The Less Dead by Denise Mina

 

This is not a very good novel. The characters are unpleasant and mostly uninteresting, the story is jumbled without being complicated or complex; the primary saving grace is the occasional extraordinarily well-turned phrase. It's pretty clear the author has things to say, but she's not really able to get out of her own way here--that's a pity, because I think I agree with much of what she's trying to say.