Review: Conviction by Denise Minda

RATING: 7/10

SYNOPSIS

It’s just a normal morning when Anna’s husband announces that he’s leaving her for her best friend and taking their two daughters with him.

With her safe, comfortable world shattered, Anna distracts herself with someone else’s story: a true-crime podcast. That is until she recognises the name of one of the victims and becomes convinced that only she knows what really happened.

With nothing left to lose, she throws herself into investigating the case. But little does she know, Anna’s past and present lives are about to collide, sending everything she has worked so hard to achieve into freefall.

REVIEW

“Grief is a scar. The tissue is tough and when it’s cut again, it heals poorly.”

Again, I’m not sure about Reese’s pick for this. There are parts which I like about this book and there are problems with the plot as well. I don’t hate this book but it is not as impressive as Reese’s other picks.

Conviction is not the average thriller where there’s a homicide and a detective was assigned to solve the crime. It is about Anna McDonald, who is obsessed with a true-crime podcast and when she discovered that a crime described in the podcast involves a victim and a perpetrator whom she knew, she decides to solve the crime by herself. At the same time, the perpetrator of the crime is also linked to her gruesome past.

Since it involves a murder mystery, Denise Mina managed to create a mysterious atmosphere and I am intrigued to know what happened to Anna McDonald previously which causes her to change her name and fled away from her hometown. I love this part of the book whereby Denise Mina slowly lures her readers to continue with the book to get to the truth of Anna’s past. Like most successful thrillers, the ending is really shocking and it gives me the “I did not see that coming” feel.

Now to the cons part. There is so much happening in this book up to an extent that I feel the author tries to dump in a lot of distinct issues in this thriller: gang rape, anorexia, the disparity between the rich and poor, and its effect. Sometimes, less is more. I would appreciate the book more if the author could just pick an issue and focus on it throughout the book. Further, certain plotlines are too far-fetched to me. It just so happens that Anna’s best friend (who is also married) had an affair with Anna’s husband. It’s also so “convenient” that Anna’s best friend’s husband, Fin, was once a famous rock star, who then uses his fame to assist Anna in solving the mystery. Halfway through the book, there is also an assassin who was employed to murder Anna and Fin. That plot to me is really absurd. After the big revelation (which I am quite satisfied), the book just ended there (which then left me unsatisfied).

Because of the revelation at the end of the book, I decided to give this a 7/10 star rating. If you are up for a non-conventional thriller, Conviction may be the pick for you!