Let the Dead Speak

Starred review from May 1, 2017
In Casey’s compelling, high-tension seventh mystery featuring London’s Det. Constable Maeve Kerrigan (following 2016’s After the Fire), Kerrigan’s homicide team wonder whether their approach has provoked additional crimes from suspects terrified into trying to protect their own secrets. One rainy day, 18-year-old Chloe Emery returns sooner than expected to her mother Kate’s house in Putney after a visit to her father and stepmother. Inside, Chloe finds an angry cat, blood streaks on the walls, and no sign of her mother. The evangelical neighbors next door, Mr. and Mrs. Norris—whose 15-year-old daughter, Bethany, is extremely close to Chloe—take her in, but they disapprove of single mother Kate, who often had men visitors, and are strangely unhelpful when Kerrigan and her crew investigate what appears to be a murder case. The intricate plot unfolds naturally, as Casey never lets readers stray from Kerrigan’s point of view, so that they feel as if they are figuring it all out with her in this increasingly dark and tragic story. Agent: Arielle Feiner, United Agents (U.K.).