The Silent Wife
By: Andy Maslen
Website: https://andymaslen.com/
Release Date: September 24, 2024
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Series: Detective Kat Ballantyne
Rating:

Okay, it’s official, I’m a fan of Andy Maslen. Three books deep in the first series of his that I’ve read and I can call it official. Not only because I’ve enjoyed three books but because my reading book four is already in progress. While there are things I wish were slightly different in the style or character arcs I’m enjoying the ride.

To be clear, Kat Ballantyne isn’t perfect as a main character and there are things about her that bother me but as a flawed character that is trying to do her job and not mess up the rest of her life (wife, mother, friend) I can relate. There are real moments in the series so far where we can see the author acknowledging, through Kat’s mind, that balancing all of these facets of being a person is hard, to put it mildly. Adding in family betrayal, self-doubt, a difficult boss and stressful situations, yeah, the story is easy to get pulled into.

I do love how each book has ratcheted up the pressure on Kat, professionally and personally. I don’t love that every book so far has ended on a tempting cliffhanger because it feels a little cheap in the way to guarantee someone to come back. To Andy Maslen I say this; I’ll be back. Stop with the cliffhangers, I’m coming back for the characters and your skill, you don’t need the cliffhangers.

This book touches on coercive control, infidelity, police corruption and of course, murder. Every book has a different edge to it and in this one we see Kat tested on all fronts. Confronting her horrible father, confronting her own choices and – obviously – confronting those who commit crimes kept me reading to see how it would all work out.

So, I’m already started in on book four. I really hope in that review that the reoccurring bad people in Kat’s life get some consequence because if I have to go one more book without certain people paying for what they’ve done I’m going to become increasingly annoyed. In each book we see moments of karma hitting them, lightly. I’m ready for the truck named Karma to really get these guys…