeasure, but the desire to establish herself as a respectable journalist is strong in this overweight young woman, certain that this is the work she is meant to do: "The possibility that suffering could defeat people disturbed Paddy."

As the story moves back and forth, from the original Paddy Meehan to the current incarnation, it becomes clear that the police are once again embracing the most obvious explanation for the child killing, even if some of the details strain credulity, a fact journalist-to-be Paddy recognizes but is unable to prove. Striking out on her own, Paddy is shadowed by another reporter, the duplicitous Heather Allen, hungry for the glory and reputation as well; but Heather is not as lucky as Paddy, overweening ambition leading her straight into the mouth of hell. Although guided by impulse rather than common sense, Paddy emerges the better woman for her travails, but only after some ethical missteps and a brush with death, another spunky Mina heroine shouting her truth to a bleak Glasgow sky. Luan Gaines/2007.

After burrowing through the brilliant Garnet Hill trilogy, I had to take a break from Denise Mina for a month or so. The heroine of that series (an abused, alcoholic mental patient) was so self destructive, I had to fight the urge to drink and smoke myself to death. Upon falling headfirst into the first chapter of Field of Blood, I wasn't sure I could make it through. It's horrifying. That said, the heroine of this novel, Paddy Meehan the younger, is someone you want to pull for. Eighteen, a virgin, chubby, living at home with a good Catholic family and about to fall into a very conventional marriage, Paddy (a copy boy at a newspaper) sees a pattern in the murder of toddler that no one else does. Despite being young and green, she's smart and ambitious. While pursuing the story, she makes a series of dubious moral choices that almost doom her.

It's an entertaining book that works on several levels. The reader is immersed in the grimy reality of Glasgow and the cynical realm of the press room. Denise Mina's world is unlike any other author's, and Field of Blood is an engrossing mystery story, to boot.

This was much less searing than the trilogy, so for me it was even more enjoyable. The author has a unique take on characters, and a real talent for sharing their voices. The twists and turns got a bit contrived at times, but I never lost interest. A great story, especially if you're tired of the humdrum.

AUDIO: The reader was pure magic.

SPOILER ALERT!

Disliked this book.....felt nothing for the characters. The main character, unless I missed the point, basically gets away with contributing to murder when she pretends she's somebody else.

I can't recommend this book....give me Tess Gerritsen or James Patterson instead.

Denise Mina can write. She has incredibly developed characters, great dialogue, and fascinating insight. I absolutely LOVED the middle of both books I read. I found the lead character, Paddy, strong and opinionated. I loved her. She was quick witted and bright and I thought she had "everyone's number".
(spoiler alert) I can't for the life of me understand that why Paddy would notice the earring in a character, which by her own admission was very unusual for men in her town to have....and not make that connection when the young boy talked about the guy with the earring. 2 + 2 = 4. Strange guy you met a few days ago! Paddy would have jumped on that. It took a picture to jog her memory? And I didn't like that she was kidnapped by a vile beast and almost murdered and then bandaged up and went back to the bar so innocently..then tried to figure out a reason to give her family for being hurt. Huh? "I got mugged on the way home. Will that work?" Can you say traumatized?
I did find the alternate male Paddy sometimes confusing......why was he in the story again? Didn't come thru like the rest, disjointed at times.
However, I am hooked on her writing...some of the best I have read. I love her characters and middle of her books, giving her first novel a go. Perhaps time restraints and deadline pressures have her wrapping up stories too quickly?

I had a hard time, reading this novel.Too much blood/violence, for my taste. Mina is an excellent character developer. I did not like the plot or characters.