Due to time restraints, reviews on this site will simply comprise a book blurb and a short response.
Joy Dettman is another new author to me, but the premise of The Silent Inheritance had immediate appeal. Secrets? Mystery? Crime? All ticks for me. Here’s the blurb:
Sarah Carter, mother of twelve-year-old Marni, is raising her daughter alone in a small granny flat in suburban Melbourne. A serial killer, dubbed ‘The Freeway Killer’, is headline news and when Marni’s classmate is abducted from the mall where Sarah and Marni shop, their city no longer feels safe.
Detective Ross Hunter’s investigation into the abduction leads him to dead ends – until an unrelated incident sends him to the door of Freddy Adam-Jones, an unscrupulous barrister, who is guarding a secret that could ruin his life.
When an unexpected windfall changes the lives of Sarah and Marni, their sudden wealth opens doors long closed, and threatens to cast light on history better left buried.
What might Sarah’s past reveal? What is her connection to Freddy? And can Detective Ross Hunter discover the link in time to save a young girl’s life?
The Silent Inheritance starts slowly and at times I found it difficult to connect with the multiple story lines. Fortunately, the tension and pace amps up towards the end as the characters’ stories meld and the ‘will they save the young girl’ question comes to the forefront. Aspects of the novel, particularly the scenes involving The Freeway Killer and his victim, increase the creep factor, leading to goosebumps of tension as situations change. Sarah, who is deaf, was well depicted and I liked that her strength of character was not muted.
I didn’t feel that all the loose ends were tied up completely and some of the conclusions were a bit questionable, but overall a good read, if not an excellent one.
I’d like to read more from Dettman, particularly the Woody Creek series, which is well reviewed. Have you read any of her works?
Available from good bookstores (RRP $32.99AUD). My copy was courtesy of Pan Macmillan.
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0 Responses
Hi Monique, I have read everything that Joy Dettman has written except this latest ‘The Silent Inheritance’. I first read Henry’s Daughter which was quite strange , and then began reading the ‘Woody Creek ‘ series. I have thought a lot about why I feel compelled to read Joy’s books and why they appeal to me. Suffice to say I still don’t really know why, but they draw me in and I keep reading. One thing that occurs to me is that they are all Australian-based and so the geography is familiar and the family situations are realistic , if a little out there. I do think families hide secrets from outsiders for fear of being judged by the society they live in ,.and Joy explores those secrets. I also think she draws colourful characters and makes the reader care about their fate.Sorry, rambled a bit. I will be reading’ The Silent Inheritance’! cheers Delores
Well, Delores, you have convinced me that I need to read more Joy Dettman books. Thank you!