I am sure that it is very difficult to produce a novel that will satisfy everyone’s taste especially after writing such an excellent trilogy. It is apparent from this latest book that Denise Mina has no intention of letting her high standards slide.
Set in a prison north of Scotland, Sanctum is the latest novel by Denise Mina and is her first standalone novel since her acclaimed Garnethill Trilogy.
One has often wondered why women not only find criminals irresistible (is it the frisson of danger that attracts them to the relationship) but also marry some convicted murderers while they are in prison? Susie a well-respected forensic psychiatrist has been convicted of the murder of a serial killer who was in her care. Her husband Lachlan Harriot believes that she is innocent and has two weeks in which to find grounds of appeal, otherwise Susie will be given a life sentence and deprived of everything she holds dear. While searching for proof of her innocence he goes through her papers and finds that things are not as clear-cut as he thought they would be. The more he digs the more questions he has instead of answers. Especially puzzling is the nature of the relationship between his wife and the killer. There is also something in her study that she desperately does not want her husband to find. Harriot soon discovers not only violence and sexual obsession, but lust and betrayal as well.
Sanctum is an extremely thought provoking novel with sharp psychological insights
and is narrated by the doctor. It is a portrait of people, who are living on
the edge and will do anything to survive. It is also a look at what is seen
and accepted as fact and what is fiction in all its different angles. At times
stomach churning and suspenseful Sanctum will appeal to readers who like psychological
crime fiction that are page-turners! .
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Ayo Onatade
Denise Mina is the author of the Garnethill Trilogy