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SILENT VOICES

 



SYNOPSIS


The words blurred as she read the note. She could feel her blood turning to ice. ‘Before you make the biggest mistake of your life, meet me. If you don’t, her blood will be on your hands.

When Beth Mullen returns home, expecting to find her twin Rachel waiting for her, the silent house sends a shiver down her spine. She races upstairs to find her beautiful beloved sister cold in her childhood bed, her sparkling blue eyes closed forever, the morning after attending a glittering party…

Newly engaged Detective Lottie Parker knows that Rachel has been murdered the minute she enters the bedroom. Rachel’s neck is bruised and a shard of glass placed in her throat. Confronted with such a horrifying killing, Lottie wastes no time in pursuing every clue.

While interviewing the partygoers, Lottie discovers that Rachel’s handbag and keys are nowhere to be found. But as she is searching for them, a brilliant young doctor is found murdered with glass in her throat. The doctor was nowhere near the party and Lottie is forced to question everything. Two beautiful young women with the world at their feet have been brutally silenced. Why did the killer need them to die?

Desperate to find proof of what really happened to Rachel that night, Lottie gets close to the hostess of the party, whose two daughters were friends with Rachel. But Lottie’s hunt for the truth is getting under the killer’s skin, and when Lottie’s fiancé Boyd goes missing, will she be able to find him before it’s too late? Or will he too be silenced forever?


Title: Silent voices
Author: Patricia Gibney
Series: DI Lottie Parker #9
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication date: February 5, 2021


REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It seemed like yesterday when we first met DI Lottie Parker and we're already at book 9. Nine! A series running this long is in danger of becoming quite repetitive, but one thing to point in this one is that the MC has evolved quite a lot since her first appearance, and that's something to be thankful for. Halfway through the series I got pretty disenchanted with the course Lottie's character was taking. She was obnoxious, controlling of her kids, alienating everyone around her both in her personal and professional life, but with time she has managed to soften her edges and, although she can still be quite abrasive (especially with some of her colleagues), she's much more likable now. As Roxette sang, it must have been love! Wedding bells are ringing for Lottie and Boyd but the poisoning of a young girl just days before they tie the knot threatens to derail their wedding plans.

As usual in this series what follows is a tremendously entertaining police procedural with dozens of characters, red herrings and investigation lines that keep the plot moving at quite a brisk pace. While reading these books I always keep saying to myself "it's impossible for her to tie everything together, there are way too many things", but when THE END comes every loose tie finds itself wrapped with a nice bow. In this case, although everything had an explanation, I found the resolution a bit of a stretch, hence this one not being 5 stars.

Maybe it's me, who after nine installments feel these characters as part of the family, maybe it's the books themselves, but I think this series just keep getting better and better, being a MUST for all those police procedural fans out there.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.


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