Deception: A Novel
by Denise Mina
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Book Summary Information
Author: Denise MinaEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-05-10
ISBN: 0316058572
Number of pages: 311
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of Deception: A Novel
Book Review: "I wonder how I could live with her and know her so little"
Summary: 4 Stars
Lachlan and Susie Harriott seem to have it all. She's a prison psychiatrist with lots of family money; he trained as a doctor but stays at home in their secluded Glasgow house to write and tend baby Margie. Their peaceful existence falls apart when Susie becomes obsessed with the case of a prisoner convicted of brutal serial murders. After the man is released from prison on appeal, he and his new prison bride are murdered and Susie is tried for the crime. Lachlan pursues the hidden truth, hoping to find grounds for appeal of Susie's conviction.
Those are the main facts of the story; how would YOU write them? Author Denise Mina chose Lachlan's diary as the narrative vehicle, an interesting choice because unlike the usual first-person narrator of a suspense tale -- "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" -- our Lachlan has not written his story for the public but rather as a private journal of his discoveries and his emotional response to them. The device by which his diary is revealed adds to the impression of private musings laid open for the greedy public eye. Not only is his point of view imperfect due to his participation in the story, it also reveals a less-than-engaging protagonist. The reader joins company with the spectators packing in scones to devour with vending-machine tea during breaks in the trial -- voyeurs of a private calamity.
Deception: A Novel is an absorbing read for any fan of the psychological thriller. We see Lachlan decompensating as he finds evidence that Susie has fundamentally rejected their relationship. Once the stage is set with Susie's guilty verdict we fall deeper and deeper into his loss of control. Mina gives us a diary with bitter and spare word pictures; Lachlan, writing of his parents who fail so terribly to understand anything at all, says, "The card they sent for (his daughter's) first birthday had a Monet print on it and a tenner inside. They might as well have sent her duty-free cigarettes."
If there is a flaw in this book, it is that once we've accepted Lachlan's state of mind as the focus, there is a flurry of things actually HAPPENING near the end; it's almost a distraction to become embroiled in the plot action at that late stage. With that reservation -- and it's a slight one -- I recommend this book for its wonderful prose and complex characterizations. Four stars. This is my first book by Denise Mina and I'll be reading the rest for the sheer enjoyment of her writing style.
Linda Bulger, 2008
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