Conviction

Denise Mina — 2019

A breathtaking thriller about a wealthy housewife who successfully conceals her dark past until a true-crime podcast and a photo posted on social media send her running across Europe, with a faded rock star by her side and extremely dangerous enemies on her trail. Anna McLean loves to revel in life's unsavory details. When she's keeping up appearances as an upper-class Edinburgh housewife, there's no better escape than other people's sordid stories retold in true-crime podcasts. Until the day it all falls apart. A new podcast turns out to have a connection to Anna's own dark past--the secret history she's taken great pains to conceal. Hours later, her husband announces he's leaving her--for her own best friend. And when the best friend's husband--who happens to be former rock star Fin Cohen--shows up on Anna's front stoop, a nosy neighbor plasters their photo all over the internet. Her cover well and truly blown, Anna's only choice is to run--and take Fin along for his own protection. Reigning queen of Scottish crime fiction Denise Mina deftly weaves the classic thriller elements of a woman with a secret past, an average citizen thrust into a high-stakes international chase, and a cheating spouse, with online life--internet sleuthing, true-crime podcasts, insta-celebrities, and Twitter--to craft a modern, propulsive page-turner like nothing you've read before.

Reviews

Caitlin Moore@readingrealtor

Jun 14, 2023

Not quite 4 stars This book was interesting as far as the plot goes, but the writing was difficult to read/understand at some points.

Laura Dobie@MovingToyshop

Sep 20, 2022

An enjoyable crime novel that’s darkly comic in places, which had me gripped from start to finish. The podcast observations are spot on.

Cheri McElroy@cherimac

Sep 5, 2022

This was quite a ride. I found it to be a unique book as thrillers don’t usually make me laugh this much. Anna, the main character, and Finn, her sidekick, are both unlikeable, but in a sympathetic way because of how scarred they are. Their relationship was fantastic and added depth to this thriller. 4.5 stars.

Kelsey Holtaway@kelsey

Oct 19, 2021

This is honestly probably around a 4.5 for me. I didn’t love how this started, and i felt it was moving a bit...slow at first? But once it takes off it takes OFF and i ended up really loving this one.

Chelsea White@itschelseaw

Sep 26, 2021

This book was so engaging, had well built characters and a solid story, and enough twists and turns to keep me hooked. I loved Anna (Sophie) from the jump, and her partnership with Finn to get to the truth of a podcast was delightful. Anna was hilarious, smart and honest (most of the time), and really had me rooting for her by the time Finn ran into the car to save her. The betrayals kept me shocked, and I did NOT see the twist at the end!

Emily Christensen@honestbookgirl

Aug 10, 2021

This book started a bit slow but with the action it picked up a bit! It was a little like reading two mysteries at once because Anna’s past needed to unfold a bit. Quick and easy read. I would say the last 10% gets a bit dramatic and unrealistic but I feel like that’s how most suspense/mystery books are these days to try to wrap them up. Not my favorite of Reese’s book club but a decent read.