Debbie Howells | Part of the Silence

So, I had reached out to Kensington Books for a copy of THE GIRLFRIEND by Michelle Frances and not only received it, but I also got a copy of PART OF THE SILENCE by Debbie Howells. I had never heard of Howells before, so quickly looked up the synopsis on Amazon and was eager to dive into this. One thing I love about a mystery is when the plot is in layers. This connects crimes of the past to crimes of the present and also questions a characters sanity...OH BOY!

Plot:

A blighted memory. A child who seems never to have existed. A watcher in the shadows.

When they find Evie Sherman, battered and left for dead in a maize field, the young woman has no recollection of who she is. After three days in a hospital bed, the fog in her head begins to lift, and she remembers two names: her own, and that of her three-year-old daughter, Angel. Evie is convinced that Angel is in grave danger. But the police can find no evidence of the girl’s existence. 

It’s clear that Evie is having some kind of mental breakdown—or is it? Even in the depths of her amnesiac darkness, Evie knows her daughter’s voice, her chameleon eyes, every precious hair on her head. So how can she be losing her mind? 

As Evie’s grasp on reality slips away, she finds herself haunted by the same three-word warning, which she hears over and over: Trust no one. But whom is she being warned against? The police? The doctors and nurses? Or the mysterious figure who’s been watching her, who knows all her secrets, has a hidden agenda—and perhaps their own twisted version of reality.

Review:

This one started off with a bang! It's not long (two lines) before Charlotte Harrison is interrupted on a beach by a helicopter and all hell breaks loose. I loved that while Evie was a huge character in this one (obviously), this is told from the perspectives of Charlotte, Jack (a cop mourning the death of his son), and Casey (the sister of a little girl who went missing in Evie's care in high school). 

Charlotte was very well-written with her promise and desire to help Evie. The character of Jack was by far my favorite. His sadness and ability to work this case basically jumped off the pages and slapped you in the face. As for the character of Casey, I hated her. I think you're supposed to, but I liked that she gave insight into what really happened when Evie was babysitting her sister, Leah in high school. Between the desire to know what happened to Leah, what happened to Evie, and where Angel is if she even exists, I wasn't getting through the pages fast enough. I really found the character development in this strong and at the center of the novel, which is exactly what you want in a psychological thriller.

One thing I do enjoy with a novel like this is that the police procedural aspect is front and center, but doesn't take up too much unnecessary space or steal the limelight from why you're really reading this. There was so much going on, that I didn't at one point feel bored or try to rush through the pages. Everything moved to seamlessly and the flow of this novel went from crazy to intense to mystifying to "holy shit, hold on".

While this would normally be a 4.5 or a 5.0 rating, I did decide to rate this one a 4.0/5 because I put together the pieces as I should have and had somewhat of an idea as to where this was going in the end, but I felt that the ending was rushed and I kind of had to guess a few things as they weren't explained that well.

Overall, I highly recommend this for a beach read or a quick and exciting read on a rainy chilly summer day as I don't anticipate we will be short of those this year. Thank you to Kensington Books for a copy of this one!

Rating: 4/5