Title: The Silent House
Author: Nell Pattison
Series: Paige Northwood, #1
Published: September 2020, Avon
Format: ARC Paperback, 400 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary:
If someone was in your house, you’d know . . . Wouldn’t you?
But
the Hunter family are deaf, and don’t hear a thing when a shocking
crime takes place in the middle of the night. Instead, they wake up to
their worst nightmare: the murder of their daughter.
The police
call Paige Northwood to the scene to interpret for the witnesses.
They’re in shock, but Paige senses the Hunters are hiding something.
One by one, people from Paige’s community start to fall under suspicion. But who would kill a little girl?
Was it an intruder?
Or was the murderer closer to home?
This mystery will keep you up all night – perfect for fans of The Silent Patient and Cara Hunter
My thoughts: There is nothing more I love than discovering a new author in the crime fiction genre. And even more exciting is finding out that I have stumbled onto the first book in a new series…double bonus!!!
This book hooked me from the start. Taking us into the world of the deaf, I found myself completely in a world I know little to nothing about. It was fascinating to learn so much through this book, yet at the same time, so frightening when you think of all that could go wrong, as in the case of this book.
I loved that this book made me so aware of what it must be like to be so vulnerable and defenseless as the Hunter family is. They are all deaf. I cannot even imagine that. Now imagine a crime happening in that house and not being able to hear it. But that is what happens…their young daughter is murdered while everyone is home. And, because they are deaf, they must rely on an interpreter to be able to communicate with the police.
Paige
Northwood is a hearing sign language interpreter and she gets called by the police to help interview the Hunter family. As we get to know Paige, we realize that she has her own demons in her past and while it takes a while to fully get the story, it makes her all the more a flawed character. She is determined to get to the bottom of this case, realizing that the Hunters are definitely holding something back. And when she begins getting threatening notes, she becomes even more determined.
This book is full of complicated characters and interesting twists and turns. I liked how the parts that were signed were in italics to keep it separate from spoken conversations. I definitely had my guesses as to who was behind the murder and while I eventually guessed it correctly, I never figured out the why.
I am so excited that this is just the first we have seen of Paige…there will be at least two more books coming out and I can not wait to get my hands on them.
Books in this series:
- The Silent House
- Silent Night – due out February 2021 (US date)
- The Silent Suspect – ???
