SILENT VOICES

SILENT VOICES by Ann Cleeves

I love a good murder mystery! I know, it's an oxymoronic statement, but it's true! I tend to get the shakes if I know there's not a good mystery stashed in my TBR pile somewhere. Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope is one of my favorite detectives (along with a few others!). Unkept, seemingly scatterbrained, totting a load of childhood baggage, DCI Stanhope has a way of taking a murder in all its puzzle piece glory and piecing it together. Silent Voices is no different.

Knowing that it's time to start putting a little effort in getting herself into shape, DCI Stanhope visits a local gym to begin swimming in the mornings. After her swim, she enters the steam room to relax and discovers the body of a woman propped up in the back corner. The woman is Jenny Lister, a social worker who heads up an office in the area that works with parents and their kids in troubled situations. One case in particular still haunts the agency and the caseworker that handled it, Connie Masters. As Vera plunges deep into the heart of the mystery, there are threads both seen and yet to be revealed from the present and the past surrounding these women and that particular case as well as a few other surprises along the way.

HEADS UP- There are a handful of swear words. Very minor. Also you know there are some sexual relationships going on, but there are no details.