Denise Mina’s latest Glasgow crime novel features DI Alex Morrow, the fifth in this series. It’s a complex story, and it requires careful attention to keep all the details in one’s head.  Morrow has plenty of determination but she doesn’t have any personal life, so the narrative thread is all in the local characters, both suspects and victims. The puzzle starts with the disappearance of a woman, Roxanna Fuentecilla, who was under suspicion for being involved in drug smuggling. She bought a local insurance company and the local police were keeping a close eye on her. They don’t know what to make of her disappearance.  Of course, the facts gradually unfold. The narrator shifts from character to character, revealing what’s going on in their minds, but not telling everything. One of the main people in the story is Iain Fraser, recently released from prison, and with major distortions in his thinking. He has a capacity for violence but he also cares about people and he has insight. We also see into police work, people’s marriages, the criminal world, and family life over generations. Blood, Salt, Water is a rich work, more ambitious than many other crime novels. Yet without a strong central character to bring it all together, it’s also hard work at times. The unabridged audiobook is performed by Cathleen McCarron, who does well at giving her characters some emotional depth, but who struggles with an American accent.

© 2016 Christian Perring

Christian Perring, Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York