Book review: Let The Dead Speak, by Jane Casey

Review by Richard Beesley.

Let The Dead Speak is the latest novel by Jane Casey featuring Detective Sergeant Maeve Kerrigan. Although the seventh Kerrigan story, I haven't read the previous ones and can honestly say this works brilliantly as a standalone book.

When eighteen-year-old Chloe Emery returns home early one Sunday she finds what nobody would ever want to see. Blood - splattered across the floor, over the ceiling, splashed down the walls. And her mother, missing. Whilst Chloe, who has learning difficulties, appears to not understand what has happened it quickly becomes apparent that everyone has secrets. It is down to DS Kerrigan and her colleagues to piece together the sparse and twisted evidence to try to find out what has happened, and who is responsible. As the lies build, the path to truth becomes more difficult and convoluted.

Chloe refuses to talk to the police, but it seems her friend is protecting her. Her father knows nothing, and her step-mother is far from helpful. The neighbours cannot or will not say anything. Some secrets, it seems, are too terrible to share.

Whilst this is the first Kerrigan story I've read, I really enjoyed it and wasn't hindered by not knowing the previous tales. The book is fast-paced and, despite the gruesome details necessarily contained within it, it's an easy-read. Brilliantly-pitched to avoid police cliches or jargon, whilst ensuring all the basics of forensic police work are covered.

Readers are encouraged to instantly dislike certain characters - but the truth of whether that is fair or not is only revealed much later on in the story. The book is full of secrets, and as each is revealed we are drawn down a certain path for a few pages before the story twists and turns down a different route again. Truly captivating stuff, I couldn't put the book down until it was over... A great read, and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for other Kerrigan novels by Jane Casey.

Let The Dead Speak, by Jane Casey, is published by Harper Collins and can be purchased direct from them or from Amazon.
 
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