The Silent Man by David Fennell

I am delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for The Silent Man by David Fennell. It's the third Grace Archer novel and I loved the first two, The Art of Death and See No Evil, so was excited to read this one. My thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy. 

The Blurb

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T MAKE A SOUND . . .

The stunning new crime thriller from one of British crime writing's brightest talents, and one of the twistiest, most gripping and emotional reads of the year.

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.

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 orphaned?

The Silent Man is published by Zaffre and came out on 31st August 2023. 

 

My Review

As mentioned above, this is the third novel to feature DI Grace Archer, and this time around she has no less on her plate to deal with. Maybe even more. Her beloved grandad's health is declining and gangster Frankie White blames her for taking something of his. And that's before the body of a young father is found, his head bandaged like a mummy with a childish face drawn on it. His son has been left unharmed and untouched. Archer's team have very little to go on...

I've said in previous reviews that I really like Grace. She's tough but fair and has bedded in well with her team. Most notably Harry, her right hand man. There's a very genuine friendship, respect and trust between them which I love. And that is more evident in this book than in the previous two. Of course, they know each other much better now, but both of them are impacted by events in this book and the depth of feeling they obviously have for each other is a joy to read. 

The deaths that feature are as creative and creepy as I've come to expect from David Fennell. As is the antagonist although I found their story quite emotional. Frankie White, meanwhile, is determined to do harm to Grace, and doesn't care how he gets to her. This makes everything quite tense with a feeling of threat throughout. It was also interesting to see how different police personnel have responded to Frankie over the years. All of it impacts both Grace and Harry. The book is written entirely in the present tense but not all of it happens in the same time period which I did find a little confusing

The Silent Man is a quick and enjoyable read with a great protagonist and sidekick. The main storyline is creepy and horrible whilst the subplot has plenty going on too. I loved the creativity of the crimes, always wonder where the ideas for this kind of thing comes from? Perhaps I shouldn't ask! Really like it. Very emotional at the end though! 

The Author

David Fennell 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. He jobbed as a chef, waiter and bartender for several years before starting a career in writing for the software industry. He has been working in CyberSecurity for fourteen years and is a fierce advocate for information privacy. David has played rugby for Brighton and has studied Creative Writing at the University of Sussex. He is married and he and his partner split their time between Central London and Brighton.

 

Author Social Media Links

Website: www.davidfennell.co.uk
Twitter: @davyfennell
Facebook: DavidFennellAuthor
Instagram: @MrDavidFennell
TikTok: @davidfennell_author