SILENT VOICES

4 stars out of 5

Finally, Detective Lottie Parker seems to be getting her life back together - in a few days, she'll marry police colleague Mark Boyd. Her kids like him. He likes them. He's recovered well from a recent bout with leukemia. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, if you've been reading this series, you already know something will. And it does - starting with the grotesque murder of a young woman whose body is found by her twin sister. That's followed in short order by another murder with the same M.O., making Parker's boss unhappy at the investigative team's lack of progress (and because someone in the department snitched about the corners she's been known to cut, Parker is already on her boss's bad side). Meanwhile, Boyd befriends a teenage girl whose life is, shall we say, less than pleasant - so he goes out of his way to help.

Clues lead to a restaurant-opening bash the night before the first victim was found, but at first there seems to be no connection between the party and the second murder. Then a third body turns up - you guessed it, same M.O. - leading to more digging that not only unearths links that go back to years-earlier events, but threatens not only Parker and Boyd's nuptials, but their very lives as they finally begin to connect the dots.

Overall, this is a fast-paced thriller that kept me turning the pages right to the end. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

Silent Voices by Patricia Gibney (Bookouture, February 2021); 450 pp.