Less Dead

In this shocking thriller from the "superbly talented" Denise Mina (Hank Philippi Ryan), Margot finally learns her birth mother's identity, only to discover that the killer is still at large -- and sending threatening letters.
Margot is having a thirtysomething crisis: She's burning out at work, a public health practice; she's just left her longtime boyfriend after discovering he was cheating; and her mother recently died. The only silver lining to her mother's death is that Margot, who was adopted, can finally go looking for her birth mother.
What she finds is an incomplete family -- the only person left is Nikki, her mother's older sister. Aunt Nikki brings upsetting news: Margot's mother is dead, murdered many years ago, one of a series of sex workers killed in Glasgow.
The killer -- or killers? -- has never been found, Aunt Nikki claims. They're still at large . . . and sending her letters, gloating letters that the details of the crime. Now Margot must choose: takethe side of the world against her dead mother, or investigate her murder and see that justice is done at last.
Darkly funny and sharply modern, The Less Dead is an indelible, surprisingly moving story of daughters and mothers, blood family and chosen family, and how the search for truth helps one woman to find herself.

In this shocking new thriller from the author of the "blazingly intense" Reese Witherspoon book club pick and national bestseller Conviction, a woman in crisis finds herself on the hunt for her own mother's murderer (A. J. Finn).
She thought she was finding her birth mother.
Now she's searching for a killer.

Dr. Margo Dunlop is at a crossroads. Her adoptive mom just passed away, and Margo misses her so much she can't begin to empty the house-or, it seems, get her brother on the phone. Not to mention she's newly single, secretly pregnant, and worried about her best friend's dangerous relationship. In an effort to cheer herself up she goes in search of her birth mother. Instead she finds Nikki, her mother's sister. Aunt Nikki isn't what Margo expects, and she brings upsetting news: Margo's mother is dead. Worse, she was murdered years ago, and her killer is still at large-and sending Nikki threatening letters.

Margo is torn. Should she stay out of this mess, or try to find justice? But then Margo receives a letter, too. Someone out there has been waiting and watching, and in Margo sees the spitting image of her mother...

Darkly funny and deeply affecting, The Less Dead is a sharply modern new thriller from the bestselling author of Conviction, and a surprisingly moving story of daughters and mothers, secrets and choices, and how the search for the truth-and a long-hidden killer-will lead one woman to find herself.