Well since the FMI library had donation of a couple of thousand books from 'Sisters in Crime', I have been reading female crime fiction authors. Recently I came across Denise Mina's Conviction. Unlike some of the other authors I finished this book which indicates I must have enjoyed it!
The book is premised upon a character who is following an audio blog where a murder story on a boat is played out. A ghost story is in calculated to this boat based mystery. This is in conjunction with a suspense on the protagonists identity as her married life falls apart. This gives the novel a degree of complexity, which the author manages for the most part well; two mysteries and a ghost story for the price of one!
Initially set in Scotland the locations zoom around from London to Paris to Venice. A companionship with a music identity opens doors as the two pursue their complex destiny with a nemesis type figure who sends various hit men after them. Technology plays a big part in the novel. Relationships also feature - married ones, sexual ones and friendships. There are some really nice written paragraphs eg life being like a lost pearl in the dust on page 283 and observations of people filming on their phones "recording everything but seeing nothing".
The author, in reflexive mode, also observes the whole book is getting lost in someone else's story. People, isn't that what a good novel does? The final sentence is a great one but I will leave my dear readers to find this out for themselves.
A great read from the collection at the FMI library. Check it out. NF
