Review of The Last Breath by Denise Mina

The Last Breath is the third book in the sequence by Denise Mina featuring the wannabe journalist from Rutherglen, Paddy Meehan.

The new book moves action on 10 years from the end of The Dead Hour. Paddy is now a salaried journalist with her own column in The Daily News. Of course, she has the accoutrements that go with it, a nice Volvo, a flat in Kelvinbridge and the respect of her peers.

Of course, with getting older, baggage gets heavier. In particular, she now has a 6 year old kid called Pete by ex-partner and comedian George Burn. As well as Pete she has an unfulfilled relationship with her flatmate, Dub Mackenzie who shares a flat but not a bed with her. In the background, you’ve got her mother Tricia and her sister, Mary Ann who is a num.

The book starts off with the death of Terry Paterson, a journalist and ex-boyfriend of Paddy’s. Unsusually, it is Paddy who has to identify the body because Terry’s parents are both dead from long ago. The rumours are that the IRA were involved although this is strongly denies by them and even the police are happy to concede that it wasn’t a killing linked to the Troubles.

Paddy’s not so sure and starts to look into it and when a photographer, Kevin Hatcher, a colleague of Terry’s dies in strange circumstances things start to get hairy for her.

Paddy finds an IRA connection in the shape of a boss, Martin McBree, from the province who seems to be getting protection from the Secret Services in some kind of deal. This man seems to have appeared in one of Kevin’s photos. When portfolios and other of Kevin’s stuff goes missing later, its clear that this holds the key.

Again this book is very easy to read and moves along at a fair lick. In this story, Paddy is a more mature, better developed character who has more concerns about her since her father has now died.

An interesting sub-plot here is the return of Calum Ogilvy who was one of the child killers who Paddy helped find in the previous book. Here he is released from prison and Paddy is asked to help her ex-boyfriend, Sean Ogilvy, out in picking him up from prison. He comes across quite clearly as a damaged person but Paddy bonds with him in an unexpected way and if there are more books in this series he’ll probably feature in some way. Again, Denise Mina, has shown us why she is the Queen of Scottish Crime!