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Denise Mina

でにーす・みな

Denīsu Mina

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1966-08-21 （East Kilbride）
Nationality
Scottish, British
Languages
English
Residence History
East Kilbride, Scotland → Paris, France → London, United Kingdom → The Hague, Netherlands → Bergen, Norway → Invergordon, Scotland → Glasgow, Scotland

Career

Occupations
crime writer, playwright, comic book writer, TV presenter
Active Years
1996-2024
Affiliations
Glasgow Film Theatre Board of Trustees (2015-2021)

Education

Orpington College
Period: 16歳時
Country: United Kingdom
dropped out
Langside HE College
Country: United Kingdom
University of Glasgow
Faculty of Law / Law
Degree: LLB (Hons)
Country: United Kingdom
awarded the Gilbert Forbes Medal for forensic science
Strathclyde University Law School
Law
Degree: PhD（開始）
Country: United Kingdom
Began PhD on The Ascription of Mental Illness to Female Offenders, where she wrote her first novel Garnethill

Awards

John Creasey Dagger for Best First Crime Novel
1998
Work: Garnethill
Category: Best First Crime Novel
Organization: Crime Writers’ Association
Result: Winner
Honorary Doctor of Letters
2008
Organization: Glasgow University
Result: Recipient
Martin Beck Award
2011
Work: The End of the Wasp Season
Category: Bästa till svenska översatta kriminalroman
Organization: Svenska Deckarakademin
Result: Winner
Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award
2012
Work: The End of the Wasp Season
Result: Winner
Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award
2013
Work: Gods and Beasts
Result: Winner
Gordon Burn Prize
2017
Work: The Long Drop
Result: Winner
McIlvanney Prize
2017
Work: The Long Drop
Category: Scottish Crime Novel of the Year
Result: Winner
Deutscher Krimi Preis
2020
Work: Gods and Beasts
Category: International crime writers
Result: Winner
Honorary Doctorate
2025
Organization: University of Strathclyde
Result: Recipient

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Garnethill

1998 Crime fiction

Debut novel featuring Maureen O’Donnell, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

sexual abusetraumarevenge

The Long Drop

2017 True crime

Non-fiction novel about serial killer Peter Manuel's 1958 trial in Glasgow.

serial killertrialtrue crime

Conviction

2019 Crime fiction

A crime investigation revolving around a podcast. Reese's Book Club Pick.

podcastsjusticedeception

Gods and Beasts

2012 Crime fiction

Alex Morrow series novel.

corruptionfamilyviolence

The End of the Wasp Season

2010 Crime fiction

Alex Morrow series.

Bibliography

  • Garnethill
  • Exile
  • Resolution
  • The Field of Blood
  • The Dead Hour
  • The Last Breath
  • Sanctum
  • Still Midnight
  • The End of the Wasp Season
  • Gods and Beasts
  • The Red Road
  • Blood, Salt, Water
  • Conviction
  • Confidence
  • The Long Drop
  • The Less Dead
  • Rizzio
  • The Second Murderer
  • Three Fires
  • Hellblazer
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (comic adaptation)

Adaptations

  • The Field of Blood (BBC TV series, 2011)

Translations of Works

  • The End of the Wasp Season (Swedish translation)
  • Gods and Beasts (German translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Tartan NoirGlasgow-centric crime fictionsocially conscious crime writing
Recurring Motifs
social underclassserial killingsfemale perspectivesunderbelly of Glasgow

Legacy

Described as ‘crime writing royalty’, key figure in the rise of Tartan Noir. Multiple award winner across novels, plays, comics, and TV. Known for gritty Glasgow crime stories.

Trivia

  • Changed schools thirteen times due to frequent family moves.
  • Father was an engineer who served in the Merchant Navy.
  • Married in 2005 with two sons; eldest Fergus (b. 2003) had a life-limiting condition and died in 2017.
  • Worked in bars, cinema, meat factory, and as an auxiliary nurse.