The End of the Wasp Season

The second book in the Alex Morrow series

Reviews

Winner of the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award 2012

When wealthy Sarah Erroll is murdered at her home in a posh part of Glasgow the local community is stunned. Heavily pregnant with desperately-wanted twins, DS Alex Morrow is called into a scene so violent that experienced officers can hardly bear to look.

On the other side of town, Thomas Anderson is told by the headmaster at his boarding school that his tyrannical father - a banker responsible for the loss of many livelihoods in the recession - has hanged himself from the old oak tree on the lawn of their home. Thomas returns to the family home to find his mother and sister in a state of shock. The head of the household is dead, yet their initial reaction is not that of grief, but relief.

As Alex Morrow makes the connections between the two cases, she faces her greatest challenge yet as her work and home lives collide with potentially disastrous consequences.

“What makes Denise Mina stand out even in the crowded field of excellent Scottish "Tartan Noir" crime novelists is the strength of the female perspective she brings to the work… And it especially reveals itself in the interaction among the various women characters, subtly observed and rooted in experience.”

Yvonne Klein in Reviewing the Evidence

"Denise Mina is one of Scotland’s most impressive crime writers. This dark, angry novel doesn’t offer easy thrills or the intellectual diversion of a whodunnit. Instead, it focusses on its deeply flawed characters, their motivations and the world they live in..."

Andrew Taylor in The Spectator

“This story is like a spider’s web – intricate, detailed, and exquisite when you see the completed project. The reader is drawn in and this story will not let go of you until you know how all these characters are interrelated and just how close are they to knocking on Alex’s door.”
— Mary Gramlich, GoodReads

More about the book

Denise introduces the story and themes of The End of the Wasp Season

In this interview in the Guardian, Denise talks about winning the Theakston's award and the book.