Book Review: "The Less Dead" by Denise Mina
“The Less Dead” by Denise Mina
Synopsis: She thought she was finding her birth mother.
Now she's searching for a killer.
Dr. Margo Dunlop is at a crossroads. Her adoptive mom just passed away, and Margo misses her so much she can't begin to empty the house-or, it seems, get her brother on the phone. Not to mention she's newly single, secretly pregnant, and worried about her best friend's dangerous relationship. In an effort to cheer herself up she goes in search of her birth mother. Instead she finds Nikki, her mother's sister. Aunt Nikki isn't what Margo expects, and she brings upsetting news: Margo's mother is dead. Worse, she was murdered years ago, and her killer is still at large-and sending Nikki threatening letters.
Margo is torn. Should she stay out of this mess, or try to find justice? But then Margo receives a letter, too. Someone out there has been waiting and watching, and in Margo sees the spitting image of her mother...
Darkly funny and deeply affecting, The Less Dead is a sharply modern new thriller from the bestselling author of Conviction, and a surprisingly moving story of daughters and mothers, secrets and choices, and how the search for the truth-and a long-hidden killer-will lead one woman to find herself.
Rating (out of 5): 4.25
Review: In a recent reading slump despite having an impressive lineup of books to read, I turned to the trusty Libby app on my iPad to get some e-books from the library. Over the weekend, I tore through Denise Mina’s two most recent books, “Conviction” (Bookshop | Kindle) and “The Less Dead.” While “Conviction” was about as rollicking as a murder mystery can be, “The Less Dead,” while still impressively funny, is a darker story about a population whose lives aren’t at all valuated by our society.
When Margo, middle class to the core, embarks on a quest to find her birth family, she’s nonplussed to find out that her birth mother is dead, murdered months after Margo was born, and that she and her aunt had both been sex workers. Within their first meeting, she’s roped into investigating the murder, whose perpetrator is still taunting those close to the victims with notes.
Margo, newly pregnant and separated from her partner, dealing with her adoptive mother’s home, and a flighty but wonderful best friend in an abusive relationship, is the definition of overwhelmed. When the killer begins targeting her, her personal life reaches a fever pitch that manages to be both frightening and funny to the reader.
There is so much good stuff here: it’s a fast read, it’s insightful, and it’s feminist to its core. Margo’s personal reckonings with social class and how her occasional disdain for and distrust of her aunt clashes with her liberal values ring true to anyone whose snobbishness has ever been challenged.
Mina manages to write in a way that tackles important social issues without any pretense, with an incredible amount of suspense, and more than a bit of humor.
TL;DR: A surprising and engrossing mystery that will have you staying up all night to finish it.
If you liked this; try:
“Nothing Can Hurt You” by Nicola Maye Goldberg (Bookshop | Kindle) (my review here)
“Her Body and Other Parties” by Carmen Maria Machado (Bookshop | Kindle)
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