What a slog! I really should have just skimmed this book after about 50 pages and read the end, but I didn't and now I wish I had those three reading days back. This mystery had holes in the plot the size of my swimming pool and wooden characters who never develop beyond their specific stereotypes. The pacing was very slow and the writing awkward and the denouement was just lame. Also, Bonner overuses the word "obliquely" and half the time doesn't use it correctly. I will happily be sending this one to the used bookstore and clearing a space on the shelves for something more worthy. ( )

In the 1970’s when Clara Marshall and her two daughters disappear from the seaside town of Torquay most people think her husband Richard is responsible. But there are no bodies and no other evidence so Richard Marshall remains free. Many people fail to forget the case including Clara’s father, a local journalist and Karen Meadows who was the Marshall’s neighbour and is now, nearly 30 years later, a Detective Inspector with the Police. When some human remains are found in ship wreck it seems as if Richard Marshall might finally be brought to justice.

This is a fairly standard police procedural with a stronger focus on the personal lives of some of the characters than is normally the case and the plot is well constructed if a bit predictable. It’s a small thing but I could have done without the protagonist promising to give up smoking every time she lit a cigarette. The book seemed to me to be full of that kind of unnecessary repetition.

For me there was nothing very engaging about any of the characters and that’s probably where my real problems with the book lie. It felt like the author was trying a little too hard to make me feel a certain way about each person at a certain time and I’m not fond of being led along like that. At some point one too many cliché was thrown into the mix and I stopped buying into the characters as anything other than plot devices.

Reviews of books I hate are easy to write (words come spilling out of my angry brain faster than my fingers can keep up) and, although a bit more difficult, I can always find plenty to say about books I love. But when my reaction to a book is, for want of a better word “blah” it’s almost impossible to find something to say. And this was just one of those books that I didn’t love and didn’t hate and doubt I’ll be able to remember in six months. ( )

The disappearance of Clara Marshall and her two young daughters in the 1970’s has haunted the police for decades. DS Karen Meadows was thirteen at the time of the crime but feels a personal connection due to having lived next door to the Marshalls at the time. Through it all, the husband, Richard Marshall has declared his innocence. First swearing that Clara took the girls and left him, and later just by just keeping his silence and knowing that without a body there was little the police could do. Twenty-seven years later, human remains are found, it seems as if Richard Marshall will finally be brought to justice. But things don’t always work out as they are supposed to.

The story was straight forward enough, but the author chose to deepen our connection by showing how a crime of this nature can impact a community. We see how these disappearances affected people both close to the victims, like Clara’s father, as well as the casually connected like the girl’s school teacher. Even Karen herself has memories of this time that she has chosen not to reveal.

When The Dead Cry Out literally was one of those book that I couldn’t put down as I wanted to see what was going to happen next. Although there was little action involved, the author tells her story with incredible pacing, delving into the psychological motivations of all involved. I thought this was a well told story about the resurfacing of a horrendous crime and the repercussions that it brought with it. ( )

Superintendent Karen Meadows is a young ambitious officer in Devon & Cornwall Police who sees an opportunity to solve a long standing suspected murder for which the chief suspect has always evaded conviction. Despite somewhat circumstantial evidence the case goes to court, but what follows has unexpected professional & personal consequences for Karen Meadows and those most closely involved in the suspected murder. Certainly had some unusual twists of plot, although perhaps not always very believable and the plot did flag in a couple of places, so didn't keep me fully engaged. ( )

Mystery with a good twist at the end