By: Nell Pattison
“He had to do something, explain himself, but he couldn’t think through the pressure of the blood pounding in his head. They looked from him to the body.
What have you done? They signed.
He ran.”
Nell Pattison, Silent Night
*This post contains spoilers for Silent Night
Overview:
What happened while they were sleeping?
Silent Night
A school for the deaf takes an overnight trip to the snowy woods. Five teenagers go to sleep, but only four wake up. Leon is missing, and a teacher’s body is found in the forest…
Sign language interpreter Paige Northwood is brought in to help with interrogations. Everyone at the school has a motive for murder – but they all have an alibi.
As Paige becomes increasingly involved, she suspects there’s something sinister going on. With the clock ticking to find Leon, only one thing is certain: the killer is among them, and ready to strike again…
The Plot
The story as a whole is interesting. The main character Paige, is a sign language interpreter and the police hire her to interpret when a deaf school has all the witnesses and suspects to a crime. Paige is not in law enforcement but can’t help but to speculate and try to help solve the crime.
Of course the crime is personal to Paige. Not only are the students from the school her sister attended but one of the staff members is her long time abusive boyfriend.
I will say that I did have a problem accepting that the police would allow her to work on a case where she had a personal relationship with one of the suspects. I would think that once that relationship was disclosed, she would have been removed as an interpreter. This book does take place in the UK so perhaps they do things differently but in the States I can imagine this could be used against the police in trial or used after the fact to overturn a conviction.
The Killer
Liz is revealed as the killer. It is discovered that her main target was Steve in revenge for her brother who, she felt, was driven to take his own life due to Steve’s actions. She intended on framing either Leon or Cassie depending on who fit best as the plot moved forward.
Having Liz be the killer does fit but it isn’t very interesting. It is mentioned that Steve had gotten someone fired at their previous job but other than that, there are no real clues pointing to her.
Mystery books nowadays seem to think that the killer has to come from nowhere. That we as readers need a big twist to appreciate the book. While, twists are exciting, being able to find clues and have them pay off makes it more fun. Looking back at past actions and realizing that they were sinister and not innocent makes the story what it is.
I feel as if this solutions lacks some of the build up.
It would have been too obvious for it to have been someone like Mike. He is already a bad guy so making him the murderer would be predictable. Probably more realistic… but still too predictable.
Good mysteries have to strattle that line. I as the reader, want to be able to say “I knew it” at the end of the book or “I should have seen that coming”. Unfortunately, Silent Night went too far in the “didn’t see it coming” direction where it doesn’t feel like a satisfying payoff.
Overall,
I think it is a good little mystery.
Going into my reading, I didn’t realize that it was the second book in a series. I don’t think this took away from the story and I was still able to enjoy the book without knowing the events of the first book.
I do think the author should have put really any clues as to the identity of the killer so the payoff at the end was more satisfying.
An ending can really make or break a story and this book is a good example of that. Really good, enjoyable book, not great ending.
Rating: 3/5 stars
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