I’m not sure how I first heard of The Good Liar (2025) by Denise Mina, but I probably saw it on some end-of-the-year-best-novels list. Mina seems to be a pretty prolific writer, but she was new to me. The Good Liar is a thriller/murder mystery that takes place in London. On the whole, I found this book well written and interesting to read. However, I’ve found I’m not too into murder mysteries these days. I’m finding them a little too dark and sometimes unrealistic.
Claudia Atkins O’Sheil is a forensic scientist. She has developed a computer program that can analyze blood splatter data and pictures from a crime scene and spit out details of the assailant. For example, the program can estimate how an attack took place, how tall the assailant was, and other details of the crime. This computer program has come to be relied on more and more by the English Criminal Courts, which is great for Claudia’s career.
The Good Liar has two timelines. The book begins with Claudia about to make a speech that will blow up her life and the lives of many around her. Then the book falls back some months in order to show how Claudia ended up where she was and what kind of speech she is going to make.
Claudia is with Phillip at a party for the grand opening of a new building when Phillip receives a phone call. A good friend of his and his fiancé have been found murdered in their home. Claudia drives Phillip in his car to the scene so he can identify the bodies. Immediately, suspicion falls on the victim’s estranged son, who shows up on scene when Claudia is still there. Claudia sees enough to know that the son cannot be the killer, and she is disturbed that they take him in for questioning without explaining to him what’s happening.
Besides the mystery of this double murder, Claudia has a lot of heavy stuff going on in her life. Her husband died almost a year before in a car accident. She is trying to navigate her own grief as well as her life with her two sons without him. Her sons are grieving in their own ways, and she struggles to relate to them. At the same time, Claudia’s sister is a drug addict. She had been clean for some time, but relapses in the middle of the book.
Finally, a young scientist challenged Claudia’s blood splatter computer program openly in court, saying that it is fatally flawed. Claudia realizes that the woman is right, but doesn’t know what to do about it. If Claudia admits to its flaws, it could invalidate hundreds of convictions. But the police are currently using her blood splatter analysis to wrongly convict the son for the double murders.
When a friend and rogue attorney of Claudia’s dies on the same road and in the same way as her husband, she finally knows that her husband’s death was no accident. She’s determined to figure out what happened, but also desperate to protect her sons. When she figures everything out, she has to make a choice: whether to let everything go and protect herself, her family, and her living–or do what’s right and go public.
Class is a big theme in this book, and I appreciate how Mina handled it. Claudia was not born into high society, but she married into it and wants to stay a part of it–even though she doesn’t completely fit in. There are a number of titled gentlemen and ladies in this book who live a pretty privileged life. It was interesting to see their interactions and expectations. In addition, I liked that Claudia felt like a real and flawed person. She wanted better relationships with her sons and her sister, but often couldn’t manage to act in a way that could make that happen. It was very relatable. I felt all of the pressure she was under while I read the book, and I was glad I was not her. I think fans of thrillers and murder mysteries should like this book.
You can find all my reviews on my blog.
