The Less Dead - Denise Mina

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marymary
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The Less Dead - Denise Mina

Post by marymary »

Well, I have to say I’m a little miffed. For a few months I have been scribbling away at a crime fiction novel where there is a quick death involving a stabbing to the carotid and older sex workers in Glasgow and this novel already got there.

Luckily, this is where the resemblance ends and I won’t be accused of plagiarism.

The main character finds out that her birth mother was murdered after she gave her up for adoption when she tries to find out more about her roots once her adoptive mother dies. This search takes middle class medic Margo into seedy streets full of dangerous, aggressive people and that’s just her family. Margo has just broken up with her partner and hasn’t told anyone she is pregnant, combine this with trying to clear her mother’s house and it’s obvious why Margo is so keen to find out what made her mother opt for a life of being a whoor. (the word used by her birth family)

Margo is given her birth mother’s photos and finds more online and is astounded by how physically similar they are. Her birth mother is one of a number of unsolved sex worker murders and rapes two decades ago and Margo gets sucked in to trying to solve her mother’s at least.

Margo is stalked by two different people for two different reasons and her best friend also seems to be in danger. Margo receives poison pen letters at three different places that she moves to within a few days and the writer seems to know facts not released to the public. Two residences Margo lives in are burglarised so Margo feels compelled to investigate by herself as the police aren’t taking her seriously.

As usual Mina makes us care about the underclass in society. There is a very touching scene where Margo talks to a random prostitute in her car and pays her for her time because she wants to try and understand why women without a drug habit would keep selling themselves.

There are many scrapes and near misses throughout the novel and Margo has to deal with people who are not exactly truthful and sift through every scrap of evidence to try and not only identify her mother’s murderer but also survive their face to face denouement.
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