Book Review: In Silence

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

In Silence     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Erica Spindler
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Romance   Romantic Suspense
Mira, Jun 2003, $23.95, 384 pp.

Following the suicide of her beloved father, reporter Avery Chauvin returns home to Cypress Springs, Louisiana feeling guilt for not being there for him. Her former beau Deputy Sheriff Matt Stevens says her father suffered from grief and depression following the death of his wife. Also back in town is Matt's twin brother Hunter, a lawyer who almost was debarred for alcoholism.

Avery finds news clippings her father kept involving a murder that occurred in town fourteen years ago. She begins to wonder about her father's death though the arson examiner and the coroner insist all evidence point to suicide due to depression. However, another town visitor Gwen Lancaster searches for her missing brother and tells Avery about a conspiracy by a local group the Seven to kill outsiders and who probably murdered her dad. As Avery falls in love with Hunter, she endangers herself in a quest to find the truth about the fourteen-year-old murder and its relationship to her dad. She also wonders if her beloved Hunter or his father (her godfather) Police Chief Buddy is the killer?

Though the leap Avery makes to suspect foul play seems ingenuous, readers will relish this taut thriller with a Hitchcockian climax. Avery is a great female character who feels guilt and grief and also doubts the veracity of those who allegedly love her. Back flashes show her father as a caring person suffering from his own guilt. The secondary players provide strength to the terse plot that romantic suspense readers will welcome.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner