The Less Dead

In this disappointing psychological thriller set in Glasgow from Edgar finalist Mina (Conviction), physician Margo Dunlop discovers undelivered letters in her late mother’s belongings that lead her to Nikki, the sister of Margo’s previously unknown birth mother, Susan, and the information that Susan’s murder soon after Margo’s birth, while Susan and Nikki were both working as prostitutes, remains unsolved. Margo, terrified after getting a threatening letter from a person claiming to be Susan’s killer that’s similar to ones Nikki has received for years, is drawn into Nikki’s world as she seeks answers, while also dealing with her best friend, Lilah, and Lilah’s increasingly abusive boyfriend, and considering whether to tell her own ex-boyfriend that she’s pregnant. Mina skips most of the everyday details of Margo’s career, using her identity as a doctor only as a vague plot device, and leans too heavily into the sordid details of life on the streets. A new violent death trails away without ongoing impact. This garish story offers shock without substance under the thinnest guise of compassion. Agent: Henry Dunow, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary. (Aug.)