Orion £7.99
The End of the Wasp Season, By Denise Mina
A thriller with a sting ... and a pregnant detective
Sunday 26 February 2012
Latest in Reviews
In this dark, bitter, compelling thriller, a young woman is brutally murdered in her home in Glasgow. Pregnant DS Alex Morrow investigates the crime, while having problems with her arrogant boss and psycho brother. And, down in Kent, a disgraced financier hangs himself from a tree, but not before he's psychologically damaged his whole family.
There's little comfort or niceness in this world, where life is a struggle at every level of society. Even Denise Mina's descriptions are jaundiced: a glass of wine is "piss-yellow"; housebricks are "shit-brown". Not a feelgood novel, then, but there is sympathy underlying the depiction of these messed-up characters, and the writing is as sharp as a Stanley knife.
- 1 Publishing: Rude bits in disguise
- 2 A dark day for goths (in a good way)
- 3 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (12A)
- 4 BANNED: The most controversial films
- 5 French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy calls for West to intervene in Syria
- 6 Spencer Tunick creates 'naked Dead Sea'
- 7 Free Range: Meet the designers of tomorrow
- 8 Win a limited edition Tracey Emin monoprint
- 9 The ten best: Bollywood movies
- 10 Cannes: Too much rain, too few women, but great movies
- 1 Mark Zuckerberg saved $111m by selling Facebook shares before stock slumped
- 2 Brazil rocked by abortion for 9-year-old rape victim
- 3 Schoolboy spiked brownies with cannabis in cookery class
- 4 Police letter reveals St Paul’s cathedral involvement in Occupy eviction
- 5 Fat? Really? Olympic hope laughs off official’s jibe – but others aren’t amused
- 6 'Hello mum, this is going to be hard for you to read ...'
- 7 African monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV
- 8 Cameron aide’s cosy chats with News Corp
- 9 Coke reveals its secret: It may need to carry a cancer warning
- 10 French in uproar over oral sex anti-smoking posters
Experience the Heineken Hub
Get free wi-fi and exclusive i content while you enjoy a tasty pint of Heineken at participating pubs.
Can you imagine a career in teaching?
Be inspired to teach - let real teachers show you how rewarding the job can be.
Playing a game-changing role during the Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Ridley Scott: The most macho man in movies?
Gallic gourmets put France back on culinary map
The outsider: Margaret Howell
For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos
Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?


Comments