Denise Mina
The Long Drop
published by Harvill Secker
Denise Mina’s novel takes us back to Glasgow in the late 1950s where a series of deeply disturbing and violent murders have shaken the city. At the centre of the The Long Drop are William Watt, a businessman and social climber whose family have been brutally killed, and the sinister yet charismatic Peter Manuel, a known liar and rapist. When Manuel offers Watt answers about his family’s murder, the two meet in a Glasgow bar and embark on a strange and uneasy relationship that will have long-term repercussions for them both.
After a peripatetic childhood in Glasgow, Paris, London, Invergordo, Bergen and Perth, Denise Mina left school at 16 before doing her law degree at Glasgow University. She subsequently studied for a PhD at Strathclyde. Her first novel, Garnethill, was published in 1998 and won the CWA John Creasey Dagger for Best First Crime Novel. She has published 12 novels including the Garnethill series, Paddy Meehan and Alex Morrow series. She has been nominated for many prizes including the CWA Gold Dagger and has won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award twice. In addition to novels, Denise has also written plays and graphic novels including the graphic novel adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. In 2014, she was inducted into the Crime Writers’ Association Hall of Fame and was a judge for the Bailey’s Prize. She has also presented TV and radio programmes as well as appearing regularly in the media. She lives and works in Glasgow.