I read a lot of books. But it's rare for me to find a book that really engrosses me and that I don't want to put down. This was one of those rare books. So far Jane Casey's Maeve Kerrigan series continues to impress. Every book in the series has been a good one.

I thoroughly enjoyed Let the Dead Speak. Maeve's relationship with her work husband Josh Derwent just keeps getting more interesting. There was a plot twist I saw almost from the beginning - I think the author meant us to see it, she dropped so many clues - and I was a little disappointed in the reveal of the murderer (there were less cliched and more realistic alternatives), but nothing about the plot kept me from loving this book. Bring on the next book!

Highly recommended for lovers of British police procedurals.

LET THE DEAD SPEAK is the 7th novel in the Maeve Kerrigan series. A sobering thought for me given how much I liked this character in book number 1 and yet still I've now managed to miss books 2 through 6. Which means I can definitely say even if you've never read any of this series, LET THE DEAD SPEAK will work well.

A police procedural in style, LET THE DEAD SPEAK relies heavily on character interaction between Kerrigan and the team that she works with. There are a few tensions dotted throughout which are mostly self-explanatory, in particular there's obviously some clouds over Kerrigan from the recent past. When eighteen-year-old Chloe Emery's mother disappears, leaving behind signs of a bloody struggle, the entire team are baffled by the missing body. Despite that tension between within the team, they do manage to stay focused on the investigation that leads them to some dodgy neighbours and some very odd outcomes.

The plot here is an interesting undertaking with some elements that are going to be easy to pick, and much that remains unclear right until the end. Without a body, Kerrigan and her team are forced to focus on the possible why's of Kate Emery's fate, rather than the how or who up front, meaning this is a good old fashioned investigation in many ways, working each lead as it appears, weeding out a wide range of red herrings and possible suspects by coming to understand the victim, her family, and the immediate neighbours.

The use of first person narrative by Kerrigan works well here, giving the reader an inside view on the frustrations, achievements and feelings around an investigation like this. Peppered as it is with acerbic humour and plenty of barbs and cracks from colleagues, the perspective creates an immediacy and realism that wouldn't necessarily work as well with a more observational style.

About the only thing that readers who are new to this series might notice is that there is obviously back-story to Kerrigan's recent promotion, and her relationship with DI Josh Derwent - that alone should be enough of a reason to plug the gaps in reading the series, but it really shouldn't stop anybody from starting with LET THE DEAD SPEAK if that's the best option available. A series definitely worth reading whatever order you opt for.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-let-dead-speak-jane-casey

Delivers more Maeve and Derwent awesomeness, but for some reason I just wasn't as invested in the characters as the past several books. As always, great writing, suspenseful, lots of crucial details...just lacking a bit for me. I especially hated the "oh yeah, I haven't resolved the Rob issue yet" shocker at the very end! He was a very likeable character that has, sadly, just disappeared.

It was a very good read but then again I say that about all of Jane Casey's books because I am a huge fan of her style of writing, her attention to detail and her descriptions. It makes it amazingly wholesome. I loved the plot twists in this book and I liked that it was unpredictable to an extent so that the investigation kept me guessing until the very end. I definetely recommend reading!

A few too many characters to keep track of, and too easy to figure out the bad guys, although the path to get there was complicated. So that helped retain my interest.

better than last one!