The Blurb:
DISCOVER A STUNNING MYSTERY THRILLER FROM THE DEBUT AUTHOR EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT.
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 MCILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME FICTION.
Anna hasn’t set foot in Glasgow for ten years. And for very good reasons…
When Anna, a criminology lecturer, does return to Glasgow from Rome, during the coldest winter in memory, tragedy strikes. While out with her best friend from school, Anna has a chance encounter with a former flame, Andrew, and later that night discovers him stabbed and dying on a blanket of snow.
Soon Anna finds herself at the centre of the investigation as the star witness for the police, and embarks on investigating the case herself. But Anna doesn’t realise the danger she is in and soon finds herself in trouble.
When another body shows up, who has links to the first victim, it appears that the motive may lie buried in the past.
As Anna gets closer to the truth, the killer starts closing in.
But can she solve the gruesome mystery before the killer strikes again?
In The Silence was published by Bloodhound Books on 10th September 2018 and you can purchase it from Waterstones, Amazon UK and Amazon US.
My Review:
Criminology lecturer Anna returns home to Glasgow after ten years away to celebrate her oldest friend's birthday. On her first night back, she comes across an old school friend, once a crush of hers, dying in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park. Once she recovers from the shock, and the police are involved, she knows she should stay out of the way. But she can't let it go, especially as she has little faith in the police officers leading the investigation. She begins looking into Andrew's death herself. She learns things about her friend she might have preferred not to know, and her enquiries lead her back to her school days, and a difficult time in her own life that she would rather not revisit.
Anna is a compelling protagonist. If you read yesterday's Q&A, you will have seen that she's pretty no nonsense! She is generally cool and calm, and perhaps comes across as a little standoffish. She's much more comfortable in her academic world than in any general social situation, but is passionate about the issues she cares about, particularly violence against women, which is a theme throughout the book. And there is more to Anna than initially meets the eye - she has her own secrets...
One person who can get under Anna's hard exterior is Zoe, her best friend from school. Zoe is the complete opposite of Anna - she's loud, brash, sassy, pure Glasgow and has pretty much no filter. She is the perfect foil for Anna and I adored her. Anna has not seen Zoe for 10 years, but has come back to Glasgow to help celebrate Zoe's birthday. They connect in the way they used to - affectionate banter and whispered stories. The scenes where the two women appear on their own, particularly the flashbacks, show that Mackenzie has a real grasp on how strong female friendships work, with all their ups and downs.
I loved the Glasgow setting, which for me is a familiar one. There is something great about reading a book and recognising where the action takes place. I really liked Mackenzie's style of writing - he has a real way with words. There is a fair amount of humour, mostly courtesy of Zoe, which is always welcome, for me at least, in a crime novel. The story zips along at a good pace, with plenty of red herrings and as a result, the denouement was a complete surprise.
In The Silence is a cracking read and a great debut. It's brilliant to see a strong woman, two actually, taking centre stage. Mackenzie has taken an issue which is often featured in crime novels but covered it in a fresh way and with style. He is one to watch.
The Author:
My Review:
Criminology lecturer Anna returns home to Glasgow after ten years away to celebrate her oldest friend's birthday. On her first night back, she comes across an old school friend, once a crush of hers, dying in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park. Once she recovers from the shock, and the police are involved, she knows she should stay out of the way. But she can't let it go, especially as she has little faith in the police officers leading the investigation. She begins looking into Andrew's death herself. She learns things about her friend she might have preferred not to know, and her enquiries lead her back to her school days, and a difficult time in her own life that she would rather not revisit.
Anna is a compelling protagonist. If you read yesterday's Q&A, you will have seen that she's pretty no nonsense! She is generally cool and calm, and perhaps comes across as a little standoffish. She's much more comfortable in her academic world than in any general social situation, but is passionate about the issues she cares about, particularly violence against women, which is a theme throughout the book. And there is more to Anna than initially meets the eye - she has her own secrets...
One person who can get under Anna's hard exterior is Zoe, her best friend from school. Zoe is the complete opposite of Anna - she's loud, brash, sassy, pure Glasgow and has pretty much no filter. She is the perfect foil for Anna and I adored her. Anna has not seen Zoe for 10 years, but has come back to Glasgow to help celebrate Zoe's birthday. They connect in the way they used to - affectionate banter and whispered stories. The scenes where the two women appear on their own, particularly the flashbacks, show that Mackenzie has a real grasp on how strong female friendships work, with all their ups and downs.
I loved the Glasgow setting, which for me is a familiar one. There is something great about reading a book and recognising where the action takes place. I really liked Mackenzie's style of writing - he has a real way with words. There is a fair amount of humour, mostly courtesy of Zoe, which is always welcome, for me at least, in a crime novel. The story zips along at a good pace, with plenty of red herrings and as a result, the denouement was a complete surprise.
In The Silence is a cracking read and a great debut. It's brilliant to see a strong woman, two actually, taking centre stage. Mackenzie has taken an issue which is often featured in crime novels but covered it in a fresh way and with style. He is one to watch.
The Author:
MR Mackenzie was born and lives in Glasgow, Scotland. He studied at Glasgow University and has an MA in English and a PhD in Film Studies.
In addition to writing, he works as an independent producer and has overseen Blu-ray and DVD releases of films by a number of acclaimed directors, among them Dario Argento, Joe Dante, Hideo Nakata and Jacques Tourneur. He has contributed chapters to books on cult cinema and regularly provides video essays and liner notes for new releases of cult films.
His first novel, In the Silence, was longlisted for the 2019 McIlvanney Prize and is shortlisted for the McIlvanney Debut Prize. The follow up, Cruel Summer, was published in May 2019 and The Shadow Men, the final instalment of the trilogy, will be released next year.
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