June 2020 Group Read - Still Midnight, by Denise Mina

[Chris]

Read this one, but really can't make up my mind about it. On the upside, it's not your standard murder mystery.
On the downside, it's gritty Glasgow with all the swearing necessary these days.
I couldn't work up any sympathy or empathy for any character but the storyline is good.

[Shell]

Thank you for putting forward this book for us to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had previously loved her Maureen O'Donnell series, but then I read and disliked Conviction and had not come back to her after that.
I loved Alex Morrow and the way she snapped at people and then either tried to make up to them or just snapped at them a bit more to get rid of them. Her home life and relationship with her husband was very touching and I am looking forward to reading more of this series to find out how they get on and over their tragedy.
The whole crime story was very topical at the moment and Mr Anwar was so strong a person considdering he was so small and elderly. All the way through I was wondering if the family were on the level or if they had big secrets to hide. The criminals were completely incapable of carrying out their job and made a mess at every turn.
The ending was very different too, with an interesting romance.
I enjoyed the book very much. Denise Mina has a gritty down to earth style that I like. I know some people don't like the amount of fruity language, but I find that it adds greatly to the atmosphere and I think it would not be the same without it.
I look forward to seeing how Alex and Bannerman get on next time.

[Shell]

Christina, did you like Alex Morrow's character? At the beginning of the book I thought she was very waspish, but I think by the end I liked her very much.

[Chris]

Shell wrote: "Christina, did you like Alex Morrow's character? At the beginning of the book I thought she was very waspish, but I think by the end I liked her very much."

I'm completely neutral - mainly because I can barely remember her a month later! Not rushing to find any more books in the series.

[Shell]

David, I agree that at the beginning the power battle between Alex and Bannerman was boringly typical, but I thought that as the book went on their relationship developed into something more complex and interesting. I will wait and see what you think.

[Shell]

No Christina, if you can't remember much about a book like that, then it obviously didn't grab your interest. She does have a very particular style of writing and if it's not your thing, then I don't think you'd like any of her books as they are in a similar style.

[AngryGreyCat]

David wrote: "I know I chose this one mainly on the strength on the blurb but for me it was not as good as I expected and somewhat drawn out.

My review is at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

an..."

I didn't read this this month because I had read it quite some time ago and remembered some of it. At the time I read it, I only gave it two stars, which is quite disappointing because I usually like Mina's books.