Let the Dead Speak by Jane Casey

Let the Dead Speak
By Jane Casey
Published by Harper Collins (9 March 2017)
ISBN: 978-0008148980

Publisher's description

A murder without a body

Eighteen-year-old Chloe Emery returns to her West London home one day to find the house covered in blood and Kate, her mother, gone. There may not be a body, but everything else points to murder.

A girl too scared to talk

Maeve Kerrigan is young, ambitious and determined to prove she’s up to her new role as detective sergeant. She suspects Chloe is holding something back, but best friend Bethany Norris won’t let Maeve get close. What exactly is Bethany protecting Chloe from?

A detective with everything to prove

As the team dig deeper into the residents of Valerian Road, no one is above suspicion. All Maeve needs is one person to talk, but that’s not going to happen. Because even in a case of murder, some secrets are too terrible to share…

My verdict
Let the Dead Speak is a police procedural but, since it's narrated in first person, I found that it also reads as a psychological thriller - a perfect combination.

This is the seventh book in the Maeve Kerrigan series. I've read the first two books and the sixth, but not yet the ones in the middle. In fact, I read the sixth book as a standalone last year, and then started to catch up with the rest of the series. I just couldn't want any longer to read Let the Dead Speak, which is why I jumped ahead again. I do believe this book would work well as a standalone though.

In Let the Dead Speak, a woman has disappeared from her home, leaving just a trail of blood - a lot of blood. Maeve Kerrigan has now been promoted to Detective Sergeant, and feels she has to prove her worth in her new role. As she investigates a murder without a body, she discovers a lot of suspects among the woman's neighbours. Her search for the truth reveals dark secrets and a whole host of lies.

Jane Casey has a brilliant way of writing books that flow seamlessly. She maintains a fast pace with a good mix of tension, action and intrigue. This is a really easy read. I don't mean the plot is a simple one - it's complex and multilayered, with subtle, and not so subtle, twists, turn, surprises and red herrings. But the writing, as always, is excellent and a pleasure to read, with plenty of humour to lighten up the dark plot. The characters are varied and believable, and this great characterisation drives the story forward. I particularly love Maeve's relationship with Derwent (in fact, I particularly love Derwent...).

Jane Casey's books get better and better! I can't praise this book highly enough. I loved it and didn't want it to end.

I received an Advance Reader Copy.