Perfect Silence by Helen Fields

Perfect Silence by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days (as and when able)

Pages - 432

Publisher - Avon Books

Source - Review Copy

Blurb from Goodreads

When silence falls, who will hear their screams?

The body of a young girl is found dumped on the roadside on the outskirts of Edinburgh. When pathologists examine the remains, they make a gruesome discovery: the silhouette of a doll carved in the victim’s skin. And when a macabre ragdoll is found nestled beside an abandoned baby, DI Luc Callanch learns the killer’s horrifying game plan – cutting out dolls from the flesh of his victims.

When a series of drug-users are brutally branded with the letter Z slashed into their foreheads, Luc and his partner Ava must risk both their jobs and their lives to unearth the truth. Is this the merciless work of the same assailant?

As the killer’s twisted games persist, Luc knows it’s only a matter of time before he strikes again. Can they stop another victim from being silenced forever – or is it already too late?



My Review

A young woman is found dead with horrific wounds, DI Luc Callanch and his superior Ava are on the case. When another goes missing and a horrific calling card is left by the killer, the team know they have their work cut out, this one won't stop until they have been stopped. The clock is ticking to save the girls life. If that isn't enough to keep them busy someone is attacking the city's homeless, are the cases related? Who would want to target these victims and why?

The thing I like about Fields books is not only does she create a horrible "bad guy" giving the police tough cases but personally we get to know them, the officers too. If you haven't read the previous books guys really check them out. Whilst you could read this as a standalone you get much more out of the stories, particularly the personal side of the officers if you have read the previous books and got their backgrounds. Ava and Luc have this unspoken, unacknowledged attraction and now she has a promotion and he has a girlfriend it is strained. Despite this they work together, as always, to tackle those attacking Edinburgh's vulnerable and innocent people.

The attacks are pretty horrific, brutal and at times stomach churning, the author pulls no punches when describing the horrors inflicted on the victims. I read horror but there are one or two things that make me wince and give me the boak, one scene ooooft lets just say not for the faint hearted.

We have police procedural, investigation, murder, violence, attacks, friendship, relationships, some humour and that is just for starters. You think you know where the book is going, you don't at least once I had a gasp out loud moment! The characters, the police, I really like, Luc is such a nice guy but totally ruled by his past, Ava is complex, Lively is a loose cannon, funny at times in an unpc way and their boss, Overton oh what a bitch! A page turner, pulled in pretty much from the get go, I cannot wait for book five to see where the series goes next, 4.5/5 for me!

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