Reviews

Silence the Dead: Suspense in Smalltown Illinois by Jack Fredrickson

phyrre's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Frederickson delivers with a fast-paced page-turner. I picked the book up on a whim because I liked the title, not knowing what to expect, and I was anything but disappointed.

Silence the Dead revolves around the story of Betty Jo Dean, who was killed, along with her boyfriend. Through shoddy investigative work, lies, manipulations, and mysterious deaths, the case quickly becomes a taboo subject in Grand Point. So much so that anyone who starts nosing around about generally disappears in some fashion or other, only sometimes to be seen again. Enter Mac, the new mayor, who very quickly learns to what extent the town will take it to discourage him from pursuing the matter.

Frederickson's cast of characters is fabulous and relatable, from the first reporter, Jonah Ridl, who refuses to be scared away from the story, to Mac Bassett, who is learning just how dirty politics can be, and even Mac's ex-wife, April. There was something I found to love in just about all of the characters. Their personalities were unique and genuine and sucked me in.

The plot itself was every bit as full of twists and turns as one might expect. I'm usually pretty good about guessing endings ahead of time and figuring out whodunnit, but it took me a good two-thirds of this book before forming an educated guess as to who the murderer was, and even then I wasn't sure. Every time I thought someone was getting close, of course there was another piece of evidence or something to complicate things further, and once I started reading, I couldn't get to the end fast enough because I just had to know.

Would highly recommend this for any fans of murder mysteries who enjoy fast plots and solid characters.

any22's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Grabbed this book on a whim at the library and was very pleasantly surprised! The story started out slow at first but by the halfway point I was way too interested to put it down. Would recommend!