Book Summary and Reviews of The Good Liar by Denise Mina

The Good Liar by Denise Mina

The Good Liar

A Novel

by Denise Mina

  • Critics' Consensus (7):
  • Published:
  • Jul 2025, 272 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

In this provocative mystery from beloved crime writer Denise Mina, new evidence in an old murder case forces one woman to make an impossible choice.

What will it take to tell the truth when your life depends on a lie?

A year ago, a father and his fiancée were brutally murdered in their opulent London townhouse, sparking the most high-profile murder investigation in recent history. Blood spatter expert Doctor Claudia O'Sheil's evidence put the killer behind bars—or so everyone believes. But since the trial, Claudia's learned a horrific truth: her evidence and her testimony were wrong. And someone she knows made sure of it.

Now, as she takes the stage to give a career-defining speech before London's elite, Claudia faces a devastating choice. Protect her children and her career with her continued complicity, or blow the whole conspiracy apart and reveal the truth: not only is the real murderer still out there, but they're in the audience.

As Claudia steps toward the microphone, she revisits that fateful night. What really happened? And what will Claudia say?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Outstanding... . Mina builds nerve-shredding suspense." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A moment of triumph turns into terror in this dark thriller…Mina has long been adept at suspenseful pacing and at creating flawed but engaging characters...A shocking but satisfying ending caps off this taut tale of murder among the privileged." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Mina will keep readers in suspense as she weaves a complex web of personal and professional relationships with gruesome crime scene details and high-stakes life choices. Mystery fans will love this." ―Booklist

"Filled with intelligence, intensity, and empathy, The Good Liar is a taut, propulsive mystery about family, truth, and morality. Denise Mina is such a talent." ―Alafair Burke, New York TImes bestselling author of The Note

This information about The Good Liar was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Denise Mina Author Biography

Denise Mina is the author of sixteen novels, including the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick Conviction and its sequel Confidence, as well as The Less Dead, The Long Drop—winner of the 2017 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish crime book of the year—and the Garnethill trilogy, the first installment of which won the John Creasey Memorial Award for best first crime novel, among others. Mina has twice received the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. She lives in Glasgow.

Link to Denise Mina's Website

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