The End of the Wasp Season

A Novel

By: Denise Mina

Narrated by: Jane McFarlane

Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

When a notorious millionaire banker hangs himself, his death attracts no sympathy. But the legacy of a lifetime of selfishness is widespread, and the carnage most acute among those he ought to be protecting: his family.  

Meanwhile, in a wealthy suburb of Glasgow, a young woman is found savagely murdered. The community is stunned by what appears to be a vicious, random attack. When Detective Inspector Alex Morrow, heavily pregnant with twins, is called in to investigate, she soon discovers that a tangled web of lies lurks behind the murder. It's a web that will spiral through Alex's own home, the local community, and ultimately right back to a swinging rope, hundreds of miles away. 

The End of the Wasp Season is an accomplished, compelling and multi-layered novel about family's power of damage-and redemption. 

©2011 Denise Mina (P)2011 Hachette Audio

A good find for me!

I liked this story a lot and I'm glad to have found this author. The story moves along with good psychological study. Altho the beginning was a bit gory for me, it serves the plot well and doesn't go on and on. I ended up feeling the characters had been fully realized, for a mystery book, and I felt sympathy for even the "perp". It was a struggle between wanting him to get caught and dreading him being found out. The spectre of a false solution to the case added tension.

The reader was terrific. I found her Scottish accent to be understandable and it added a bit of color. The setting was well described and I enjoyed learning some about Scottish life - not the kilt-clad highland type.

Compelling

This is the second book in the Alex Morrow series. I read the third first and then listened to the first and second. I love the narrator; she was a great choice to read this author. The writing is far, far better than your average mystery. Great characters, some humor, a lot of suspense, and Alex, who is a believable, fallible and driven detective. The author delves into her personal life and past from time to time, and deals with Alex's issues with a lot of depth and compassion. But it's not a Hallmark-After-School-Special type of thing; it is literature, which I feel is often not the case with mysteries. This book felt like a cross between Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie mysteries and Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. Very compelling and very hard to stop listening to.

misled by a review but I still liked it

I got "The end of Wasp season" because NPR books recommended it as one of the best "Sherlockian Mysteries" . I then listened to the sample on Audible and I had no choice ...I had to get this book. My problem is I do not think the book is as much a mystery as it is a character study. You know who "did it" in the first 5 minutes. You actually know just by listening to the sample. After finding that out I think Denise Mina is a very talented author The investigator in this book is now going to be one of my favorite detectives to follow .I am looking forward to reading more of her books The book may be a little dry so for some this book may be one that is better to read then to hear.
I very much enjoyed this narrator. I think Jane McFarlan did a spectacular job with the End of Wasp Season.

2nd in Series with Developing Characters & Story

Wow! Denise Mina was a nice discovery for me. Her writing is literate and descriptive and she is especially interested in developing complex characters. In this series, a police procedural, the main character, Alex Morrow, navigates many worlds including that of the police, a grieving but comforting home, a Glasgow full of baggage from a dysfunctional upbringing, and an array of victims, suspects and perpetrators of each plausible case. The plots are realistic and are sprinkled with surprises and twists. Other reviewers compare her to the best - Kate Atkinson, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell - and I concur ... I look forward to watching Alex and her companion characters grow in many future books ....

Kept me listening

I loved this book! It kept me interested throughout. The narrator is magnificent. I was never disappointed. The story is fresh, the plot moves along at a good pace, the characters are well defined and realistic, and the ending is adeptly written. Suspenseful until the very last page!

I recommend this book and author

Intelligent story, realistic plot, well written. It was everything I am looking for in a mystery listen, and I highly recommend this and other Denise Mina books.

Narrator is stellar

I stumbled upon this novel while browsing new releases on my audiobook source (audible). I double checked the ratings against Amazon and was good to go!

I'm glad I chose this novel! It was full of suspense and hard to predict and had great stories for each character.

This is the story that begins with the murder of a young woman. We hear/read the murder take place along with being given enough detail about the murdered woman to wish that she somehow survived (you find out in a chapter or so that she did not). The story switches to the boys who killed her and provides their story, more of the life of Thomas, who simultaneously deals with the murder and his father's suicide. The story next switches to the (pregnant with twins) woman investigating the murder and her force of police officers in Scotland that she works alongside with. As Alex investigates the story, we meet a final character, Kay and her children who looks as if they will be unjustly tried for the murder.

I loved this novel because it was unpredictable and I found myself caring for each character (even Thomas). The stories of each were SO interesting. This is a great mystery. The language is a little bit harsh, so if you are suggesting it to high school students, it should only go to more mature students. Not only will this story linger with me, but I will also miss the voice of the Scottish narrator! Great selection!!!!!!

Wonderfully subtle

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I already recommended it to about three women. It is written very feminine, soft and subtle. The story is like those Columbo tv serie-movies. You know who did it but the thrilling part lays in the finding out how they will be discovered.
The characters are deep and gradually you get to know them better. You understand why the murder happened.
The detective Alex Morrow is a very smart lady, so as a female reader I could relate to her.

What other book might you compare The End of the Wasp Season to and why?

I've never read anything quite like this. It was so subtle I rewinded some parts to really grasp the story and the characters. Wonderful.

What does Jane McFarlan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her genuine Scottish accent makes it very real to listen to. Besides she narrated it very good and pulled me right into the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The entire atmosphere of the book pulled me in. I wanted to keep listening, I felt everything, I saw it before me. But mostly I enjoyed the fact that Denise Mina thinks her readers are smart people and that she doesn't explain everything. We as readers have to work two, to really read between the lines. Without making it too hard.

Any additional comments?

More audible books by Denise Mina

This is Not to be Missed! Great Story!

What a treat this book is for someone searching for a writer with a unique slant on the typical mystery/crime/police procedural! The story is complex, but that is what makes it interesting!

A detective pregnant with twins struggles against other cops who jump to conclusions -- because they are trying to find the quick and easy answer to a horrific crime; generational family sagas of greed, mental illness and very, very awful parenting; young thugs who are such sociopaths that they can't help but incriminate themselves; and so much more combine to create memorable characters and a compelling plot.

I liked everything about this book. The narration is even and spot on throughout. Give it a try!

5 stars means...

...I'm looking forward to reading the rest in this series. The story was gratifyingly unusual for this genre. Great narrator.