As a child, aged around 4 or 5 I contracted mumps despite having had the MMR vaccination. I remember sitting with my Mum one morning having my hair done for school and being unable to hear the radio which was to my right hand side. I kept asking for it to be turned up, much my Mum’s annoyance – she was always very concerned about keeping the noise down so as not to disturb the neighbours. Over the next few days it became apparent that the mumps infection had caused hearing loss in my right ear. It was temporary, although it took several years for it to return to what it was. I don’t remember much about the day to day now, as I quickly adapted and learned to live with things, but I strongly recall in that moment being frightened and disoriented by losing half of my hearing.

This was one of the reasons that I was drawn to this book. The idea of someone being in your home, committing the most atrocious of crimes under your roof – all whilst being unable to hear is truly terrifying.

What this book does so well is to take what we do know and flip it. Things that hearing people take for granted and think nothing of, suddenly have a spotlight shone on them as the author throws the doors open to the Deaf community. It’s fascinating too, to look at life from an entirely different perspective. The very idea that we wouldn’t be able to hear someone in our homes is horrifying. But it’s also eye opening in that the book delves into the everyday lives of people who are deaf, and things that those of us who can hear take for granted – for example, hearing a telephone ring, or a knock at the door – and the measures that are put in place to overcome these simple everyday challenges.

Paige Northwood is a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter called in by Humberside Police to manage communications following the brutal murder of eighteen month old Lexi Hunter. Despite her connections to the case, Paige continues in her role and soon finds herself a little too close to the investigation.

I’d like to say a hurrah, because this book is set in my home county of North Lincolnshire. Finally, the potential has been seen in Scunthorpe for being the perfect location for a dark, crime thriller! For me, this added an extra layer of realism to proceedings as it gave me the ability to feel as if I were beside Paige, as with only a few words I was able to hone in on exactly where the author was describing.

It does deal with a heinous subject – the murder of a very young child – and at times it was incredibly upsetting to read, however I was grateful to the author that these segments, whilst they were impactful, were not overwritten. The balance erred very much on the side of the solving of the crime and Paige’s own involvement with the case and her subsequent investigations.

An assured, well written debut that had me utterly immersed, desperate to reach it’s conclusion. I will be making room in my reading diary in late October for the next novel in the series, Silent Night.

Paige, a British Sign Language interpreter, is called to the scene of a horrific murder. A toddler was murdered in the house overnight and no one saw or heard a thing. Paige is hired to interpret during the investigation as the police interview the family and other members of the Deaf community.

There were suspects galore, with twisted motives and connections. Paige is a great main character; through her we get information from the police as a result of her role as interpreter, but she's also pushing boundaries and doing some dangerous amateur sleuthing. I loved that the book focuses on the Deaf community, a perspective I don't often see in books, and it's #ownvoices. The book also highlights what a difficult job translation is, as translators are there for some of the worst times of peoples lives (crime, terminal medical diagnosis, divorce, etc.).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own.

The Hunter Family are deaf, and don't hear a thing when a shocking crime takes place in their house in the middle of the night.

They wake up to find their baby daughter has been murdered, brutally whilst she was sleeping.

The Police are unable to communicate with the family who are naturally shocked and devastated at their daughter's death.

Paige Northwood, a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter is bought in to assist the Police in communicating with the family. After all most murders that take place in a domestic setting are carried out by a member of the family.

The Deaf Community is a small one, and Paige shouldn't really be involved, given that she is aware of the family, however BSL interpreters are few and far between and Paige's skills are needed.

But it is Paige's knowledge of the family that help the Police on to the right track after many false starts in the investigation.

Although she is far too close to the investigation at times, Paige is essential to uncovering the truth.

This was such a twisty, turny book that I really didn't know or what who to believe, but I think that was kind of the point, as this was the dilemma that Paige herself faces a lot of the time.

This is the extraordinary thriller that I needed right now. Got to tell you, I don't know this is about deaf community at first. Knowing this when I first read a chapter is like a nice surprise for me. I never read about this community before and I'm so excited. The cover itself is so gorgeous, by the way.

So, we have Paige who is a freelance interpreter. She was hired by police to help with their investigation. Little did she know the investigation is about her sister's goddaughter tragic death. Lexi is our child victim's name. She is brutally killed in her bed while her siblings sleep besides her and her parents is in the house. Paige wanted to back out at first but she is already in too deep with the case, and as an interpreter she could find out about the police work.

This is crazy to begin with. I caught up with the mistery. There are so many suspicious people around the community. I enjoyed guessing and changing my mind every second. The other thing I love about the book is how the community works. They are so tight with each other and supportive as well. Seems like everyone knows each other in this community and I adore it.

This is a whole new experience for me, reading about BSL and mixed up with the thriller. I mean, i never knew about BSL and the community. Gave me a little insight to their life. I always love new things from books and I love it so much. The mystery is good as well, kept me guessing throughout the book.

Thank you netgalley and Avon for this opportunity. And thank you Nell for this beautiful writing of yours that introduced me to the community.

The silent house by Nell Pattison was a great #mysterythriller story. I enjoyed it quite a lot especially because of the hearing impairments related and the way they lived their day by day life. It really shows that any person can be a suspect for murder and mental health issues are not sparing anyone

Hmmmm an ok book, some of the characters were quite annoying and a little unbelievable- i guessed the ending less than halfway through

A brilliant story-line - a murder in a house where everyone is deaf. Where do you start investigating when no-one heard a thing?

This is a debut novel by an author who herself is deaf. This gives the story-line more depth and uniqueness especially the insights into how police investigations (and even simple things like medical and legal appointments) are processed and worked with in the deaf community.

The frustrations that the deaf community has with the hearing are highlighted - being treated as "stupid" simply due to the fact that you can't hear.

Our protagonist, Paige, is the BSL interpreter in this case where it's so hard for her to be impartial due to her involvement in the deaf community - her whole family is deaf, she is the only hearing one - and her connection to the victims. A death of another deaf girl 15 years ago haunts her too and she links the two deaths without understanding why.

As the story develops the reader starts to see the link Paige is missing and starts to put the pieces slowly together. It thunders to an explosive ending where all the loose threads are neatly tied together.

A well written book focusing on societal issues relevant to all and I look forward to more work from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

This is such a compelling read. I was gripped right from the first page.

There’s great characterisation in this novel, every character feels so real and authentic. I found Paige very relatable, even if I did get a bit frustrated with her as she continued to get over involved with the case.

I found the insight into the deaf community particularly fascinating, there were so many things that I didn’t know about it. Paige, being a hearing person, but having grown up in the deaf community, shows us both sides.

The plot is very clever and tight. I had no idea who was responsible until right at the end. This book is hard to put down, a real page-turner.

An incredible debut novel, I really look forward to more from this author. Very highly recommended.

***I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books!***

There are not many books out there that feature main characters who are deaf or hearing impaired. That is what initially drew me to this book. I took a few years of American Sign Language in my younger years and had interest in becoming an interpreter at one point, so I spent a lot of time within the community. It’s a completely unique perspective on the world so I was interested to see a murder mystery done from this viewpoint.

The author did not disappoint. It was very apparent that she is highly familiar with the deaf and hearing impaired community. She is aware of how the community is viewed in society and the ways that people believe they might be helping butthey are actually hindering communication. I was very impressed with how well the author translated those ideas into the book..

The story was also very well told and nicely paced. I enjoyed the alternate viewpoints of various suspects prior to the murder followed by some chapters in the present with the investigation. This helped me to start coming to some conclusions about what I thought happened, while progressing with the investigation too. All of the suspects were given plausible reasons for why they could have been the murderer. Frankly, even though I had my own idea about who it was, I would have found any of the suspects believable if I had been wrong. I did end up guessing the murderer correctly, but not the twist. That shook me. I was stunned. I stayed up far later than my bedtime to finish the book because I had to know the rest. That’s how much it shocked me.

The only flaw with the story is that I felt we paid too much attention to Paige personally. Following her difficulties with men and her personal struggles with the investigation hindered the rest of the story at certain points.

Overall it was an engaging story that is told from a unique perspective. I loved it.

I really enjoyed this title by Nell Pattison, so much so I completely engrossed myself in it for 24 hours. It's well set and written with good character development oozing from the pages. The Silent House has the story of a child's death and although quite a sensitive subject, Pattison does a superb job in creating a plot that takes this into consideration. I've already recommended this title to a lot of my fellow bookworms!

The silent house by Nell Pattison.
If someone was in your house, you’d know … Wouldn’t you?
But the Hunter family are deaf, and don’t hear a thing when a shocking crime takes place in the middle of the night. Instead, they wake up to their worst nightmare: the murder of their daughter.
The police call Paige Northwood to the scene to interpret for the witnesses. They’re in shock, but Paige senses the Hunters are hiding something.
One by one, people from Paige’s community start to fall under suspicion. But who would kill a little girl?
Was it an intruder?
Or was the murderer closer to home?
A very Enjoyable read with some good characters. I had no idea who it was. 4*.

A gripping read that was also very different to other crime thrillers. A young child is murdered in her home. No one heard anything as they are all deaf.. Paige Northwood is the interpreter for the parents whilst being interviewed by police. I felt this was really well written and captured exactly the plight of a deaf person being questioned, they may not hear but are very good at reading expressions. There were several characters that I suspected but have to admit, I was wrong. An intriguing crime thriller

I'm happy as Larry don't you know when I get to review a debut novel....
You know how much I love debuts.....
I remember when I first read the blurb of this book...It piqued my interest immediately...
A psychological thriller but so different.....
Imagine how frightening it would be to wake up some night having heard an intruder in your house.....
Now imagine not hearing because your family are deaf and waking up the next morning to find one of your children murdered in her bed.....
So many questions of how, why and who would commit such a hideous crime.
We are given such an insight into the deaf community as a whole and the life of an interpreter....
In this story we meet interpreter Paige Northwood. She is called to insist by the police department when a young girl is found murdered in her home. The family were asleep and being a deaf family they didn't hear an intruder.
Paige is somewhat involved a little more than a normal interpreter would be in that her sister Anna is best friends with the young murdered girls mum Laura.
Her sister is god mother to young Lexi....
There are quite a few suspects and characters in this story....
Father of the young girl, Alan and his new partner Elisha. A highly fraught relationship between these two at best and neither coming across as very likeable people either.
Pretty shady characters too I thought..
We meet mum Laura who lives with her mum Bridget and two children Jaxon & Lexi. Her mum seems to be quite a controlling person and Laura struggles to be heard at times....
I loved the main character Paige I must admit. She really wants to be good at her job while being a caring and kind person too. You do get snipets of Paige's former life throughout the story and you just know she has suffered in some way.
I really enjoyed the relationship between Paige and DC Singh and hoped it would develop into something...
I think author Nell Pattison hit the nail of the head with this debut. It's an absolute cracking read.
I didn't guess the outcome at all so the twists and turns throughout the book had me hooked completely and flying through the pages..
Well worth taking the time on this one for sure....you wont be disappointed.

This is a brilliant debut novel with the original angle of being set within the deaf community. The plot centres on the murder of a toddler, who may have killed her and the BSL interpreter who is brought in to help the police. The reality of living with a hearing impairment is brought vividly to life and the narrative clearly illustrates the frustration of feeling excluded from situations when you cannot follow the dialogue around you.

This is an excellent thriller told from a new perspective. There are plenty of twists and turns, the characters are all very human and the plot is very clever. I recommend ‘The Silent House’ very highly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really really good. I enjoyed this book and would definately read more by the same author. 4 stars from me

Whilst I really enjoyed the actual storyline of this book and the originality, I struggled to connect with any of the characters in this book.

Sometimes when I cannot connect with the characters, I struggle to fully enjoy the book

The storyline was so original and the book was entertaining and suspenseful.

A thriller with a difference and a page turning read. I enjoyed this book and will try others by this author.

This story is based around the Hunter family, who are all deaf. When someone breaks into their house in the night and murders their baby girl, the storyline goes from interesting from a deaf perspective to horrific because of the brutal murder of a child. The police call on a Sign Language interpreter, Paige Northwood, who finds herself being caught up in the investigation on a more personal level.

This book was a first for me by this author. What really piqued by interest was that the story was based around the deaf community. Completely unique and unusual, I was really interested to see how this story panned out. Of course, the first thing that gets to you as a reader is the murder of a young child. Completely horrific in its own right, but when the family are all deaf and were unable to hear anything so they may have prevented it just took it to a whole other level.

I liked the character of Paige Northwood, the Sign Language interpreter used by the Police to communicate with the family. I tried to put myself in her shoes as I moved through the book – having to remain professional interpreting for the family, yet having to deal with your own emotions over the murder of a child – but found it really difficult. I really wasn’t surprised when Paige began to get more involved with the case, despite putting her own life in danger also.

I found the storyline featuring a deaf community really interesting, and is something which I haven’t really come across before. My husband is visually impaired, and I do think that more awareness if needed of sensory impairments and the difficulties that people encounter. Obviously, the murder of a child is far more than just ‘difficulties’ but it was really interesting to see how the deaf community did, or didn’t, rally around the family, how susceptible impairments can make you and how difficult it is for the Police to deal with things involving them.

There is nothing more disturbing than the death of a child so the storyline of The Silent House will be very difficult reading for many people, especially those who are parents. I don't have any children and I even found it difficult to read in places, although Nell Pattison thankfully doesn't go into too much grisly detail in her hard-hitting debut.

Having been burgled during the night when we were asleep upstairs, I do have a fear of somebody coming into my house during the night. At least I would be able to hear a noise which is more than can be said for the Hunter family, who are all deaf. The police can't believe that Alan Hunter and his girlfriend had no idea that someone came into their house during the night and murdered Alan's 18 month old daughter, Lexi. How could they know if they couldn't hear anything? Alan therefore becomes the prime suspect and Paige Northwood, whose sister is Lexi's godmother, is called upon by the police to be the sign language interpreter when all of the suspects are interviewed.

There are more suspects than you'd imagine in this case and most of them are from the deaf community, so Paige is in the unenviable position of hearing things about Lexi's death that she would rather not have known. Paige starts asking questions at Deaf Club but it isn't long before she starts receiving threats to drop her own investigation. With the threats increasing in severity, somebody will stop at nothing to prevent Paige from casting doubt on Alan's guilt.

The Silent House is as chilling as it is gripping; I couldn't tear my eyes away from the page even though sometimes I wanted to hide behind my metaphorical sofa. Nell Pattison has included an added element of menace to her compelling story by choosing to set such a heinous crime in the deaf community. It definitely made me more appreciative to have all of my five senses.

A disturbing page-turner that will leave you reeling, The Silent House is a fantastic debut from Nell Pattison and I'll certainly be keeping an eager eye open to see what she writes next.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

I love an original premise and a book that makes me think. So for a debut to come along with both was a double joy. This certainly made me more aware of the deaf community and how things that people take for granted can be really difficult for them. You can tell from the writing the author has personal experience and it made for an empathetic read.

I loved that it was Paige the interpreter’s perspective that was used for narration so we get to follow her ideas on who killed Lexi the Hunter’s 18 month old daughter rather than follow a police investigation. I really warmed to Paige although she could occasionally be a tad unprofessional.

The pace ran along nicely but it did slow down towards the middle. However there was enough question and intrigue to keep me reading. A few nicely placed red herrings and I for one did not work out who the murderer was.

So if you fancy an original twist on a classic whodunnit then give this debut book a try.