Slip of the Knife

I'm a first-time reader of Denise Mina's books, and this book was my introduction to her talent. I listened to it as an audiobook, read in the melodic voice of Jane MacFarlane, who did great justice to the Scottish brogue. From my perspective, unfamiliar with the earlier installments in this series, Slip of the Knife worked well as a stand-alone. I was able to follow the back-story of Paddy's beginnings just fine. As the story unfolded, I followed the clues as to the history of Paddy and Terry's relationship. I learned little by little about her family and their history with one another. I picked up up on the historical references, how Paddy's Catholic family might have viewed the first news about her son being born out of wedlock, and her relationship with Dub, her roommate. To me, that's what reading (or listening to) a great mystery is all about... Relishing each puzzle piece, shifting them around in your mind, and waiting for those pieces to fit together. And, by the end, they did. Kudos to Denise Mina for her talent, and Paddy Meehan for being a character that I was happy to meet, and am eager to cross paths with again. I've already ordered the books on CD for the first two installments of this series.

Reviewed by Melissa LaMunyon for RebeccasReads (4/08) As a journalist, Paddy Meehan had accompanied the police many times throughout her career on their "death trips," when they tell the family of a recent murder victim the news. So, when Paddy hears the knock on the door of her recently-purchased flat, she knows that someone close to her is dead. Her first thoughts are that it's her five-year-old son, Pete, who is visiting his dad, or her sister, Mary Anne, who is a nun at a nearby convent. When she discovers that the victim is Terry Hewitt, an old friend, colleague and lover with whom she had a falling out with six-months ago, Paddy can't figure out why the police came to tell her the news. The puzzles increase when Paddy finds out that Terry was executed and the police are whispering rumors of an IRA hit. Terry seems to have wanted Paddy involved, however, because, despite their falling out, he leaves Paddy his belongings, including a house and a box of notes; notes that Paddy presumes hold the details of a story that Terry was following and that perhaps lead to his death. While Paddy becomes embroiled in a new mystery, an old mystery is about to be released from prison. Callum Ogilvy was jailed at age 10 for the death of a toddler nine years ago. Forced to murder the child, Callum is a sought-after news story in Scotland; and Paddy is trying to help keep Callum away from the press. Both mysteries, new and old, collide in away that threaten the people Paddy loves most. "Slip of the Knife" is the third book in Denise Mina's acclaimed crime thriller series. If you are a new reader to the series, like I was, I would strongly recommend starting with the first Paddy Meehan book, "Field of Blood." Considering, however, that I was jumping blindly into the third book of a five-book crime series, I really enjoyed "Slip of the Knife." Despite being incredibly confused as Mina drew heavily on convoluted plot lines established in the first two books, the sheer brazen fabulousness that is Paddy Meehan drew me headlong into the story. Paddy is a strong, independent woman who does what she wants, and considering that she lives in Scotland, is very unusual. Paddy has established a successful career as a journalist in a culture that frowns on things like career-oriented women and children being born out of wedlock. I loved the scene where Paddy tells her son's teacher that she isn't married and the teacher starts to frown, while fingering her gold crucifix. The same way I could relate to Paddy's mother issues as personified by a container of split pea soup; I felt the growing horror and fear right along with Paddy as she discovers that Terry's death might lead to her son being hurt. Mina writes a smooth, sharply funny story woven around Paddy's courage and love for her family. "Slip of the Knife" is a tightly written crime thriller that fans of the series are sure to enjoy.

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-

I found this book to be an absolute delight to read. The primary characters are three-dimensional, fallible yet honorable. The dialogue is often hysterical and the main character's thoughts and conversations sparkle with wit, sarcasm, charm and well-chosen Scottish profanity. As a reader, you'd love to spend some time with these people. The setting, Port Glasgow, Scotland, is another place I would love to visit after reading this book, just to sit and hear people talk. I should add (embarrassingly?) that I was skeptical about reading a novel in a first-person female voice, but it wasn't off-putting at all. In fact, I feel I learned something about the female condition. This is the first book by Denise Mina I've had the pleasure to read, but you can bet that I'll be devouring her other books as well. Some reviewers express minor disappointment with the continuity between "Slip of the Knife" and the two previous books of Mina's with the same character, Paddy Meehan. Big deal; get over it, I say. It's great fiction and a superb stand-alone novel. Also, I did not find the plot too plodding or opaque at all. It's not an Elmore Leonard novel that is written sparsely, but the description of characters and settings is, once again, a pleasure to read. I didn't skip a single paragraph and I couldn't put this book down. Mina is one of the all-time best at her craft.

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.