Death's Silent Judgement (Hannah Weybridge)

by Anne Coates

[zooloo1983]

Back with Hannah and my god what a book! I had my heart in my throat in the part of the book, what a thrill this was!

When we meet back with Hannah, she is looking forward to seeing her friend Liz. Liz is recently back from Somalia and running a dental practice in a part of a church. Hannah goes to see her friend and unfortunately, she discovers her body!

This book is refreshing because while there is a police investigation and bodies are dropping but we see everything from Hannah’s point of view. She is a novice in this world, yes she had a hell of a time in Dancers in the Wind but that was nothing compared to this outing. She has found a semi-happy medium with Janet as her Nannie looking after Elizabeth. Hannah obviously feels parent guilt, she is trying to come to terms with her grief, missing whatever it is she has with Tom, being a mum and working. Also, Liz’s mother Celia has asked Hannah to investigate her death and if that WAS NOT enough, Paul is back, the father to Elizabeth!

To replace Tom, we have a new character in the face of DI Claudia Turner, she is a hard one to figure out but it looks like there could be a budding friendship with her and Hannah. She is, however, one I could trust to have my back.

With these books being set in the 1990s it is such a contrast to where we are these days. Mobiles are hardly a common thing, so all the calls are done via landlines and answer phones, making them not only easier to bug but also more difficult to get hold of someone when trying to save their life!

There is so much going on and with the short chapters and Anne’s writing, I just flew through this book. This book was over before I realised. It had so much going on, that you just whizz through. So much tension, so much thrill, so much energy!

I do find Hannah so endearing, she could be any one of us, yet she always ends up with a raw deal and finds herself embroiled in something that can be quite threatening. The darkness in this book is a complete step up from the previous one. It’s a heartbreaking storyline, one that made me struggle not to sob reading it. It was carefully done, yet I still feel on edge because I really don’t think it will be the last we hear about it.

Death’s Silent Judgment is raw, gritty and hard-hitting. A lot of dark with some light in thrown in with Elizabeth and James. It will keep you guessing as you really don’t foresee some things and I found that something that was mentioned at the beginning, well I forgot until it reared its ugly head at the end! It’s an enthralling read and it is one to keep you reading in the late hours of the night.