Book Review: Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes—and a Giveaway!

Under a Silent Moon
Elizabeth Haynes
Harper, April 2014
ISBN 978-0-06-227602-5
Hardcover
Also available in trade paperback and ebook

From the publisher—

In the crisp, early hours of an autumn morning, the police are called to investigate two cases . . .

A beautiful young woman has been found dead, her cottage drenched with blood.

A car with a woman’s body inside has been found at the bottom of a quarry pit, an apparent suicide.

As DCI Louisa Smith and her team gather evidence over the course of the next six days, they discover a shocking link between the two cases—a bond that sealed these women’s terrible fates one cold night, under a silent moon.

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Recently, and still today, I’ve been dealing with some personal issues that have made reading difficult so I had trouble connecting with Under a Silent Moon at first. I’m glad I kept on, though, because I ended up enjoying it for the most part, enough that I plan to re-read it when I’m in a more receptive state of mind.

Multiple points of view can be confusing sometimes and I do think there were too many characters, some quite unnecessary to the story, but the author gave us a cast of characters that helped a good deal. The multiple POVs offered a broader look at things and I did like that; this style allows the reader to know more than any individual character and, while I wouldn’t want it in all books, it’s a nice change now and then.

Lou Smith has all the earmarks of a detective with some experience but thrust into her first major crime as a DCI. Some mistakes are made but she shows herself to be a contender and that her promotion was well-deserved. Her investigative techniques are valid and mostly successful; less successful are various personal relationships but the ending of this book leads me to think some of those issues will be resolved in the next one. Hopefully, those relationships will have more depth to them then.

On the whole, I did enjoy Under a Silent Moon and, as I mentioned before, I’ll be reading it again when I’m in a better frame of mind. I like Lou and want to spend more time with her.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, March 2015.

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Purchase Links:

             

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About the Author

Elizabeth Haynes is a police intelligence analyst, a civilian role that involves determining patterns in offending and criminal behavior. Dark Tide is her second novel; rights to her first, Into the Darkest Corner, have been sold in twenty-five territories. Haynes lives in England in a village near Maidstone, Kent, with her husband and son.

Visit her at:

 

             

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Follow the tour:

Wednesday, February 25th: I Wish I Lived in a Library

Thursday, February 26th: Dreams, Etc.

Monday, March 2nd: Wont to be Quilter

Tuesday, March 3rd: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, March 4th: Vivacious Hobo

Thursday, March 5th: Buried Under Books

Tuesday, March 10th: Olduvai Reads

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Leave a comment below to enter the drawing
for a very gently read hardcover copy of
Under a Silent Moon. The winning name will be
drawn on Sunday evening, March 8th.
Open to residents of the US and Canada.

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