Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an unbiased review.
I must confess I've been a fan of Ms Mina's for many a year and have read most of her publications.
Felt that this was was a little bit different from the norm but a cracking read nonetheless..
From Glasgow to the Highlands of Scotland to a chase around Europe all in search of the truth about the death of three people on a boat. Several other events brought into equation and eventually they are all linked together.

A really terrific adventure! This book has it all - the blood and gore expected in a thriller, a twisty story line, dark humour and wonderfully real characters. I was gripped from the first page to the last. Well-to-do housewife and mother Anna has a horrific secret and in one dreadful day it is exposed, along with her husband leaving her for her best friend, and taking their beloved children. The adventures that follow are mesmerising, the characters wonderfully drawn and the many places vividly described. I absolutely loved this book!

Anna McDonald’s life is falling apart in more ways than she expected. She is suddenly hooked by a true crime podcast that leads her to look back at everything she has repressed in the last 10 years. This novel was the definition of a page-turner for me, I think Denise Mina did an excellent job of crafting a complex mystery whilst liberally applying the art of misdirection. I know this is a book I will recommend frequently and it makes an excellent summer read.

Well, it's definitely easy to see why CONVICTION by Denise Mina has been storlisted for the Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year. Simply because it's brilliant.

At university, I was obsessed with the true crime podcast Serial, so I can totally understand how Anna is swept up in her early-morning indulgences, following someone else's story, a story only just bigger than her own.

With the pace and mystery of one of our most-loved true crime podcasts, CONVICTION is a gripping adventure that sees Anna and her new "friend" Fin racing against time (and the odd hitman) to discover the truth behind the sinking of the Dana. With more twists and turns than you bargain for and a twist I did not see coming, I was totally hooked by Mina's thriller and obsessed about finishing it (please ignore the late-night-reading bags under my eyes). I haven't read any of the other longlist entries yet, so I can't say if CONVICTION should be the winner yet, but if you haven't read it, you definitely should because it's definitely up there!

Thank you to the publisher and author for the free ARC in exchange for a review.

I just could not put this book down once I started reading it! Set in Glasgow, Fort William and all over Europe, it's a roller-coaster of a read. It has a twisted plot, great characters, it's edgy, a touch of humour and brilliantly written. I won't go into the plot other than to say I totally fell in love with Anna and Fin! This would be a great holiday read and I highly recommend it. A very addictive and heartwarming read. My grateful thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Initially, I did not think I was going to enjoy this book but that soon changed. In the beginning, it is a story within a story within another story. It starts with the breakup of the relationship between Anna and Hamish in which it seems Anna is an innocent party. However, all is not what as it seems with Anna's life and her past is slowly revealed as she goes on a journey into her past inspired by a true-crime podcast. accompanied by Fin an anorexic former pop star and the husband of her best friend who is now the lover of her partner. Eventually, the threads of the three stories come together in a climactic ending.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book to readers who want a change from. standard police procedurals.

Anna's life seems quiet and she lives with her lawyer husband and her kids. But everything is about to change. Her husband is leaving her with her best friend. She gets involved in investigating a murder case with Fin, her friend's husband. With the background of a real life murder podcast, Anna and Fin end up travelling through Europe, putting themselves at risk. Anna's real identity comes back to haunt her, connecting her with the murder, Eventually, the murder is solved and brings also the chance for Anna to get her life back together. This is an interesting murder mystery book which mixes dark sides with a touch of humour, and uses the podcast as a thread through the story. The reader is embarked on this journey across Europe, led through various false paths and puzzled until the end as to who did it. The reader needs to stay alert through all the twists and turns. It was my first time reading Denise Mina, and I enjoyed it. A good read.


Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK Vintage and the author Denise Mina for the opportunity to read this Advanced Readers Copy of "Conviction"
#Conviction #NetGalley

My first Denise Mina read and I’ve been intrigued since it was chosen by Reese Witherspoon as one of her monthly Book Club choices.
It tells the story of Anna, who writes the book as a way of telling a story that begins with her listening to a real-life crime podcast. She is shocked when she hears a familiar name mentioned.
But Anna has a number of secrets of her own, that we discover as the story goes on.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes a story with a great twist

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Wow what a fast paced thriller I absolutely was hooked from the beginning. I would highly recommend to others

Phew I felt a bit exhausted after reading this book. Having to absorb all the emotions, - Anna's anger, Finn's apathy it was a real roller-coaster and that's not even taking into consideration the number of places they visited!. So whilst I did enjoy the premise of the book, I did find it hard to gel with the characters. I have read other books by Denise MIna and did not have the same experience from reading them so there was definitely something about this book that felt different.

This was a great novel that I had a wonderful time reading. The characters were well depicted and the storyline flowed seamlessly.

Complex,intricate,emotional story,quite different from any I have read before. The characters are great and desperately human,flaws and all.

Anna McDonald is an ordinary woman who spends her days listening to podcasts and reading. When she starts listening to a new podcast she realises it features someone from her past and after a devastating blow in her personal life she decides to investigate the unsolved case.
The first half of this book had me gripped. The story of the Dana, the cruise ship sinking the podcast is about, is so interesting, creepy and suspenseful. As the story went on and we found out more about Anna's backstory I just began to lose interest. I felt it was a bit dragged out, too many angles and not enough depth in any of them. It just fell flat for me and I couldnt wait for it to end.
I think this book could be a marmite one, you'll either love it or hate it. Unfortunately it was the latter for me.
Thank you to Netgalley for this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Anna McDonald, wife to a wealthy barrister and mother to two small children, is listening to a true crime podcast to distract her from marriage troubles. The details of the sinking of a supposed cursed super yacht, the Dana, which led to the death of a family of three, strikes a chord and Anna realises that the owner of the yacht is someone she knew in her past when she was called Sophie Bukaran. Minutes after this realisation Anna's husband Hamish announces that he is leaving her for her best friend Estelle and taking the children with him.

Shocked and feeling the pull of suicidal thoughts, Anna decides to flee her house and distract herself with a visit to old work colleagues to dig up information on the people involved in the yachting accident, and Estelle's husband Fin joins her on a harebrained road trip to Scotland.

I enjoyed Mina's two mismatched lead characters. Cold, selfish and acidic Anna understands the danger her investigation could stir up, yet she is forced to provide a crutch to Fin who is suffering a relapse regarding his anorexia but hits on the idea of streaming their discoveries on social media to take advantage of his high profile as former musician.

I enjoyed the switches in tone with banter, giving way to chase scenes, heart-thumping danger, podcast interludes, and slapstick while the characters are pursued from Scotland to Italy. I also loved the emphasis on storytelling with Anna's reinvention, Demy's the assassin's chilling reminiscences on the train and the construction of facts to form a narrative on social media and podcasts.

Great fun and fast-paced. I read it through the course of a day as I had to know what happened.

Top thriller - a most enjoyable romp around Europe as the two main characters attempt to solve a murder, not get murdered themselves and right an injustice. I loved this - the use of the podcast as a scene setter worked really well, the original rape scenario was sadly believable following similar cases and that in Cyprus last year, and the characters were likeable for all of their flaws.

I sat in the sun and inhaled this - very much recommend it.

Conviction is one of those books that you simply can’t put down and I flew through it, eagerly anticipating the next time that I could sit down and be taken on Anna and Fin’s journey. And what a journey it is! We go from my hometown of Glasgow, to a castle in the Scottish highlands, to Saint Martin in France, London and Venice. We also have several different story lines going on at once.
As someone who can’t get enough of true crime documentaries, having a true crime podcast be what propels the story in this works brilliantly for me. Hearing the podcast episodes play out and then following along as Anna and Fin, in an almost buddy cop-style way, investigate and get tangled up in what has happened, was incredibly engaging and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through.
However, if I had one gripe with Conviction it would be surrounding the character of Gretchen Tiegler. Throughout she is hyped up as the main villain. But when we do finally come face to face Gretchen, which only takes place over the course of a few pages, it’s all rather anticlimactic. The ending also feels a bit rushed as well, after how much has led up to it.
Overall though, this was such a fun and captivating read and I can’t wait to read more from Denise Mina.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I NEED A SEQUEL!!!

When I first started reading Conviction I released I’d made a terrible mistake.... this is not a serious thriller book. I’ve never read a thriller / comedy before but honestly it works! The darkness mixed with the light and made this a great story. I loved the funny scenes and daft one liners.


Sophie and Fin make the perfect pair. The podcast angle was interesting. Perfect fun summer read!

Anyone who has read any of Denise Mina's books over the past 20 years knows that she's a highly talented crime writer. Her resume is packed with awards and accolades, and whether it's one her one of her three acclaimed series (Garnethill, Paddy Meehan, Alex Morrow) or inventive standalones like SANCTUM and THE LONG DROP, there's evidence aplenty that Mina is crime writing royalty.

After celebrating the twentieth anniversary recently of her striking debut GARNETHILL, Mina now underlines her versatile talents with this zesty new tale imbued with up-to-the-minute issues.

The main character in CONVICTION is Glasgow wife and mother Anna McDonald, who lives a fairly domestic existence with her lawyer husband Hamish and two young daughters. The comfort and safe banality masks Anna's past and very public trauma she suffered years before.

Now living under a new identity, Anna’s lukewarm reality is upturned in a single day when Hamish leaves her for her best friend, and she learns from a true crime podcast that an old acquaintance is dead. Even worse, a powerful woman who made Anna’s life hell could be involved in some way.

Untethered and desperate for a distraction, Anna becomes obsessed with the true crime podcast, and starts picking at the case of a luxury yacht that sank in the Mediterranean, finding an unlikely ally in the form of the anorexic ex of her former best friend. Pandora's Box opened, together they follow a trail from the Scottish Highlands to continental Europe, hunting for some sort of truth while visiting the hideaways of the rich and the wretched and trying to stay ahead of some very dangerous people.

There are so many things to love about CONVICTION. First and foremost for me, there's a real verve and sense of energy to Mina's storytelling, which blends gut-punch moments with great characterisation, a clever structure, and some nice touches of black humour. This fair hurtles along, and is one of those smile-inducing books even as its full of dark deeds.

CONVICTION is a whirlwind, in the finest way. Recommended.

I’m struggling to write this review because I found the book so bad in every way I keep looking for someone to pop up and say it was a joke. The style was all over the place and I’ve made allowances for it maybe not having had its final edit. The main character Rachel and the motley group of people around her were unconvincing to put it mildly. I’m going to stop there because I’ve read other reviews that have praised the book and given five stars so maybe I missed something... but I don’t really think so.
I’ve given one star but would have given none if that were an option.

An addictive cat and mouse thriller of hidden identities and shady villains. Plus, a refreshingly original duo leading the charge and hunting for the truth.