Garnethill is a good example of a first novel in series that works and works well.
The main character in this story is a young woman, Maureen O'Donnell. Set in Glasgow, Scotland, the back story finds Maureen in a mental hospital for a nervous breakdown (for reasons explained but which I will not go into here), and as this story opens, she's home again, with a job and in an affair with a married therapist named Douglas. Maureen didn't know he was married until just recently, and has decided to break it off. Off with a friend she goes for a few drinks, comes home blotto and passes out in her bed. The next morning, however, she wakes up, and finds Douglas dead, sitting tied to a chair with his throat slit from one end to the other. After a panic attack, Maureen calls the police, but it becomes painfully obvious to her that they think she's the killer. So in order to clear her name, she needs to find out why Douglas was murdered, why it happened in her apartment, and becomes embroiled in a situation where her very life is at stake. And, as if all of this isn't enough, she's got an extremely dysfunctional family to deal with, some of whom think she's probably guilty.
Normally, I'm not a reader of stories involving dysfunctional families, but this one really works. Although the subject matter is serious, the author's characterizations are nearly perfect, and at times I found myself actually laughing out loud. It's a very well-balanced book, a very good mystery, and I loved Maureen O'Donnell. I've already bought Exile, the second book because this one was so good. It's not really a hard-boiled crime novel, nor is it a police procedural, and it's not a cozy by any stretch of the imagination. However, it is well worth the reading time, and I can highly recommend it.
I rarely say this about a first novel in series, but I loved this book!
Brilliant novel. Excellent trilogy.
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