Garnethill [Import] [Hardcover]

Denise Mina (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 329 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Press; First British Edition edition (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0593043510
• ISBN-13: 978-0593043516
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,157,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Denise Mina was born in Glasgow in 1966. Because of her father's job as an engineer, the family followed the north sea oil boom of the seventies around Europe, moving twenty one times in eighteen years from Paris to the Hague, London, Scotland and Bergen. She left school at sixteen and did a number of poorly paid jobs: working in a meat factory, bar maid, kitchen porter and cook. Eventually she settle in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients.
At twenty one she passed exams, got into study Law at Glasgow University and went on to research a PhD thesis at Strathclyde University on the ascription of mental illness to female offenders, teaching criminology and criminal law in the mean time.
Misusing her grant she stayed at home and wrote a novel, 'Garnethill' when she was supposed to be studying instead.
'Garnethill' won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasy Dagger for the best first crime novel and was the start of a trilogy completed by 'Exile' and 'Resolution'.
A fourth novel followed, a stand alone, named 'Sanctum' in the UK and 'Deception' in the US.

In 2005 'The Field of Blood' was published, the first of a series of five books following the career and life of journalist Paddy Meehan from the newsrooms of the early 1980s, through the momentous events of the nineteen nineties. The second in the series was published in 2006, 'The Dead Hour' and the third will follow in 2007.
She also writes comics and wrote 'Hellblazer', the John Constantine series for Vertigo, for a year, published soon as graphic novels called 'Empathy is the Enemy' and 'The Red Right Hand'. She has also written a one-off graphic novel about spree killing and property prices called 'A Sickness in the Family' (DC Comics forthcoming).
In 2006 she wrote her first play, "Ida Tamson" an adaptation of a short story which was serialised in the Evening Times over five nights. The play was part of the Oran Mor 'A Play, a Pie and a Pint' series, starred Elaine C. Smith and was, frankly, rather super.
As well as all of this she writes short stories published various collections, stories for BBC Radio 4, contributes to TV and radio as a big red face at the corner of the sofa who interjects occasionally, is writing a film adaptation of Ida Tamson and has a number of other projects on the go.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, September 26, 1999

By 

Jeanne Bodine (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garnethill: A Novel of Crime (Hardcover)

This was a wonderful book. It was, at turns, suspenseful, hilarious, gritty, thrilling, sad, witty, insightful and spooky. I stayed up late two evenings in a row to finish it and annoyed my traveling companion by continually reading funny or perceptive lines. It's hard to believe that this is the author's first book. I hope the author has a long and successful career ... and is prolific. I also hope the book (& author) become popular in the U.S. so future books are quickly and readily available.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bleak as befits the genre, but with very Glaswegian humour, November 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Garnethill: A Novel of Crime (Paperback)

Neither bleak nor a suburb, Garnethill is compact island of a neighbourhood in the centre of Glasgow, full of dauntingly steep hills à la Bullitt's best car chase scenes. It is certainly not among Glasgow's worst, but neither is it among its best. The book is bleak at times, yes, as befits the genre. And Glasgow, like many places, can be bleak, especially on short winter days with biting rain and wind. This story lives among the low-lifes and marginals of the city, and while those are not the only Glasgow - or urban - stories to tell, they are surely among the most compelling.

Comparing Scottish crime writers with Ian Rankin may be a cliché, but what he and Mina both do well is to root their stories in place, bringing alive the corners and cultures of the cities which are their settings. Mina's characters travel across most parts of the city, and she recreates cafés, pubs, streets and tenement closes with an accuracy that Glasgow readers should appreciate and in which they will recognise many minor landmarks far from the tourist trail and the trendy shops and bars. And the humour (the book is tremendously funny in places), banter and psyche are very Glaswegian, dark and ironic. The excellent sense of suspense at the heart of the book is bolstered by engaging - if sometimes disturbed - characters and an intricate recreation of their Glasgow.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars `Maureen dried her eyes impatiently, ..', March 29, 2008

By 

J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Garnethill (Paperback)

Meet Maureen O'Donnell: member of a dysfunctional family, struggling to survive a history of abuse and to find her own way in the world. Maureen has a relationship with Douglas, a therapist, which she is about to end. When Douglas is found murdered in Maureen's flat, Maureen is a suspect. The investigation into the murder raises a number of issues from Maureen's past, and for a number of other people as well.

Who murdered Douglas and why? There seem to be plenty of people with sufficient motive, but who had the opportunity? This novel deals with the uncomfortable world of victims of sexual abuse and how they relate to a world which has already let them down. Given the setting, it is easy to understand how (and why) Maureen feels compelled to take control of the investigation herself where she can.

This novel won the 1998 John Creasy Memorial Award for best first crime novel. This will be an uncomfortable novel for some to read: Ms Mina has succeeded in creating characters whose experiences and responses to abuse are frighteningly realistic and common.

Highly recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith