The Red Road

A brilliantly plotted tale that segues between past and present, The Red Road is a “tartan noir” police procedural to rival Ian Rankin’s best work, as Mina blends the harsh realities facing Glasgow’s underprivileged kids with the salubrious world inhabited by the city’s legal and financial wizards. The chief appeal, however, is Alex Morrow herself, a meticulously crafted character of depth and substance who succeeds in a patriarchal environment by virtue of her intelligence, persistence and humanity. - IRISH TIMES

Mina is a dab hand at constructing complex reads in which corruption permeates all levels of society and no one is left untainted, and THE RED ROAD is no exception: unsentimental, unsettling, and very, very good. - GUARDIAN

This hugely engrossing tale of murder, corruption and lies in Glasgow manages to successfully tackle the political as well as the personal and might be Mina’s finest novel. - METRO

Mina’s crime novels are doing for Glasgow what Rebus did for Edinburgh: these fine mysteries also dig into the life of a city. - MAIL ON SUNDAY

The plot is as compelling as it is intricate. Denise Mina grows in assurance and becomes more accomplished with every book; and this one is a cracker, beautifully worked-out, every scene serving a purpose… I suggest you may want to go back to savour the details, for this is that rare thing, a crime novel that invites, and benefits from, a second reading. - THE SCOTSMAN - Allan Massie

The Glasgow author’s 11th novel and her fourth to feature DI Alex Morrow is one of my favourite current crime stories. It’s a brilliant, morally complex look at child abuse, police cover-up and corruption. Uncompromising and written with real psychological depth. - BIG ISSUE

Old sins cast long shadows in this thriller that proves Mina deserving of the praise being heaped upon her. - BELLA

All Denise Mina’s books combine good reading with interesting sociological insights… Mina has a social worker’s understanding of life at the bottom of society and a fine writer’s ability to bring her characters to life. - LITERARY REVIEW