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Denise Mina
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Deception: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Denise Mina (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 164 ratings
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Things like this don't happen to people like us. That's what Lachlan Harriot thinks as he watches his wife, Susie, led to jail in handcuffs. Yes, Susie, a psychologist, was found covered in blood near the spot where one of her clients appears to have been murdered. But Susie is not a killer, Lachlan thinks. She's my wife. She's our child's mother. Secrets lurk behind closed doors, however, a dark truth made chillingly clear as Lachlan's efforts to prove Susie's innocence uncover an entire secret history -- illicit affairs, false identities, unimaginable deception -- and this brilliantly acclaimed, page-turning novel speeds toward a conclusion as shocking as it is ingenious.
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  1. Print length
    332 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Back Bay Books
  5. Publication date
    September 3, 2007
  6. File size
    2137 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When psychiatrist Susie Harriott is convicted of murdering Glasgow serial killer Andrew Gow, her husband, Lachlan, embarks on a frantic search for material that may help with her appeal. But in going through her files, he finds layer upon layer of nasty secrets... or does he? Lachlan's diaries tell the dark and complicated story, claiming, variously, both absolute fact and deliberate fantasy. In medical school when he met Susie, Lachlan gave up his day job to be a house husband and dream of being a writer after the birth of their daughter, Margie, now a toddler. Deception (and self-deception) abounds, including the inevitable dalliance between Lachie and the au pair, Yeni, who shares her employer's primal hunger for sticky childhood candies. But it's voice, not event, that grabs hold of the reader and won't let go. Lachlan Harriott immerses us in his obsessions; like Nabokov's Humbert Humbert, he repels and commands sympathy in the same instant. He is a charming, comic, intelligent narrator—and a man who might happily see his wife rot in prison, not for murder, but for the greater sin of rejecting him. Susie herself is seen as if through a long lens that can barely contain her beautiful, sorrowful image; what she did or didn't do is less compelling than what her husband reveals (or invents) about himself in his new life after her conviction. Mystery lovers have lately been looking to Scotland, in part because of Mina's fast-growing reputation; this stunning new work can only bolster the trend.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Deception marks a departure from Mina’s earlier work, award-winning crime novels set in the dark underbelly of Glasgow. Most critics agree that her use of the “unreliable narrator” is masterful. She slowly reveals that all is not as it seems; even self-deception abounds. As Mina peels away the onion, the househusband with tenacious loyalty to his convicted wife has his own questionable agenda. Deception keeps you guessing, yet manages to be much more than a mere whodunit, thanks to Mina’s strong psychological characterizations. These create a story, as it unfolds in the form of the protagonist’s diary, which is “car-crash irresistible” (Washington Post).

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00EXTQR8I
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Back Bay Books (September 3, 2007)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 3, 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2137 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 332 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 164 ratings

About the author

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Denise Mina

Denise Mina

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Denise Mina was born in Glasgow in 1966. Because of her father's job as an engineer, the family followed the north sea oil boom of the seventies around Europe, moving twenty one times in eighteen years from Paris to the Hague, London, Scotland and Bergen. She left school at sixteen and did a number of poorly paid jobs: working in a meat factory, bar maid, kitchen porter and cook. Eventually she settle in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients.

At twenty one she passed exams, got into study Law at Glasgow University and went on to research a PhD thesis at Strathclyde University on the ascription of mental illness to female offenders, teaching criminology and criminal law in the mean time.

Misusing her grant she stayed at home and wrote a novel, 'Garnethill' when she was supposed to be studying instead.

'Garnethill' won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasy Dagger for the best first crime novel and was the start of a trilogy completed by 'Exile' and 'Resolution'.

A fourth novel followed, a stand alone, named 'Sanctum' in the UK and 'Deception' in the US.

In 2005 'The Field of Blood' was published, the first of a series of five books following the career and life of journalist Paddy Meehan from the newsrooms of the early 1980s, through the momentous events of the nineteen nineties. The second in the series was published in 2006, 'The Dead Hour' and the third will follow in 2007.

She also writes comics and wrote 'Hellblazer', the John Constantine series for Vertigo, for a year, published soon as graphic novels called 'Empathy is the Enemy' and 'The Red Right Hand'. She has also written a one-off graphic novel about spree killing and property prices called 'A Sickness in the Family' (DC Comics forthcoming).

In 2006 she wrote her first play, "Ida Tamson" an adaptation of a short story which was serialised in the Evening Times over five nights. The play was part of the Oran Mor 'A Play, a Pie and a Pint' series, starred Elaine C. Smith and was, frankly, rather super.

As well as all of this she writes short stories published various collections, stories for BBC Radio 4, contributes to TV and radio as a big red face at the corner of the sofa who interjects occasionally, is writing a film adaptation of Ida Tamson and has a number of other projects on the go.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
164 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Laura H
5.0 out of 5 stars You don't know what's true but you need to find out!
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Sometimes you dont know where this story is going, who murdered whom, but it's more compulsion than confusion that keeps you reading all night! It's written so well, has funny bits and a narrator not so much unreliable as self-deluded, yet loveable. Do read this!
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ReadtoLiveLivetoRead
3.0 out of 5 stars Need help with Plot Twist
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
I only gave this book three stars, because main character Lachlan was boring. Here’s my problem with the book, which I hope another reader can resolve for me.
SPOILER ALERT
First of all, a minor but annoying point, if Susan had killed Gow and Donna in the bothy, why wasn’t she covered with blood? She had not changed her clothes, we know that. No mention was made of this. Seems a bit ridiculous given how much blood stains on clothes feature as evidence in most violent crime novels.

Bigger issue: I never made full sense of the plot twist resolution. I even made a list, like Lachlan, about Donna 1 (Brenda) and Donna 2.
So Brenda (biological daughter of one of Gow’s prostitute victims) lured Donna into a sexual relationship, then (this is not explicitly explained) persuaded Donna to pursue Gow? Why? But at the same time, Donna is having an affair with Susan? Or is Brenda having an affair with Susan? I’m so confused. I get that Brenda is actually Gow and Donna’s killer, but the middle game involving Susan is a muddle to me. Can anyone straighten this out for me?
2 people found this helpful
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Xenia Coulter
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable mystery
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2013
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This is a "crime" mystery written as a diary by a husband whose wife has been convicted of a murder. The story seems unfathonable and the reader become engrossed in trying to figure what is going on. Mina is a good writer and bring the tale to a close that ties up all the loose ends very nicely. Slightly tongue in cheek, I think -- but fun to read.
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MaryT
5.0 out of 5 stars Denise Mina never disapoints!
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2021
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Well plotted, well written and much more plausible than many better known mysteries. Denise Mina is a master of conversation and character development, I would read anything she has written.
One person found this helpful
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Maryg
2.0 out of 5 stars Very Heavy Lifting
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2024
Verified Purchase
I quit halfway. I generally like Denise Mina's novels but this one was flat, slow, boring. I almost always finish the books I start but this wasn't worth the effort. Too bad.
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Laurel-Rain Snow
5.0 out of 5 stars DARK AND TWISTED TALE
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2010
Verified Purchase
When a loyal husband and father searches through his wife's personal computer files and papers, he is trying to find evidence of her innocence in the case against her. A case that has resulted in her conviction for the murder of her alleged serial-killer patient and his wife.

So what is the story of Dr. Susie Harriot, and will Lachlan Harriot find what he needs for her appeal?

Sorting through the morass of these files, however, will lead Lachlan to unexpected secrets, twisted truths, and will finally convince him that he did not know his wife at all.

Throughout this story, I found that the best part was not knowing who to believe and untangling the many-faceted aspects of the case.

An intense psychological thriller,  Deception : A Novel  kept me tuned in until the surprising end, which is why I gave it five stars.
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Michelle Boytim
3.0 out of 5 stars Obsession and murder and secret lives
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2014
Verified Purchase
Lachlan's wife, Susie, has been imprisoned for the murder of one of her former patients at the prison she worked at as a psychologist. He has been murdered in a manner similar to his alleged victims, and his wife is missing, presumed dead.

Lachlan is convinced that his wife is innocent and begins digging into her files and papers in hopes of discovering something that will help her case on appeal. He uncovers far more than he bargained for, and we slowly see a much different character to Susie and a gradual unfolding of both her story and that of the alleged murderer/rapist, Andrew Gow. The prosecution has claimed that she was obsessed with Gow and had an affair with him, which Lachlan begins to wonder about as his probes into his wife's life. The story is full of some gruesome twists and turns as the story progresses.

I had trouble getting into this one, perhaps because it is told from Lachlan's perspective, and the farther I got into the book, the more I disliked him. I much prefer the two books I have read in the two Garnethill and Paddy Meehan series.
4 people found this helpful
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Sharon Robideaux
5.0 out of 5 stars Twisty turny
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2022
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Up is down and night is day. I started reading "Deception" a few hours ago and just finished. I feel dizzy and disoriented. Everyone has a secret (or many), and no one knows other people very well at all. It's strange and real and unreal.
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