Publication: 31st August 2023 – Zaffre Books
A father is murdered in the dead of night in his London home, his head wrapped tightly in tape, a crude sad face penned over his facial features. But the victim’s only child is left alive and unharmed at the scene.
Met Police detectives Grace Archer and Harry Quinn have more immediate concerns. Notorious gangster Frankie White has placed a target on Archer’s back, and there’s no one he won’t harm to get to her.
Then a second family is murdered, leaving young Uma Whitmore as the only survivor. Once again the victim’s face is found wrapped and inked.
With a serial killer at large, DI Archer and DS Quinn must stay alive long enough to find the connection between these seemingly random victims. Can they do it before another child is made an orphan?
Happy Sunday everyone! Today, it’s my turn on the blog tour for The Silent Man, the thrilling and compelling new novel by David Fennell.
It seems there is a killer on the loose in London. They enter a family home in the middle of the night and, while the child sleeps, they suffocate the father and wrap duct tape all over his face, drawing a face on it. The police team, led by DI Grace Archer and her partner DS Harry Quinn, are investigating the murders in a race against time before the killer strikes again, but the victims don’t seem to be connected and the killer leaves no trace behind. In the meantime, Grace has other things on her mind. Not only her grandfather’s health is quickly declining, but there is a price on her head from a gangster who is determined to eliminate her entire family, no matter the cost.
I haven’t read the previous books in the DI Grace Archer and DS Harry Quinn series, but the backstory is simple to follow and the characters easy to familiarize with, so it can be read as a standalone.
The characters are complex and well-developed and I especially liked DI Grace Archer, clever, confident, and strong and I enjoyed her close and easy relationship with her partner DS Harry Quinn.
There is so much going on in this book. A serial killer targeting families, gangsters at war with each other, a detective in danger, corrupt police officers, secrets and betrayals, and much more. It is dark, chilling, and immersive, and the twists just keep coming until the last page. The pace is fast, the suspense is high, and emotions are strong. And I loved every page of it!
A huge thank you to Tracy for inviting me to join the blog tour and to Zaffre and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this novel.
I was born and raised in Belfast before leaving for London at the age of eighteen with £50 in one pocket and a dog-eared copy of Stephen King’s The Stand in the other. I jobbed as a chef, waiter and bartender for several years before starting a career in writing for the software industry. I’ve been working in Cyber Security for fifteen years and am a fierce advocate for information privacy.
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