Monday, October 10, 2011

The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina

Lars was a controller; everything had to be done his way.  So why would he hang himself from a tree in the front yard his children weren't allowed to walk on?

Reagan Arthur Books, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, sent me a copy of this book for review (thank you).  It was published in September, so you can get a copy at your local bookstore now.

This is story written in the present, but tied to the past.  There are layers of love and hate, lies and truth, and psychological damage.  Lars committed suicide, but the "why" is complex.

Detective Inspector Alex Morrow is assigned to a random murder, where a young woman's face is destroyed.  She's five months pregnant with twins, so it makes it more of a challenge.  Her mind is good, though.

If those two cases weren't enough to keep the cops busy, their hatred for their new commander has everyone riled up.  Morrow tries to keep the peace, but loses the battle.

The final, and most interesting for me, part of this story is what happens to the Anderson family after Lars is no longer there to run it.  His selfishness and desire for everything to be perfect has left a family of "lost people".  They don't know how to function in the world and they are mentally scarred.

This is a messy pot of evil that is very realistic, gritty and ugly.  But it's a slice of life that more than one cop has seen.  And it'll stay on your mind for a while after you set the book down, too.

If you'd like to have my ARC, please leave a comment here on my blog and email me at info at bookfaerie.com with your NAME AND ADDRESS and tell me why you'd like to read the book.  I'll pick a winner in about a week.

Happy reading.

1 comment:

SusanB said...

This sounds like my kind of book. Thanks for the review and giveaway.

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