Garnethill

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

Garnethill is a murder mystery with real heart and political bite. Garnethill is the highest hill in Glasgow, where the novel's protagonist Maureen O'Donnell, lives in her small tenement flat. An incest survivor, and in the process of recovering from a nervous breakdown, she wakes after a drunken night out with her best friend, Leslie, to discover that her lover, Douglas, a therapist of questionable ethics, has been brutally murdered in her living room. The ensuing police investigation and Maureen's parallel hunt for the killer takes the reader on a breakneck tour around Glasgow and the West Coast and through mental hospitals, police stations and Maureen's own 'unsavoury' family. Divides of class and privilege are also revealed as Douglas's MEP mother tries to scapegoat Maureen for the killing, using the convenient Care in the Community argument, manipulating the media and the police in the process. A subplot about the potential closure of the women's shelter for which Leslie is an advocate supports the main storyline, thematically, and helps provide the context for these strong women's analyses of the stiuation in which they have become embroiled. Despite its dark subject matter and its uncompromising conclusion, Garnethill is a novel imbued with humour. The voices of the characters are convincingly rendered and despite the no-nonsense take on domestic violence and sexual abuse, this is not a simplistic black-and-white narrative. Both the police and mental health services are depicted as being peopled by caring and compassionate individuals as well as those who are self-seeking and abusers of power. Grotesque and pathetic individuals are portrayed in their complexity, while Maureen is an impressive survivor with a desire to take responsiblity for herself and other abused women. Garnethill was the worthy winner of the John Creasey award for Best First Crime Novel. (Kirkus UK)

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