Broken Silence

I received an advanced copy for free for a honest review. Thank you Booksirens.

This story has a true crime vibe which is what led me to choosing it in the first place.

Isobel McKenzie is a psychotherapist recovering from cancer treatment. While out walking one day by the Shannon River she discovers a body, unknowingly this will set off an avalanche she never expected. Its not a one off rape and murder, its a serial case. The perpetrator is deviant, meticulous about forensics, leaving none and calculating. It'll take more than she knows to catch The Shadow, as he has been named. Can she help the Garda catch The Shadow before he takes more victims?

This book is well written, the pacing moved quick. It takes place in Ireland, a part of the world I absolutely love. It gave the story a real feel to it, knowing that the places are real. The characters are fleshed out in a way that I found myself wanting more from this group of unlikely allies. Isobel is a likeable character. Her bought with cancer hit home as my mother in law has had cancer and I know the fears that can come with subsequent doctors visits. I was really hoping she'd end up with Garda Eoin (pronounced Owen, I had to look it up). I felt the story was a really good one. A serial rapist is targeting women and needs to be stopped. Unfortunately a lot of rapes go unreported especially when they are threatened with harm afterwards. In this story he even goes so far as to threaten their families, sending pictures of one victims kids to her after she tried to commit suicide and he thought she might have told someone at the hospital.

There isn't too much that I didn't like about the story. Its a sad story, given that so many of these types of crimes do go unreported, but I also felt like the story might give hope to someone who has experienced a rape or assault. That taking the risk to tell someone could lead to the capture of the perpetrator. If one of the girls hadn't told Isobel, then none of the other women would have been found and he would still be attacking and it would continue escalating.

This is the first book from this author that I have read. There is a book before this one called What lies Hidden and involved Isobel again, where she is working a different case, which is mentioned in this book. All in all, I gave it 5 stars and will not only be getting the first book but I will be looking for more books from this author.