The Long Drop: A Novel

by Denise Mina

Overview

A Washington Post Best Book of the Year, this standalone psychological thriller from the acclaimed author of the Alex Morrow novels that exposes the dark hearts of the guilty . . . and the innocent.

William Watt's wife, daughter, and sister-in-law are dead, slaughtered in their own home in a brutal crime that scandalized Glasgow. Despite an ironclad alibi, police zero in on Watt as the primary suspect, but he maintains his innocence. Distraught and desperate to clear his name, Watt puts out a bounty for information that will lead him to the real killer.

Peter Manuel claims he knows the truth that will set Watt free and has information that only the killer would know. It won't come cheap. Manuel is an infamous career criminal, a degenerate liar who can't be trusted and will say, or do, anything to make a buck.

But Manuel has something that Watt wants, which makes him the perfect target for Manuel's consummate con. Watt agrees to sit down with Manuel and before they know it, one drink has turned into an epic, forgotten night of carousing across the city's bars and clubs that exposes the thin line between a good yarn and the truth.

The next time the unlikely pair meets is across the witness stand in court — where Manuel is on trial for the murder of Watt's family. Manuel calls Watt to the stand to testify about the long, shady night they shared together. And the shocking testimony that Manuel coaxes out of Watt threatens to expose the dark hearts of the guilty...and the innocent.

Based on true events, The Long Drop is an explosive, unsettling novel about guilt, innocence and the power of a good story to hide the difference.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316380591
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	07/24/2018
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	587,391
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Denise Mina is the author of more than ten novels, including The Long Drop, winner of the 2017 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish crime book of the year, and the Garnethill trilogy, the first installment of which won the John Creasey Memorial Award for best first crime novel. Mina has twice received the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. She lives in Glasgow.

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR THE LONG DROP:


"The Long Drop takes readers on a suspenseful tour into the past, through psyches and situations far grimmer than even those sooty Glasgow streets."
—Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post

"Mina has always been a close observer of the brutality drunkards can inflict on their wives and children... this one feels painfully real."
—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

"A terrific exploration of crime and oppression."—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"The emerging story is an intricate and suspenseful unveiling of a murderer's mind while taking readers on a compelling journey through Glasgow's historic underworld...This stand-alone thriller showcases Mina at her best, capturing the nuanced psychological suspense and ethical shadows of her Alex Morrow series as well as the electric dialogue and tangible grit of her Paddy Meehan novels."—Booklist (Starred Review)

"Outstanding."
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Praise for BLOOD, SALT, WATER:

"An atmospheric, chilling thriller...The power of Mina's writing is such that she can transport readers from placidity to violent pandemonium in the space of a paragraph."
—Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post

"A whip-smart Scottish crime novel...you'll find yourself hooked."—Kim Hubbard, People

"Mina's riveting sixth novel featuring Glasgow Detective Inspector Alex Morrow...(is) an installment that exposes the bleakness of small-town Scotland as skillfully as it does the bustling mean streets of Glasgow."
—Publishers Weekly

The "always dependable Mina...delivers another atmospheric, well crafted mystery."—Library Journal

"Mina's gift at unveiling the relatable quandaries, desires, and missteps that create criminals provides an irresistible hook...Recommend to readers who appreciate driven, conflicted female detectives like Anne Holt's Hanne Wilhelmsen, Val McDermid's Carol Jordan, and Tana French's Cassie Maddox."—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 03/13/2017
In this outstanding standalone, set in late-1950s Glasgow, from Edgar-finalist Mina (Blood, Salt, Water), William Watt stands accused of butchering his wife, daughter, and sister-in-law, but he vehemently proclaims his innocence. Only ace attorney Laurence Dowdall saves him from prison, but public sentiment is against him, forcing Watt to take on the mantle of amateur crime-solver. This is how he meets Peter Manuel, career criminal, convicted burglar, suspected rapist. The two form a strange alliance after Manuel promises to show Watt where the murder weapon is hidden—but for a price. With knifelike precision, Mina flicks between the bizarre 12 hours Watt and Manuel spend together getting drunk in Glasgow bars, and Manuel’s later trial, where’s he’s on the dock not only for the murder of the Watt family but also the slaughter of another trio, asleep in their beds. The question of guilt or innocence is irrelevant, and the gray of the in-between reigns supreme. And while Mina’s usual tough female protagonists are absent, the presence of women presses as near as the crush of bodies eager to attend Manuel’s trial. (May)

Publishers Weekly

There’s a wonderful Glasgow-ness to Mina’s writing. Using various points of view, she captures a city full of hopelessness and hope, a place of deep class divides and gang crime, of loyalty and pride in belonging.

NOW Magazine

A thrilling read. . . . Much though I love Mina’s Alex Morrow and Paddy Meehan books, it is in this book-where she is least making things up-that she shows her true creative powers.

The Scotsman

Indelible.

The Guardian

Takes you right under the characters’ skin. A relentlessly tense and exciting read, every page oozes menace and its core of truth makes it all the more unsettling.

Sunday Mirror

Mina applies her imagination to the known facts and creates a vivid, haunting narrative.

The Times (London)

The emerging story is an intricate and suspenseful unveiling of a murderer’s mind while taking readers on a compelling journey through Glasgow’s historic underworld. . . . This stand-alone thriller showcases Mina at her best.

Booklist (starred review)

A page turner that is guaranteed to satisfy mystery lovers.

The Vancouver Sun

She’s up there with Ian Rankin among practitioners of character-driven Scottish noir.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

A wee fine read.

Winnipeg Free Press

The Long Drop is a foray into the world of true crime, as fictionalized by a writer of real talent.

Globe and Mail (Toronto)

The power of Mina’s writing is such that she can transport readers from placidity to violent pandemonium in the space of a paragraph.

The Washington Post

An extraordinary achievement, so weird and vivid and compelling, like The Lost Weekend crossed with one of the darker Elmore Leonards. Very black and existentialist. The writing is fantastic, sharp and intelligent and it rang absolutely true.

Christobel Kent

Deliciously shadowy.

Metro London

Atmospheric and compelling.

Woman & Home (UK)

A fascinating retelling by Denise Mina, Scotland’s most literate and imaginative crime novelist. . . . Ghastly and irresistable.” 

Toronto Star

02/01/2017
In Glasgow in December 1957, successful businessman William Watt hires noted defense lawyer Laurence Dowdall to defend him against charges he murdered his wife, sister-in-law, and daughter. The two men meet with recently released criminal Peter Manuel, who claims to have information—the location of the gun used in the killings—that will exonerate Watt. Manuel and Watt spend the evening together drinking and talking, but no gun is produced. Six months later, Manuel is on trial for these and five other murders, and Watt has been called to testify as a witness. The story, narrated in the present tense, alternates chapters between the end of 1957 when these characters first interact and the trial in May 1958, which decides the fate of both Watt and Manuel, effectively portraying a grimy, gritty Glasgow of 60 years ago. VERDICT Award-winning Scottish author Mina's (Blood, Salt, Water) stand-alone is a disappointment. Unfortunately, there is no sympathetic main character and little fulfillment at the end. Readers will be left wondering at the stylistic devices and wishing for a better resolution. [See Prepub Alert, 11/21/16.]—Roland Person, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale

Library Journal

Narrator David Monteath expertly heightens and diminishes his Scottish accent to differentiate the characters of Denise Mina’s novel based on the true story of murderer Peter Manual, who terrorized Glasgow in the 1950s. Monteath has an easy voice to listen to, but the audiobook itself is not an easy listen. The story alternates between the trial of Manual and a night-long meeting between Manual and William Watt, the man whose family Manual is later convicted of murdering. Mina steps deeply into the thoughts of each character in an attempt to find the truth, but, as she reveals, everyone is a liar. Listeners who pay close attention will be rewarded by the quality of the writing. E.Q. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2017 - AudioFile

Narrator David Monteath expertly heightens and diminishes his Scottish accent to differentiate the characters of Denise Mina’s novel based on the true story of murderer Peter Manual, who terrorized Glasgow in the 1950s. Monteath has an easy voice to listen to, but the audiobook itself is not an easy listen. The story alternates between the trial of Manual and a night-long meeting between Manual and William Watt, the man whose family Manual is later convicted of murdering. Mina steps deeply into the thoughts of each character in an attempt to find the truth, but, as she reveals, everyone is a liar. Listeners who pay close attention will be rewarded by the quality of the writing. E.Q. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2017 - AudioFile

★ 2017-02-05
Hard men work their will in 1950s Glasgow.Though somewhat unlike Mina's usual thrillers in many ways, this study of a serial killer shares her persistent themes. Mina has penned three series of novels, each featuring a female protagonist (Blood, Salt, Water, 2015, etc.) struggling against both active criminals and pervasive misogyny. In this story she omits the female protagonist but remains grounded in the casual victimization of Scotland's women. William Watt's family (wife, daughter, and sister-in-law) is slaughtered, and at first Watt is charged with the crimes. Feeling the police are not investigating energetically enough, he reaches out to the Glasgow underworld—and finds Peter Manuel, who claims to know where the gun is buried and much more. In the course of a December evening he and Watt spend drinking together, much that is repellent about Manuel is slowly revealed. Then another family is murdered. Eventually Watt is exculpated, and Manuel is charged with eight counts of murder. The story alternates mostly between that December night of drinking and the subsequent trial. Manuel is delusional, possibly psychotic; but is he alone responsible for the deaths of Watt's family? Watt is a man of some substance, involved in political and real estate machinations that will transform Glasgow. He has a mistress. Do the hard men close ranks around him? Is Manuel, beyond the control of the men who rule his world, sacrificed to preserve one of them? In the end, the answer matters less than the method, as women's lives are degraded, publicly and privately, physically and spiritually, to preserve the ranks of those hard men. In more than one sense, Manuel takes the fall. A terrific exploration of crime and oppression.

Kirkus Reviews