Today I am reviewing The Silent Child by MJ White. Big thanks to MJ for providing me with a copy of the book for review, and to Rachel of Rachels Random Resources for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour!
Blurb
When a body is discovered at an abandoned Suffolk farm, DS Rob Minshull and the squad believes it’s the latest casualty of the drugs war terrorising rural communities. But when the victim is identified as a well-respected local teacher, the case is thrown wide open.
While they hunt the murderer, the South Suffolk CID team face a new threat. A brutal vigilante group dispensing their own twisted justice puts the investigation in grave danger, as well as the detectives.
Educational psychologist, Dr Cora Lael, is called in to work with Lottie Arundel, a troubled teen who stopped speaking a year ago.
As Cora enters Lottie’s world, it seems that the teen’s silence might hold the key to the case. But as Cora and Rob work together to find a vicious killer, it’s clear that uncovering Lottie’s secrets will take Cora and Rob into the most dangerous of places – where the price to pay for the truth might be death…
Review
This is my first read from MJ White, and the second in her series centred around Cora Lael – I will definitely be going back to read book one, as well as keeping an eye out for further releases! Though this book references its predecessor a few times, I was still able to easily follow along without having read the first book, so it works really well as a standalone, too.
I adore Cora as a character, and am fascinated by her ‘ability’; she has emotional synesthesia, where she can ‘hear’ the residual thoughts or emotions left on items from the people who have touched them. Which of course makes her very useful to police in some of their enquiries, as well as enhancing her performance in her day job as a psychologist. Speaking of the police, the South Suffolk CID team provides a myriad of personalities to enjoy. From the endlessly teased rookie of the team to more senior members with their own list of quirks and skeletons in the closet. Reading the chapters focused on the police investigation, the reader is truly transported straight to the centre of the work; office politics, the stress of an unsolved crime, the joy of uncovering further clues, and officers with their own troubles outside of work, it really painted a vivid, accurate feeling picture of the inner workings of a stressed out police force.
The nature of this story is of course rather dark. We start with a murder, but delve into a darker world of abuse, drug use and much more. I found the story to be a bit of a slow burner to begin with, but in a good way. Desperate to know what happens next and discover the next twist in the tale, I couldn’t put it down. It’s extremely well written, with real-feeling and believable characters, and totally satisfied my hunger for a good crime novel. I can’t wait to hear more of Cora Laels adventures!
Purchase Link
About The Author
MJ White is the pseudonym of bestselling author Miranda Dickinson, author of twelve books, including six Sunday Times bestsellers. Her books have been translated into ten languages, selling over a million copies worldwide. A long time lover of crime fiction, The Secret Voices is her debut crime series. She is a singer-songwriter, host of weekly Facebook Live show, Fab Night In Chatty Thing..
Social Media Links – https://twitter.com/wurdsmyth
K T Robson 