She was lying as if asleep on the wooden kitchen floor, beneath the fridge covered with a child’s colourful crayon drawings. But her frozen expression showed she would never wake again…
When Detective Jackie Cooke is called out to the scene, she’s expecting a routine check. The bottle of pills on the kitchen table, next to the note with the single word SORRY written in a shaky hand, make it seem obvious what’s happened. But Jackie is shocked when she recognises her old schoolfriend Claire – and she is convinced Claire would never take her own life.
Determined to dig deeper, Jackie soon discovers evidence that proves her right: a roll of notes has been thrust down the victim’s throat. And when she finds another woman killed in the same way, she realises someone may be targeting lonely single mothers. As Jackie talks to Claire’s distraught children, one of them too young to understand his mummy is never coming home, she vows to find answers.
Both victims were in touch with someone calling himself Nice Guy – could he be the killer? Pursuing every clue, Jackie is sure she’s found a match in dead-eyed Tyler, part of a dark world of men intent on silencing women for daring to reject them. But just as she makes the arrest, another single mother is found dead – a woman who never dated at all.
Forced to re-evaluate every lead she has, with her boss pressuring her to make a case against the obvious suspect, Jackie knows she is running out of time before another innocent woman is murdered. And, as a single mother herself, she cannot help but wonder if she is in the killer’s sights. Can she uncover his true motivation and put an end to his deadly game… or will he find her first?
TWG’S Thoughts.
If I hadn’t already been hooked by the first book in this series, I sure as hell would be by now!
Detective Jackie Cooke is back with a bang, and the only prisoners she’s taking this time are real ones and not metaphorical ones! Jackie has a tough case to solve and time isn’t on her side in the slightest. Not only does she need to find the killer before another innocent woman gets killed, she also needs to ensure the safety of herself.
Marnie Riches just gets better with every new book she produces. She doesn’t take the genre and keep it simple and predictable, instead she takes it, makes it her own, and gives readers the ride of a lifetime. I suggest that, if you struggle with travel sickness, you get some anti sickness medication down you because you’re going to need it with all of the turns! It’s a bumpy ride for sure, but what a brilliant one it is too.
‘The Silent Dead’ may be quiet in terms of snippets in the storyline, however my reaction to the novel was far from silent. This is a series you have to get hold of. Another brilliant, brilliant read by the Queen of crime, Marnie Riches.
The Writing Garnet 