The Red Road

It is difficult to summarize The Red Road without potentially giving away major plot points. Part of the thrill of this book is the revelations that arise from following two stories over different timelines: one in the present day, and one centred on August 31, 1997, the day Princess Diana died. This book will make you think about the chance nature of our day-to-day interactions and how one small action can have serious repercussions down the line.

The Red Road referenced in the title is a complex of apartments called the Red Road flats, built in the 1960s to house low-income families but now demolished after a period of decline. One heart-stopping scene in this book is set in one of the partially demolished buildings. Readers who are show more afraid of heights may want the Gravol on hand for that part.

This book may not be suitable for those who prefer lighter mysteries, but for those who like mysteries that tackle social issues and dig into the heart of a city (in this case, Glasgow), this book, and this series, is very much recommended. show less

Denise Mina is one of the best crime fiction writers out there. She puts readers right in the heart of Glasgow, Scotland-- "cynical Glasgow, a city exhausted of sorrow" -- and has them dine on a fine tale of crime and the search for truth. As far as I'm concerned, she's the absolute best at making readers understand and empathize with the marginalized, the people most avert their eyes from. In her books, like Garnethill and The Red Road, we meet the homeless, drug addicts, murderers, and former prostitutes. We learn why these people turned to drugs or sex work or killing. We see them trying-- and sometimes succeeding-- to turn their backs on their old lives, and while we may never condone what these people did, we can now understand and show more feel compassion. Most crime writers use the marginalized merely as victims and for shock value. Not Denise Mina, and this means that she has written some truly powerful stories.

In this series, police detective Alex Morrow isn't your usual cop. For one thing, her brother is a gangster. When criminals threaten to expose her relationship to a known felon, she tells them to go right ahead. You see, the police know it already; she hasn't hidden it from them. This is all a part of her "nothing but the truth and damn the consequences" method of policing.

In all its twists and turns, Alex's investigation ties in with an old case that occurred on the day of Princess Diana's death-- a fact that led to some shoddy detective work and the realization that, for some of the world, Diana's death could be just another day. This fact alone will make many readers feel as though they're experiencing life in another country.

Denise Mina's storytelling ability combined with a sharply delineated cast of characters and a strong plot makes The Red Road a compelling and satisfying read. She is an author who never disappoints, and I'm looking forward to finding out what Alex Morrow does next. Man those torpedoes, Alex-- full speed ahead! show less

Years ago, I picked up a mass market paperback with a cover illustration of a hardbacked chair in an otherwise empty room. That book was Garnethill and the book was a revelation to me. It was gritty, crime-ridden and featured women as complex as they were tough and damaged. I've loved Denise Mina's books ever since. She has a talent for getting into the heart of her characters. Even the worst of criminals (and some of her criminals do terrible things) is a human being.

Her newest book is the fourth book in her series set in Glasgow following DI Alex Morrow. It pays to read the series in order, because Morrow has changed over the course of her career. She's not what one would call a people person, but she's a good cop; hard-nosed and show more direct most of the time, but compassionate when needed. As Red Road opens, Morrow is unhappy at work. The people she'd worked with have been dispersed as a result of a scandal and her new team doesn't know her well enough yet to see beyond her gruff exterior. But she has twins at home and a roof that's in need of replacement. She's testifying in court against a felon with ties to organized crime when his fingerprints are found at the scene of a murder, despite he having been in custody at the time the crime was committed.

Like all of Mina's novels, this is a grim tale of lives destroyed before they'd really gotten started, of corruption embedded in high places and full of the unhappiness people can cause each other. It's excellent, though I would have liked it to be longer. show less

Anyone who elects to read a second book by Denise Mina deserves what they get. The Red Road is my ninth. I know what I am getting when I turn to that first page. And yes, I will read a tenth and an eleventh.

Of course, what people get out a Denise Mina mystery depends on how they read it. On the surface, her novels are mercilessly cynical mysteries that reveal corruption at every level of society. A person could despair of humanity on a diet of her books alone. But that is only on the surface, dig deeper and her characters become complex blends of good and evil. That is why I keep reading.

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This is the fourth book in Denise Mina’s Alex Morrow series. It is very different to the others—darker and grubbier in every sense—most notably because Alex Morrow is actually quite a minor character in it. Sure, she remains present as she bumbles around on the surface of something incredibly complex, but the story is told mainly from the perspective of the rest of the cast: Rose (a girl who was abused as a child), Robert (whose father befriended her), and others.

One thing that troubled me for a while after I'd finished was the handling of Rose. At no point was her experience referred to as rape. That reflected the attitudes of the men who used her, and the cold detachment of the detectives who she came into contact with, but I'd show more have like to have seen that acknowledged somehow. Even Rose saw herself as having been almost active participant--not willing as such, but the depth of resignation removed her will to resist-- in what happened and I didn't like that at all.

In places it was convoluted and difficult to follow, but I really enjoyed the writing and the depth of the language. I was disappointed that Morrow was held in the background as the power f this series lies in the weaving together of her life outside work, with the police procedural side of things. This, however, shows the series maturing and shifting focus and so, although I was a bit disappointed, it also leaves me wondering what direction the author will take for the last volume. To be honest, absolutely anything could happen. show less

The Red Road by Denise Mina is the 4th book in her Alex Morrow series, a series which just keeps getting better as it goes along. In each book we learn a little more about Alex and what makes her tick. In this book, events that happened on a night in 1997 are brought to the forefront of Alex’s current investigation when fingerprints taken at the scene of a murder impossibly implicate a man who is currently in prison. This fact has Alex backtracking to find out how the wrong fingerprints could be on file.

Denise Mina excels in writing stories that lead her readers into the dark side of life. We are placed inside these characters heads and often find ourselves wondering what we would do in the same circumstances. On that night in 1997, show more which just happened to be the same night that Princess Diana died, a 14 year old girl has killed but her lawyer has launched a plan that will change the course of justice, and make her obligated to him for life.

There are a number of threads that need to be followed and braided together in this story and at all times we, the reader, are a few steps ahead of Alex Morrow as she sorts through these apparently unconnected cases. Eventually Alex must make some tough choices that could eventually affect her own career.

The Red Road was an excellent entry and I am looking forward to the next book. show less

This was beautifully written. It was only a police procedural in parts (and I could have done with a bit more of a solid wrapping up and arresting people at the end), but the character study of Rose was very good.