Sanctum by Denise Mina
Why do some women find criminals irresistible? Why do some marry convicted murderers while they are in prison? These are some of the issues Denise Mina addresses in her fourth thought-provoking novel which combines acute psychological insights with great writing and a page-turning narrative. Set in a prison in the north of Scotland, So Special is narrated by a doctor who is awaiting trial on a highly publicised murder charge. Why, the papers speculate, has this doctor killed convicted serial killer, Wayne McManus? What makes him so special, when she has worked with prisoners like him for eight years? Did he tell her something so terrible that she felt bound to take the law into her own hands? The truth - as always - is rather more complicated, and involves another woman who has been writing love letters to Wayne, and who eventually marries him in prison. And then the murders start; murders which involve details never publicly released, and which were known only to Wayne and the police...
The story is told by way of Lachlan Harriot's diaries, following the conviction of his wife Susie for murder of serial killer Andrew Gow, a prisoner in her careShe is a respected forensic psychiatrist, and Lachlan knows she will receive a life sentence unless he can put together a successful appeal. To this end he laboriously goes through all her papers, but comes up with more questions than answers. For instance, why had she stolen a set of prison files and then lied about it? What was in her study that she did not want him to find? Lachlan battles on with his life, his young daughter looked after by the fat Spanish au pair. What he discovers makes a riveting account of humans under intolerable stress. This is an incredibly powerful novel, full of atmosphere, by the author of the much-acclaimed Garnethill trilogy
Denise Mina was born in 1966 in Glasgow. She worked as an auxiliary nurse in geriatric and terminal care nursing homes before studying law at Glasgow University. As an academic researcher she has written extensively on the medicalization of deviant women, and until recently she taught Criminology and Criminal Law. She lives in Glasgow, where she now writes full time. She is the author of three novels, Garnethill, which won the John Creasey Award for Best First Crime Novel, Exile, and Resolution.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780593046579 |
| ISBN 10 | 0593046579 |
| Title | Sanctum |
| Author | Denise Mina |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Transworld Publishers Ltd |
| Year published | 2002-11-04 |
| Number of pages | 304 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |