What a well done tale by Denise Mina. I was an early fan of her work, did. It enjoy some of her middle work, and now this title clearly is a highlight of the year for mystery fans. Using one day in the protagonist’s voice we see her make decisions based on misinformation. Whether it’s the death of her husband, the misinformation attributed to a murder scene, or day to day events the climax comes roaring to the end and makes you ask is it. Better to be safe or tell the truth. Complex narrative, taut writing, a book that you’re almost afraid to read the ending.

From the moment Jonty and his fiancée are found brutally murdered, this story had its hooks in me. But what kept me flipping pages deep into the night wasn’t just the crime — it was the slow, crackling revelation of everything behind it.

In the Good Liar, follow Doctor Claudia O'Sheil, a renowned blood spatter expert, as she finds herself at the center of a forensic investigation that quickly unravels into something far more sinister. She's accompanied at the crime scene by her mentor, Phillip, but something immediately feels... off. Basic protocols are skipped. Evidence is poorly preserved. And Jonty's son — a troubled young man who seems clearly innocent— is arrested almost immediately.

What makes this novel so compelling is its dual timeline: one strand unfolds the events of the murder in real time, while the other fast-forwards to a year later, with Claudia preparing a speech for the opening of the new forensics institute.

What’s revealed over the course of the narrative is a deepening web of conspiracy, buried truths, and questions. Claudia’s personal losses — especially the mysterious death or suicide of her husband not even a year before — begin to tangle into the same thread as the murder investigation. Nothing is coincidence. And no one is safe.

Mina doesn’t just deliver tension — she gives us complex, human characters. Claudia’s relationship with her children is real and raw, and her half-sister, battling addiction, is drawn with empathy and dimension. The emotional stakes run just as high as the investigative ones.

Would you do the right thing, even if it meant losing everything?

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