STILL MIDNIGHT

An Asian merchant is mistakenly abducted by an inept gang of Glaswegian thugs. Detective Sergeant Alex Morrow of the Strathclyde Police catches the case. Morrow is uncomfortable in social situations, often abrasive and pig-headed, filled with confusion about what is "right." When it comes to police work, however, she's spot-on. Morrow interviews witnesses, interrogates suspects, all the while running an inner dialogue confronting her own uncertainties. Grim and darkly amusing, Denise Mina's latest, inspired by a true crime, affords narrator Jane MacFarlane a host of eccentric characters to inhabit. While MacFarlane's voice is a bit soft for the gritty descriptions, her characterizations in dialogue exchanges are lively, vivid, and credible. Mina raises serious social questions about race, politics, and community, and MacFarlane makes the listening distinctive. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2010]