Book Fortyfour: Garnethill

Garnethill, Denise Mina



Gosh, this was a great mystery and a great thriller. At every turn you're thinking, "He did it! She did it! Everyone did it!" but not in a contrived sort of way. The story is set in a Glasgow that, like pretty much every character, is bleak and flawed. Maureen is our protagonist and the story feels so much about her that I kept thinking it was told in first person. And every time I picked it up again I was surprised it was third person. She is freshly released from a mental institution, after suffering a breakdown when she remembers that her father abused and molested her as a child. And she is dating a married man who is a therapist (but not her therapist, we are constantly reminded because that would be wrong, right?), who she discovers in her flat dead with his head nearly cut clean off (unfortunately the day after she discovers that he is married). Obviously, everyone thinks she did it, so she feels compelled to do her own research into the case to clear her name and possibly discover who offed her boyfriend. And there's so much more to this story, really, the amount of craziness and coverups and seediness is out of control. So, so good.