I’m afraid I cannot agree with the many 5 star reviews for this book. Unfortunately it did not work for me. I read to 59%, then could not spend any more time on it. I rarely give up on a book, but this book is such a mishmash of crazy situations, characters, and a mind numbing lengthy ‘biography’ of a ship and it’s many owners, and their families, and their subsequent fates, that I completely lost interest.
I could not relate to the central character and her numerous odd companions that she encountered along the way on her adventures. Her escapades are so ridiculously far fetched, and there seemed to be no cohesion to the plot, if there was one. The mystery of the background of the central character, who has several names, is dropped in to the story at least half way through the book. This is divulged in odd paragraphs here and there, but their meaning is not always being made clear. The reader is left to piece it together as best they can. The whole story was completely implausible for me.
Altogether, a disappointing book, which completely lacked Conviction for this reader. I will not be reading any further titles from this author.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy.

Hold on tight and be prepared for an emotional ride within this book. This book kept me entertained and engrossed throughout. It’s a story about a lady called Anne whoa has an enemy. Full of mystery she does not know who is after her only that there is someone out there who want to hurt her.
Fantastic book, great read.
Thank you to both NetGalley and random house for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

I was looking forward to reading this book, as I rate Denise Mona very highly. I was not disappointed as this was pacy, interesting and full of lots of exciting plot twists. Hard to put down and managed to convey the seat-of-the-pants feel of podcasting in its own style of exposition. Denise Mina truly is at the top of her game!

A fun and thrilling read which kept me interested throughout, fast paced horror with twists and turns which was highly appreciated.

Anna McDonald loves podcasts. For her they proved the perfect escape from her failing marriage and a devastating secret from her past. One day Anna loads up a new podcast which covers the mysterious murder of a man and his family on a yacht. Anna is shocked to hear a name she recognises from her past and becomes intrigued by the mystery. On the same day, Anna’s personal life falls apart as her husband reveals he’s been having an affair with her best friend. Unable to process the news Anna channels her energy into solving the mystery at the heart of the podcast while dealing with her own past.

There is a LOT going on in this book and it in the hands of a less experienced and skilled writer it could have all fallen apart, but fortunately Denise Mina is one of the best and she pulls off a gripping and original story with aplomb. Anna is a great character, she’s feisty and intelligent. She’s impatient with her traveling companion Fin, who himself is a really interesting character. In fact this book is packed full of them, the amount that Denise Mina managed to cram into 350 pages makes my mind boggle. As an avid listener of podcast I can confirm the author got the tone just right. I loved that when Anna’s listening to an episode the reader gets the episode written on the page, rather than a character’s exposition style version of it. The part where the episodes cut to the same advert was a nice touch.

Denise Mina has knocked it out of the park again. This is such a different book to her previous release, The Long Drop, and shows what a wide variety of tools she has at her disposal. There’s so many facets and side stories to grab onto in this book and I found myself thinking about it for days afterward. I cannot wait to see what the author will come up with next and in the meantime I’m going to definitely be keeping myself busy with her extensive backlist. Fantastic stuff from a magnificent writer.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

I loved this book!
When Anna’s best friend, Estelle, turns up on her doorstep one morning and Anna’s husband, Hamish, tells her that is leaving her for Estelle (and taking their two young daughters with him!) Anna is bereft. How will Anna cope? She turns to her means of escapism - true crime podcasts. The latest one is about the story of a family killed at sea off the coast of France. When Anna realise that she knew one of those killed, she decides to look into matters. Thereby starting a long journey, alongside Fin, the equally damaged and deserted husband of her now ex best friend Estelle.
So well written an excellent read by Denise Mina.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very easy 5 stars from me. This book is well-written, original, with complex memorable characters, realistic dialogue and totally compelling plot. Yes, perhaps it's not very realistic but it's fiction and you usually need to suspend belief when reading a thriller. Conviction is an excellent one. I haven't read any books by Denise Mina before and will happily buy her others now without any hesitation.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Vintage publishers for the ARC.

This was a book of mixed emotions. Emotional as Anna's husband, Hamish leaves her to go off with her best friend, Estelle, taking their children. And humour as Anna and Finn take out bad guys, and race from clue to clue across Europe. What a coincidence that this happened on the very morning Anna's previous life has reared its ugly head as she comes across a podcast with a blast to her past. I wasn't sure what to make of this, but I could picture this on the screen with Anna and Finn happening on "bad guys" and staying one step ahead. As the blurb says, it's a romp as they chase clues and try to solve the mystery of Leon and the Dana, in the meantime exposing Anna's past and hopefully putting it to rest. There are some real deep themes explored; we see emotion from Anna, explore Finn's anorexia, and face the real issue of celebrity rape, and the consequences of a woman daring to speak out against the establishment. #netgalley #conviction

A fast paced crime thriller that takes us all over Europe. Two crime stories converge and old scores are yet to be settled. The plot has lots of clues and you seem to have solved the mystery but then again it slips away from you. Quite dark in places and it isn't over until the last chapter. A good read that keeps you guessing with some very likeable characters, a bit of romance, a lot of violence and a stonking good plot.

With thanks to Pigeonhole, Netgalley and the publishers for the Arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
I enjoyed reading this book, whose storyline was highly improbable and interesting. The more of the book you read the more you became engrossed in this story of a millionaire reclusive woman and yachts sinking and a family killed onboard. The heroine is a rape survivor who marries and has two children and then when her husband has an affair with her best friend goes on a mystery tour with her anorexic husband.
Highly recommended.

Well, this was a fun one! Like just about everyone, I love a true crime podcast, so I was excited to read a novel that centered on one.

The plot is incredibly twisty (to the point that when I tried to explain it to a friend, she reached a point where she just said 'REALLY?' and gave up; for some reason as I was reading it I didn't have the same reaction, and was happy to believe it all). Denise Mina is great at suspense, and the protagonist was a joy to read – so scathing and bitter, but in a totally relatable way. Okay, so it does all get a bit ridiculous towards the end, but hey – I was into it.

I have, so far, read two books by Denise Mina, and a short story, all of which I have loved; which leads me to the conclusion that I really need to go back and rediscover her earlier work and, in particular, her crime series. Both of the novels I have read, “The Long Drop,” and this, “Conviction,” have been stand alone books and both have been excellent, in different ways.

Anna McDonald is having marriage counselling, but it does not seem to be working, as when we meet her, husband Hamish heads out of the door with her best friend, and her two daughters. Left behind, Anna concentrates on a true crime podcast, to help think of other things and discovers that, “Death and the Dana,” which is about the death of a man, and his children, on a yacht, involves someone she once knew, who was married to a woman that she knows of all too well…

It soon appears that Anna McDonald has a secret past. However, when her (former) best friend’s husband appears, a famous musician, with problems of his own, she finds herself suddenly thrown into the limelight. A chance photo of her and Fin, sees her face on social media, and recognition is quick to follow. With Fin in tow, the two embark on a roller coaster ride to discover the truth, avoid the bad guys and avoid being murdered.

This is a wonderful read, fast moving, humorous and very much contemporary, with podcasts and social media very central to the plot. Denise Mina is a brilliant writer and I love her work and look forward to reading more. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Overall a great tale of mystery, deception and uncovering truths. A good solid novel and the story kept pace which is what I look for. Why it didn’t get five stars for me is just that they was lots of character introductions which would then make me have to go back and check who and what character was being discussed.

Anna is living a double life; a true crime podcast is exploring the sinking of a luxury yacht. How are these two things linked?

That’s the set-up for the superb new crime thriller from Denise Mina. Anna is having a bad day. Her husband is about to run away with her best friend, taking her two daughters with her. Certainly their marriage had been struggling, but had it come to this?

To get away from reality, Anna has become a true crime podcast addict. The latest one is about the unusual sinking of a luxury yacht off the French coast. Anna is floored when she realises she knows the father who died with his two daughters on the boat. The ship’s cook has been jailed for the murders, but the podcast suggests other unearthed evidence.

And what has Anna herself been running away from all these years?

Anna teams up with her friend’s ex, a former musician himself trying to recover from an eating disorder. Together, can they get to the bottom of what’s happened?

This book is an absolute page-turner and manages to combine a number of very contemporary and very relevant themes – not least the surge of interest in true-crime podcasts. The book plays with social media and how the classic “on the run” scenario can be affected if members of the public can snap you in airports with their phones.

Mina keeps us, and her characters, on our toes. The characters are flawed and believable.

I absolutely loved this book – a wonderful read.

Thanks to Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and Netgalley for my ARC.

I'm afraid that I really did not enjoy this story, though I can see that it would appeal to some readers. For me it was way too far fetched, and I didn't warm to the characters. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.

The overwhelming feeling I got from Conviction – one of my must read books of 2019, was of deliciously enjoyable light and shade. This is a writer having fun and there’s a delicate touch to the writing that allows Mina to deploy her dark humour while wrapping us in an engrossing story that carries us on journeys across Europe (thank goodness there’s no Brexit here yet) in search of a stunning denouement.

Anna McDonald is our protagonist. She lives well in Glasgow’s comfortably corniced West End with her husband, Hamish and her two daughters, Jess and Lizzie. A light and uneasy sleeper, Anna loves having the early mornings to herself when she uses her solitary time to listen to true crime podcasts.

Death and the Dana is her current listen. A six-episode series about the sinking of the Dana, a yacht moored on an island off the west coast of France, near La Rochelle. One night, the ship slipped out of the harbour with its navigation lights off and using no and radio communication. It crossed the shipping channel, suffered an explosion below decks, and sank in the Bay of Biscay. Aboard were a father and his two grown children, Mark and Violetta. The crew had been paid and sent ashore, and the chef had boarded a plane to Lyon. Yet she was charged with and convicted of the murder of al three. Podcast producer Trina Keany is having trouble making sense of this judgement. The sinking of the Dana and the deaths of these three are surrounded by intrigue and have all the hallmarks of a great story; a tragic event, money, a reclusive heiress, ghosts and too many secrets to uncover in one episode.

As the novel begins, Anna’s life is about to be turned upside down. Her best friend, Estelle arrives at the door and as she does so, husband Hamish leaves with her, taking her daughters and leaving her without so much as a backward glance. Hamish and Estelle are off to Portugal with the girls, generously allowing Anna a week to get used to her new situation, and then they’ll be back to live in the house. Hamish generously leaves Anna a wad of cash – ‘re-settlement money’ – so that she can find somewhere else to go. He’s a peach, isn’t he?

Overwhelmed by shock and struggling to understand what has been going on under her nose, Anna’s hold on reality is obtained by her focus on the true crime podcast, mostly because she recognises a name from her past in connection with the crime. Anna met Leon Parker years ago, when she was working as a maid at the chic and exclusive Skibo Castle, where Parker was a guest. They used to chat over a clandestine cigarette by the bins and Anna liked the way that Leon neither patronised nor pawed at her but simply enjoyed sharing stories and the odd joke.

When Fin Cohen, Estelle’s husband, turns up on her doorstep, it’s clear he is in a worse state than Anna. Fin is a rock star, one who had a meteoric rise to fame and then couldn’t handle the pressure; now he is an anorexic and quite fragile. Estelle’s decision to leave him has hit him hard.

Anna and Fin launch decide to take a trip to get away from the wreckage of their lives. As they travel, Anna plays the Dana podcast and Fin, too gets caught up in the mystery. The two set off to work together to solve the mystery behind the sunken Dana – as much a diversion therapy as anything else, but why not? After all, Anna has this wad of cash burning a hole in her pocket.

It isn’t long before we realise that there is more to Anna than we were at first led to believe. Mina spins a compelling first person story narrative – a web within a spider’s web, where the threads are intertwined and to solve one set of murders we will first have to understand what lies behind Anna’s own story and to conquer the dragon that has been breathing fire on Anna’s heels for years.

Anna is stronger than she knows and her resilience will inspire Fin to create their own podcast, a narrative on solving the Dana crimes. Fin’s celebrity status means their podcast jumps high in the ratings from the outset, attracting not only fascinated listeners but also agents of destruction bent on stopping Fin and Anna.

Denise Mina has written a brilliant, character driven, edgy and relatable crime thriller that combines the best characterisation with compelling story telling. There’s so much too this exceptional, layered crime thriller that the reader will be captivated and enthralled by the deft plotting, stunning secrets and rich characters that populate the pages.

Inside this true crime podcast is an even truer story. An everyday story of rape, trauma, persecution and privilege prevailing. A shocking, unhinging tale of how money talks loudest of all.

In Anna, Mina has given us an astonishingly rich character. Anna is a resilient sharp and focussed protagonist whose clear sight and determination can move mountains, when you thought you were getting a story about castles and ghosts. She ought not to be likable. From the beginning of this novel she has been clear that she’s no big fan of the truth. ‘Lie and lie again’ is her motto. Yet despite her penchant for lying and her deceitful behaviour, there’s something about Anna you can’t help but like even before you know her story.

Mina takes her readers on a fascinating journey across Europe in search of the truth. In doing so she articulates the power in speaking the truth and in being heard. Amidst this undeniably gripping crime story there is another story that stands true and proud and calls out its name unashamedly.

This is the power of Conviction, a novel with two stories and two meanings. Amidst the luxury yachts of France’s coastline and glamorous European locations taking us into the world of international finance, Mina spins her pacey tale with dark humour, sordid deeds and fabulously described characters.

Verdict: There’s enough here for every reader with twists and turns to delight and confound. What lingers, though, is the impact of Anna’s ability to finally stop sheltering behind the lies. To feel the impact on her relationships of being able to come out and speak the truth. To finally hear her own story in her own words, told with conviction. That’s a story to be proud of, too.

This book got me hooked as soon as I started reading it and I found it hard to put down, I wanted to know what happened next!

Anna was just an ordinary housewife with a husband who was a lawyer and two girls who she loved dearly. She loved listening to podcasts early in the morning when she got up early and had a bit of me time before the day began and got busy with being a mum. On this particular day she was listening to a true crime podcast about a sunken yacht but it was owned by someone she had known previously years ago. It turned out he had been murdered on the yacht with his family by a young woman who had a cast iron alibi but still found guilty and was still serving her sentence and hadn't lodged an appeal. From there, her day just went downhill......

This book is so absorbing, you get into the story as well and want to know what happens next and follow the true crime story too, just like Anna as she follows her instincts. Such superb writing you feel you are in the story, it's well written with lots of detail and has been well researched. There is a lot of detail about travelling and foreign travel too. Thoroughly loved this book and read it over 2 days, could easily be read in 1 day if nothing else on though! Will be looking in to more of this author's work. A big 5 out of 5 stars from me!

At one point I stood back and thought is there just too much going on in this book but no I think it was just right. It started with an ordinary day, the world falls apart and it then goes from one extraordinary event to another and from one country to another. The story is brilliant, the book is humorous and witty. The characters were fun, I loved the bickering relationship between Anna and Finn, thrown together by circumstance. The back story which informs all Anna's actions is clever. It is the first book I have read by this author and it certainly won't be the last.

I loved Mina's new book. She takes the podcast genre and whips the reader along a fantastical ride as fast as a Trump twitter.
Anna and her fading-musician-star connection Fin, leave in a flurry when their respective spouses announce they are in a relationship. Anna is escaping her past; Fin his eating disorder and waning star quality.
They are trying to solve an unresolved mystery from a podcast which links unexpectedly to Anna's former life and puts their lives in danger.
The concept works well and helps the plot to race along. At times it feels as if Mina enters the farcical zone but this makes it funny, not detracting from the desire to "read on"!! And so I did and reached the last page smiling and content that my time was well-spent.

It's strange how the worst of days can start in such an ordinary, mundane way. And so it was for Anna McDonald as she sorted out gym kit and packed lunches for her two daughters. It didn't begin to go wrong until she opened the door to her best friend, Estelle and realised that her husband was at the top of the stairs, dressed as though for a holiday rather than the work clothes she'd been expecting - and he was carrying a suitcase. He and Estelle were leaving together - and they were taking Anna's two daughters with them. There was another problem which neither Hamish nor Estelle knew about. Anna wasn't actually Anna McDonald. She was Sophie Bukaran, the woman who had been involved in the rape case against four footballers.

The footballers had been found innocent, but the case didn't end there for Sophie. She was outed on social media and pursued, not just by the trolls, but by the woman who was backing the football club - and when Gretchen Teigler pursued someone she wanted them dead. Sophie changed her name and laid low. In time she met and married the aristocratic Hamish and became a housewife, a mother and a woman who was careful to hide the scar which ran through her eyebrow.

Estelle's husband was Fin Cohen, equally famous for being a musician and for being severely anorexic. On the day that Estelle left, Fin came to see Anna, perhaps not knowing whether he sought comfort, explanation or reassurance. What he didn't expect was to find himself whisked off to prove that a woman imprisoned for the murder of three people was actually innocent and that Leon Parker, one of the victims in the sinking a boat, was not the guilty party either. When Anna started listening to Death and the Dana, a MisoNetwork podcast she realised that she knew Leon Parker and even though it was many years ago and their meetings were fleeting, she couldn't believe that he was a killer.

I had to suspend disbelief at the way that Anna transitioned from being a housewife and mother to being the driving force to unmask the real killers of the three people who set sail so innocently on the Dana only for it to explode and sink in the Bay of Biscay, but once I was past that point I was caught up in a breakneck chase. Characterisation is excellent and Denise Mina handles Anna McDonald with particular skill, given that she's really two characters in one. I liked Fin Cohen too: he's used to being recognised and has come to terms with the fact that everybody has a view on his eating disorder. He cares, about his wife and about Anna, if not necessarily about the people who sank with the Dana.

The plot is good, if not brilliant. I really prefer Mina as the writer of police procedurals but I enjoyed Conviction and I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.