The Dead Hour
by Denise Mina
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Book Summary Information
Author: Denise MinaEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-02-12
ISBN: 0316003530
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of The Dead Hour
Book Review: Dead, but very much Alive
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an unusual detective novel filled with strengths that may first appear as weaknesses, or challenges to the reader. Let's start with the title. THE DEAD HOUR is the graveyard shift at the Glasgow newspaper where the heroine, Paddy Meehan, works as a very junior reporter following police calls. An apparent domestic dispute in the suburb of Bearsden (pronounced as though two words, "bear's den") becomes a murder by the next morning, and there will be plenty of death to follow. Denise Mina spares the reader little of the gritty grayness of a city at night, and few of the characters in this novel lead happy or prosperous lives. But Glasgow has always been a working-class city, and it was badly hit by the economic policies of the early Thatcher years; Paddy, for example, is the only wage-earner in her lower-class family. By setting the action in 1984, Mina writes a book that is as much a social realist novel as a whodunnit, and the stronger for it.
Readers should also be warned that the author uses a device of interlacing short sections featuring different characters who quickly take on a life of their own, but whose connection to one another emerges only slowly. A large part of Mina's mystery technique consists of simply holding back basic signpost information, for example that so-and-so is someone's brother, someone's lover, someone's boss. But in this way, the reader's dawning comprehension parallels Paddy's own, as she doggedly pursues the truth in hope of expiating her mistake of walking away from the first crime.
One of the great strengths of the book is the Glasgow setting, not in the least romantic, but totally real. This was a special attraction to me as a former resident of the city (who has also done his share in night-time news rooms), and I can recognize it almost down to the city block. But Mina does nothing to translate the slang or the references for non-Glasgow readers; this is as far removed from a tourist book as you could imagine. The detail is in no sense local color, but the grit and stone of which the city is made. Readers may find this a strange and alien place, but they will also know instinctively that it is totally authentic.
But ultimately what takes this book out of the dead hour and brings it to radiant life is the central character herself, Paddy Meehan. Insecure, overweight, barely holding onto her job, she seems an unlikely heroine -- but she is real, she is warm, and she grows on you by the minute. She is actually much better at her job than she thinks. She has a real ability to connect with people, cutting through patronage and evasion with a feisty tongue that throws prudence to the winds but makes people take notice of her. She has a healthy interest in sex when she can get it, though her judgment in this area is not the best. She is much better at making friends and being loyal to them. Denise Mina's readers will surely make friends with Paddy in turn, and will respond with loyalty of their own.
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