Reviews

Sometimes you try out a genre that you are usually not drawn to and find that you are pleasantly surprised. This was not one of those times for me. Although not the usual formula for a detective/mystery/crime novel and there were some interesting characters I just couldn't find myself even curious about what would happen. which for this genre is kind of disappointment.

krobart's review against another edition

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4.0

I am drawn to Mina's dark mysteries set in Glasgow. In this one, some inept kidnappers break into the wrong house and abduct an elderly Ugandan. The plot is complex but ends in a satisfying way.

See my complete review here:

http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/still-midnight/

kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition

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4.0

According to the famous names quoted on the back of STILL MIDNIGHT, Denise Mina is the crown princess of crime, past winner of the John Creasey Memorial Prize for her first crime novel GARNETHILL. She certainly is a writer that deserves a wide fan base, as she is undoubtedly one of the great writers of the nuanced central character.

STILL MIDNIGHT introduces one such new character - DS Alex Morrow. Morrow is prickly, raised by a single mother suffering from chronic depression, there but for the grace she's somehow kept herself out of trouble. She's somebody who the hierarchy think can't be trusted - she shoots from the hip too often, offends people, loses her temper, has a mouth on her and is simply not able to not use it, despite the need for politics and tact. What the hierarchy don't seem to realise is that she's way harder on herself than they could ever be. But she's badly rattled when she's not given responsibility for the sort of case that Detectives dream about. She would have been the perfect officer - a home invasion and the kidnapping of an elderly man - has happened right on her childhood stomping ground. She's knows a lot of the criminals in that area, she still has contacts, yet she somehow finds herself reporting to DS Bannerman - would-be surfer dude, political player, bosses mate. Morrow does what she does best, setting out pretty much on her own, doling out the snarling and insults as she proceeds, she rides roughshod over anyone who gets in the way. All the while struggling with the problems in her personal life.

The interesting thing about STILL MIDNIGHT is that there's a lot of ground in here that it seems frequent readers of crime fiction will have travelled before. Difficult central police characters; unthinking / unsupportive hierarchy; family problems; racism; troubled youth; lone wolves. Put these elements in the hands of a writer with the skill of Mina however, add a villain with an almost whimsical view of the world; a cock-up that puts the villains in a nothing to lose scenario and you have something that's edgy, involving and really really good.

Fans of Mina's GARNETHILL trilogy will find something vaguely familiar in STILL MIDNIGHT. 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.

mkcannon21's review against another edition

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4.0

Love this book. I was assigned this story for my upcoming Crime Fiction DIS class in Scotland. And summer classes go by so quickly that I knew I needed to read ahead. The story is engaging, and is the first ever crime fiction story that I have read! There are a lot of characters, and that made parts difficult to follow because I have a terrible time remembering names, inside and outside of the literature world. The middle was also a little slow for me. But I loved some of the character development and the ending was really good, with a few twists that I did not see coming. I was able to guess a few of them, but my guesses typically occurred right before you would find out. So my sleuthing skills are not that good sadly. I love Detective Morrow, and am very tempted to buy the next book so I can read more of her story. It was also fun to read a book about events occurring in Edinburgh, Scotland right before I fly there.

tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition

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3.0

‘It was Eddy who had come up with the scheme and he had bought the kit.’

One night in suburban Glasgow, two masked and armed men (Pat and Eddy) burst into a home occupied by Ugandan immigrants. They are looking for a man named Bob. The panicked family who lives there tell them that no-one by that name is a resident. Flustered, one of the thugs accidently shoots one family member in the hand and then kidnaps the elderly father. They leave, promising that the father will be returned once a £2,000,000 ransom is paid.

The case should have been assigned to DI Alex Morrow, but instead is assigned to her associate DI Bannerman. Morrow is instructed to follow Bannerman’s lead on the case, which really rubs salt into the wound.

Incompetent thugs, tensions between the police working the case, a family under pressure. Have Eddy and Pat targetted the wrong house? The family father owns a convenience store, and the family has nothing like the £2,000,000 requested. DI Morrow may be a prickly character, but she is thorough and persistent. She discovers a clue which leads her to some investigate further (and the reader to learn more about Alex Morrow and why she might be so prickly).

While I found the story interesting enough that I’ll add this series to my reading list, I found it difficult to feel much sympathy for most of the characters. And yet, the grim hopelessness (for many) that pervades the story, the opportunism of some and the undercurrent of menace held my attention. The story unfolds through the points of view of several characters: the most interesting of whom where Alex Morrow and the kidnapped father.

While not my favourite of Ms Mina’s novels, I am interested to find the next instalments in the series to see how Alex Morrow develops.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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