Conviction— by Denise Mina
(Mulholland Books)
Shortly after the death of her mother, Sophie Bukaran is the victim of a horrific crime. She endures a fatally-flawed trial that exonerates the group of footballers who assaulted her, in which the prey is blamed by the actions of the predators. The powerful manager of the football (in the UK) team contracts for Sophie to be killed, but she eludes this attempt, goes on the run, and assumes a new name and life. A happy life, that is, until this morning, when her husband and father of her two children, up and leaves with her best friend. When Fin, ever-so-slightly famous rock star, tragi-comic relief, and also-jilted spouse of said best friend, gravitates towards now-Anna for comfort, the two of them are thrown together to pursue the mystery behind the podcast Anna has been escaping into—the sinking of a luxury yacht with a family on board. Sophie, when she began her life as Anna, met the man believed to be behind the deaths, and unable to fathom the wreckage of her own life, sets off on an international quest to discover the truth. A classic thriller thrust into a contemporary setting, with a generous helping of true-crime story, this compelling mystery is complex, rewarding and brilliant.
— Reviewed by Jenny Lyons of The Vermont Book Shop in Middlebury.
8 More Wonderful Women Sleuths
The Golden Tresses of the Dead, by Alan Bradley
Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit, by Amy Stewart
Murder in Bel-Air, by Cara Black
The Stone Circle, by Elly Griffiths
The Colors of All the Cattle, by Alexander McCall Smith
A Forgotten Place, by Charles Todd
Lady in the Lake, by Laura Lippman
The American Agent, by Jacqueline Winspear