Slip of the Knife [With Headphones] (Playaway Adult Fiction) [Preloaded Digital Audio Player]

Denise Mina (Author), Jane MacFarlane (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2008 | Series: Playaway Adult Fiction

Paddy Meehan is no stranger to murder--as a reporter she lives at crime scenes--but nothing has prepared her for this visit from the police. Her former boyfriend and fellow journalist Terry Patterson has been found hooded and shot through the head. Paddy knows she will be of little help--she had not seen Terry in more than six months. So she is bewildered to learn that in his will he has left her his house and several suitcases full of notes. Drawn into a maze of secrets and lies, Paddy begins making connections to Terry's murder that no one else has seen, and soon finds herself trapped in the most important--and dangerous--story of her career.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Set in 1990, Mina's superb third thriller to feature Paddy Meehan (after 2006's Edgar-finalist The Dead Hour) finds the Glaswegian journalist embroiled in the most politically charged and personal story of her career. When the corpse of Meehan's ex-lover, journalist Terry Hewitt, turns up in the countryside near Port Glasgow, everything points to an IRA execution. After Meehan discovers that Terry willed her his notes and a house in the country, she decides to investigate his murder. Distracted by the imminent parole of Callum Ogilvy—the young cousin of her ex-fiancé convicted for his role in a child's murder in Field of Blood (2005)—Meehan soon realizes that everyone from the Scottish police to the IRA is intent on keeping the motive for Terry's death a secret. When Terry's colleague is killed and her own young son is threatened, Meehan knows she must uncover the men responsible before she becomes their next victim. This gripping read, with its intricate plotting and realistic regional dialogue, will leave even the most astute reader guessing until the end. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Bookmarks Magazine

In their reviews of Slip of the Knife (released as The Last Breath in the UK), critics agreed that Paddy Meehan is one rising star. Comparisons to Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus abound, but these more aptly note the Scottish settings and each protagonist’s esteemed place in the genre rather than their personalities (a grumpy, alienated man versus a spunky woman, close to her working-class, Catholic family). Most critics cited compelling idiomatic dialogue, riveting scenes, and full-blooded characters; reviewers particularly praised Mina’s older, wiser Paddy. While Jennifer Reese of Entertainment Weekly criticized a somewhat hackneyed plot, she, too, acknowledged her “helpless [devotion] to Scotland’s most recent contribution to world civilization: cinder-hearted, character-driven crime fiction.”
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Preloaded Digital Audio Player
• Publisher: Playaway (September 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605149616
• ISBN-13: 978-1605149615
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

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

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glasgow grit and a mother's love, February 27, 2008

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Slip of the Knife: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have only one complaint about Scottish author Mina's terrific Paddy Meehan series - her heroine is getting older way too fast.

In her first appearance, "Field of Blood," set in 1981, Paddy is an ambitious, working class, insecure teenage copy-boy at the "Daily News;" in "The Dead Hour, three years later, she's a 21-year-old rookie reporter.

Now, in her third appearance, it's 1990, she's a successful and controversial columnist and the single mother of a five year old boy, Pete. She's still independent, prickly and self-conscious about her weight, but now she's the one pushing aside the rookies.

Mina sets her stories in the ugly thicket of sectarian conflict between Catholic (Irish) and protestant, which is nearly as volatile in Glasgow as in Northern Ireland. Though Paddy's background is as Irish and Catholic as they come, she has never been a believer and aligns herself strictly on the side of justice.

The story opens with the murder of an old boyfriend - and former mentor and colleague - Terry Hewitt. Terry, middle class, educated, and coolly confident, had left the paper to become a hotshot foreign correspondent. Now, found naked in a ditch, shot through the head, Terry's murder has the hallmarks of an IRA hit.

Though things ended rather badly with Terry, he has named her as his executor and left her a crumbling house in a smart area. As the story proceeds and Paddy delves into his life and work, she begins to understand Terry's defensive personality in a way that was beyond her as a young girl. As her sympathy grows, so do her suspicions.

As the number of deaths mount and Paddy's son is threatened, her determination grows in proportion with her fear. As always Mina is subtle, developing the grit and politics of the city and her characters along with the mystery. She perfectly captures the thrill and desperation of a mother's love, Paddy's growing comfort with herself, the anguish and joy of her family ties, and the roil and backbiting of her professional life.

Though it's not necessary to read the Paddy Meehan novels in order, Mina's character development is so nuanced and thoughtful that it enhances the enjoyment to start at the beginning.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a disappointment..., February 18, 2008

By 

Tracy L. (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Slip of the Knife: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've read all of Denise Mina's books and believe she's one of the best mystery writers out there. She's the kind of writer Karin Slaughter wishes she could be. But, I have to say I was somewhat disappointed in SLIP OF THE KNIFE.

I think one of the problems with this book is that too much time has passed in between the last book in the series and this one. At the end of THE DEAD HOUR we find out that Paddy is pregnant. As SOTK begins, we find that her son Pete is approaching six years old. In TDH, Paddy still has a supreme lack of confidence. Here, she's a tough as nails, respected journalist that already has one book to her credit. The gap of time between the two books left me feeling somewhat lacking.

Also, I admit I had a difficult time following the story. I was two-thirds of the way through the book when it finally occurred to me what was going on. Although I never felt like giving up, it made for a slow read. The amount of Scottish dialect in the book didn't help matters, but I recognize that was my own difficulty and should not be interpreted as a complaint against the author.

Still, a sub-par Denise Mina book is better than most. A reluctant 3-star review for this one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gritty, gripping new Paddy Meehan novel, April 2, 2008

By 

Gloria Feit (Long Beach, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Slip of the Knife: A Novel (Hardcover)

Denise Mina's newest book opens with the shocking murder of Terry Hewitt, former boyfriend of her protagonist, Paddy Meehan. They had known each other since they were both in their teens, eleven years ago, but it had been six months since they had seen each other. Paddy is now 27, and has graduated from her lowly position at the Daily News to her present celebrity status with a regular column of her own, in addition to being a published author. Terry, in turn, had just signed a book deal of his own, and Paddy is told by the police that his killing "had all the hallmarks of an IRA hit...his body found stripped naked in a ditch, single shot to the head." He had been a journalist as well, later "went to war zones, conflict zones, did hard reporting on a world stage...the last of a dying breed...had witnessed corruption and brutality, women raped and murdered, children mutilated, whole villages put to the torch...a fifteen-year-old Angolan boy, shot between the eyes right in front of him." But in the moments before he is killed, after thinking that he "had been arrested in Chile, seen a woman necklaced in Soweto, stood on the edge of a riot in Port-au-Prince," he has no idea why he is about to be murdered on a road on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland.

In many respects Paddy has changed little over the years since she first appeared in Ms. Mina's books, of which this is the third: She still hates her appearance, believing she is too fat; still feels she has to prove herself to the misogynistic men around her; though she attends Mass, she still rebels against her family's Catholicism--her sister is a nun, "wasn't even prepared to take communion and had had a child out of wedlock," a son, Pete, now nearly six years old, who she adores. When she is told by the police that Terry had listed her as his next of kin, with her new address that she didn't even realize he had known, she has no choice. When the effects of that investigation threaten not only Paddy but her son as well, the stakes are raised all the way around.

A parallel story line deals with the release after nine years in prison of young Callum Ogilvy, who with another boy had been found guilty of the brutal murder of a toddler, following Paddy's investigation - she had been engaged to Callum's cousin, Sean - described in an earlier book.

Ms. Mina's descriptions conjure up her characters precisely, e.g., someone's wife is "blond, tall, and so thin she could have opened letters with her chin;" in a photo she sees "a woman of eighty, arms crossed, grinning, the folds in her skin deep enough to lose change in;" and, of her editor: "Nature, time and his temperament had conspired to perfect McVie's glower. His face and posture fitted around misery as neatly as cellophane over a cup." The author maintains an undercurrent of menace. Paddy is a gutsy, slightly vulgar and very human protagonist, the characters and the setting very well drawn, the writing and the story taut with a hold-your-breath quality. Highly recommended.