She was lying as if asleep on the wooden kitchen floor, beneath the fridge covered with a child’s colourful crayon drawings. But her frozen expression showed she would never wake again…

When Detective Jackie Cooke is called out to the scene, she’s expecting a routine check. The bottle of pills on the kitchen table, next to the note with the single word SORRY written in a shaky hand, make it seem obvious what’s happened. But Jackie is shocked when she recognises her old schoolfriend Claire – and she is convinced Claire would never take her own life.

Determined to dig deeper, Jackie soon discovers evidence that proves her right: a roll of notes has been thrust down the victim’s throat. And when she finds another woman killed in the same way, she realises someone may be targeting lonely single mothers. As Jackie talks to Claire’s distraught children, one of them too young to understand his mummy is never coming home, she vows to find answers.

Both victims were in touch with someone calling himself Nice Guy – could he be the killer? Pursuing every clue, Jackie is sure she’s found a match in dead-eyed Tyler, part of a dark world of men intent on silencing women for daring to reject them. But just as she makes the arrest, another single mother is found dead – a woman who never dated at all.

Forced to re-evaluate every lead she has, with her boss pressuring her to make a case against the obvious suspect, Jackie knows she is running out of time before another innocent woman is murdered. And, as a single mother herself, she cannot help but wonder if she is in the killer’s sights. Can she uncover his true motivation and put an end to his deadly game… or will he find her first?

I received a review copy ahead of the blog tour but I read my own purchased copy. Thanks to Sarah Hardy and Bookouture for the opportunity to take part in the tour for The Silent Dead.

I’m going to cut to the chase – The Silent Dead is terrific. I raced through the story and got totally lost in Jackie Cooke’s life as she finds herself investigating the death of an old school friend.

Readers join the story as a mother drops her young son at nursery for the day. The teary parting from the boy and the heartwrench for his mum will be all too familiar for many parents and it’s an early indication of how Marnie Riches is going to play on our emotions over daily challenges and experiences. Grounding the backdrop to a murder story with elements of daily life, which we can all relate to, made everything seem more personal in The Silent Dead. After leaving her son in the care of his nursery teacher we follow Claire back to her house – it’s the last journey she will make as death awaits her.

When Detective Jackie Cooke responds to the call of a suicide she is shocked to see an old friend from her school days. She finds it hard to believe her friend would take her own life and Jackie has suspicions there may be more to Claire’s death than initially meets the eye. Jackie raises these concerns and finds her combatative boss is less than keen to read too much into matters. The evidence is a single parent with money worries who she left a note to say “sorry”.  But Jackie isn’t convinced and wants to dig a little deeper. It turns out she had reason to be suspicious.

The Silent Dead takes Jackie and her colleagues deep into an investigation which will see them bashing heads with objectional ex-husbands, working girls, internet dating sites and facing the problem of the angry incels who live online and seek others who listen to their hateful rantings. Marnie Riches is very good at bringing disturbing and problematic people into her stories and showing the damage they can do when left unchecked. She shines a light on the worst of human nature and weaves compelling crime thrillers around the darker elements many of us choose to ignore (if we even know they are out there).

When not taking on the dark forces Jackie has her work more than cut out for her at home. She is a new mum who also has two older twins causing chaose at home. Returning to work early from her maternity leave, following the sudden breakdown in her marriage, Jackie is juggling work and family commitments. She is stressed, hormonal, frustrated and permanently exhausted – she felt one of the most realistic lead characters I have encountered for some time. Everyday problems ARE problems, not enough hours in the day, missing her kids, unable to get full parental support at parents night – all so relatable to many of us. This recognisable human dynamic of the day to day grind does add to the realism of the story and everyone wants to get behind Jackie and see her pull through and get some respite. If only it were that simple!

As I said at the start of this review – I really enjoyed The Silent Dead. I keep coming back to read more and more of the books Marnie Riches writes as I find them so readable. Pacing is fantastic, characters can be fun, serious and deadly dangerous and the story just flows. More of these will be very welcome.

The Silent Dead is published by Bookouture and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B3DQDSJ4/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0