I love the works of Denise Mina. I have a soft spot for the Scottish -- I spent a year at St. Andrews. The book is obviously well-written and well-plotted. It reminded me a little bit of the BBC series "Blue Murder" in that the primary detective is pregnant. When she begins to get dark, the twins in her belly give her internal organs a kick and remind her to choose life!

I appreciated some spots that had nothing to do with the central mystery -- another tale of tortured prep school boys gone bad -- things that would be elements of women's fiction that come as part of the lovely package. Here's a passage, where Glasgow Detective Morrow bumps into an old friend from the neighborhood who is now a single Mum of four teens: "Kay smiled tenderly. 'Four bastard teenagers. make my life hell.' It was very old manners, talking negatively about your children while oozing pride, as if complimenting them would be self-aggrandizing."

There's more that I could quote, but the insight into friendships over time, unsentimental parenting, work pile-ups, and random disasters make this a terrific mystery, a terrific work of fiction. I am, as always, in awe of Denise Mina, who writes so beautifully without a single phrase saying "look at me!"