'She's dead' said the woman. But she wasn't, she was alive and she heard them.
In this the second book by Denise Mina, Maureen O'Donnell is attempting to come to terms with the death of her lover, the fact that her father is back in Glasgow and living in close proximity to her, a dangerous threatening game being played out by her former therapist, and the continual storming of her defences by her mother.
To appease her conscious of the money left to her by Douglas, her former lover, Maureen has taken some voluntary work with the 'Place of Safety Shelters'. When her best friend Leslie comes to her expressing her concern for one Ann Harris, a battered woman, who has suddenly left the shelter, and disappeared. Maureen is confused by Leslie's concern and by the widening gap in their friendship. Maureen is convinced that Ann has not been battered by her husband, but if not by him, who?
The circumstances surrounding Ann's disappearance take Maureen to London, looking for answers, but the over riding enthralment in this fascinating mystery is in the incredible characterisation, and the sad reality of those trapped in a way of life. It is powerful in it's portrayal of family and friends in crisis, and pain and suffering, and laugher and tears. It takes you in a roller coaster of emotions. One of those books you are compelled to read to the end, and when that it is reached, stays in your mind.
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Lizzie Hayes.
September 2000