I regret not having read David Fennell's earlier books on my TBR pile before being introduced to the author with this cracking read.

It seized my attention from the first page and never relinquished it. The plot is full of murder, darkness, and unexpected turns. It kept me guessing until the very end.

Despite personal issues with a sick grandad and a looming threat, DI Grace Archer is tasked with investigating the strange murder of Jason Todd, who was killed at home with his son nearby, who is left unharmed.

Archer and Quinn's investigation is accompanied by an approaching danger. With the escalation of threats against Archer. There’s a big chance neither Archer nor Quinn will live long enough to see this case through and what a case it is!! I loved the many shocks, humorous, and macabre moments that the story had, and the killer was a complete surprise.

What caught my attention was the relationship between Grace and her team, who remain loyal to her while still being able to challenge her. It feels authentic.

I highly recommend this brilliant read to others and plan to catch up on the books I missed in the series as soon as possible.

This is a challenging read, with multiple story lines that tackle abuse, intimidation, violence and murder, anyone who has read the previous Grace Archer novels (you can read this as a stand alone but I would definitely encourage reading them from the start) will have more than a nodding acquaintance with the issues Archer is up against.

Her family (her wonderful grandfather) are on constant alert after Grace has put away the grandson of a local crime figure, who has subsequently died in prison.

Also she has this thing about organised crime not being something she will turn a blind eye to, and is not manipulated by fear, greed, or promises of glory therefore Grace has to live with a state of constant alert of where the next threat is coming from.

Her father was killed by Frankie White's goons, so from the very start of the book you have this sense of tension and angst that leaves me baffled as to how she managed to hold down such a high pressured job whilst worrying about her Grandfather who is this wonderful character, fiercely protected by a neighbourly widow with a naughty twinkle in her eye (completely love the scenes between these two, they are just fab!)

So the book starts at full throttle with a very clear shot across Grace's bow, and a particularly nasty murder which put me in mind of Thomas Harris' Red Dragon.  

It remains one of my favourite books so I am comparing the tension there, and the scene building not in any way suggesting it is derivative, I genuinely had cold shivers reading the murders that the Silent Man commits.

There is a third arm to the structural narrative, involving a boy who suffers the most horrendous abuse, and the light shone into it by a friendly young girl , also an outcast and bullied , because she has epilepsy . As the mother of an epileptic daughter, I really appreciated the portrayal of her frustration , and how people see her as 'Epi-Iris' , all except Brynn, this bullied and put upon boy. Brynn is Welsh, out of place, without a mother and his father is, well, no spoilers but it's heart-breaking what Brynn goes through.

As you navigate through the police investigation, it dovetails with the Frankie White arc and you gradually see where Brynn and Iris fit together. It's a lightning bolt moment and really challenges the way you consider what makes a killer, especially when you compare that to the police corruption angle, where Grace is fighting not only those outside the law, but those within it who seek to subvert it for their own personal gains.

That to me, is so scary, that those who are meant to maintain the thin blue line, are using it to advance themselves for financial gain, and contrasts beautifully with Harry Quinn and Grace who have this very firm moral compass. 

Investigating this baffling set of murders with seemingly no connection between them is one thing, having to watch your back is another and when those close to you literally are in the firing line, Grace comes put all guns blazing to protect those she loves.

It's an action packed, meaningful novel, where you have a sense of an ending, but at the same time, there is this hint of a door which is ajar for Grace to walk through at any time in the future. It's a trilogy, but that doesn't mean we have seen the last of Grace and her team, just that they might feature in a very different way, though how she will manage to be a supplemental character when she is so much larger than life will be interesting to read!


I love the dynamics between Grace and her team, the unwavering loyalty they have towards her whilst still being able to call her out when she is wrong, it feels very real.

The panic and frustration in catching the Silent Man is very palpable and in creating characters whose emotions you invest in, nit just the police procedural aspect although again, you could read it for that alone and be completely satisfied. What is the stand out feature for me, is the way the team work, it's all about Grace but it is so much bigger than that and allowing her to be a feature but not the focus of this book shows a writer with an excellent understanding of his characters who create a multi-layered, tense and thought provoking thriller. Absolutely loved it!

I greatly enjoyed David Fennell’s first Grace Archer book, The Art of Death and the follow up, See No Evil, so I was more than excited to read the third in the series, The Silent Man.

These books are distinctly on the dark side of crime fiction and this police procedural featuring D.I. Grace Archer and D.S. Harry Quinn deals with another set of cruel deaths at the hands of a disturbed killer.

Grace Archer is a great character; a police inspector with a terrible past to overcome – a past that still disturbs her sleep on a regular basis. She has courage and tenacity and is a caring and compassionate granddaughter who worries about her grandfather more than ever even while she is a driven and relentless workaholic.

The Silent Man opener is suitably gruesome and horrific. A father is murdered, his head wrapped tightly in tape, a crude sad face penned over his facial features. We are also given an insight into the dehumanising treatment of a nameless young boy that really both disturbs and stirs at the heart strings.

Grace also has to deal with a clear threat to herself and her family. Frankie White, a local gangster, has threatened both Grace and the people she loves and it’s clear that he intends to be relentless in his attacks until he can bring her down.

The intensity of a serial killer on her patch, coupled with the threat to her own family following the murder of her father, raises the stress levels and gives the book a tremendous pace from the outset.

In The Silent Man, the killer takes a perverse pleasure in surprising his victims and then murdering them in the cruellest and most distinctive manner. It is a murder that has the Police scratching their heads as there’s no obvious suspect and no clear motive to point them in anyone’s direction. It’s the worst kind of crime; that seemingly random selection of a victim who appears silently in their homes and dispatches them with ruthless efficiency, leaving behind only the grotesque motif of that crudely drawn downturned mouth.

Fennell keeps us on edge by letting the reader into information that Archer and Quinn don’t have. As we are privy to a narrative that gives us a deeper understanding of what might be going on and puts us through a range of emotions, tearing at our heart strings even as we shudder at the brutality of a savage killer.

I loved the way that Fennell keeps the reader constantly on edge, throwing in surprises like grenades and attacking our emotions as well as our fear. It’s a real skill to make such horrible crimes speak to us about the nature of the killer and Fennell delivers that in spades.

Verdict: Tense, emotional, thoroughly enjoyable. I love this series which just keeps getting better.

This is the first book I've read by David Fennell and I'm certain it won't be my last.
Had I known this was 3rd in the series my quirky self would have purchased and read the first two beforehand lol.

Crammed with twists and turns I was gripped from the get go. Full of murder and suspense I couldn't stop reading.

I definitely will be looking to buy more of this series. Thank you Netgalley.

This is the third book featuring police detectives Grace Archer and Harry Quinn and in The Silent Man we actually get two stories running simultaneously. The first is Grace's ongoing battle against her nemesis and well-known gangster Frankie White. Frankie has dominated Grace's life and career as a police detective after killing her father and then going on to target Grace and her grandfather as revenge for the events that took place in the previous book See No Evil. This storyline showcases the darker side of London, the criminal and drugs scene and, particularly in this book, looks a lot at the effect of police corruption and how this impacts on the safety of the other officers and detectives.

The second side to this story is the actual police investigation, and it's an especially creepy one. A killer is entering the houses of their victims in the early evening and attacking while the victims are getting ready for bed. Before leaving, the killer covers the head of the victim in tape and draws a terrifying face onto the tape like a mask. With the number of victims racking up, Grace an Quinn don't have much to go on, just petty conflicts and rumours between a group of people. The two detectives and their team need to work out the connection between all of the victims quickly before anyone else is targeted.

I've read all three of the books in this series so I knew going into this story that it would be dark. However, I really feel like this book is the most traumatic - the killer's method is especially horrific and the descriptions of each attack were terrifying. I think that the fact that these attacks were very plausible was what made it so horrible. It wasn't a far-fetched setup, something that could actually happen and the fact that the killer was letting themselves into peoples houses and waiting to pounce undetected while they all thought they were safe is a truly scary thought.

A brilliant crime thriller, full of twists and shocking moments and definitely on the darker side of the scale. The Silent Man had me fooled a couple of times and is certainly not a book to read at home alone with the lights out!

DI Archer and DS Quinn, soon discover a serial killer is on the loose, killing the family but leaving the child to survive. But while trying to catch the killer, Frankie "Snow” White is wanting to make things difficult for Archer throughout.

Fennell writes with tension from the first page, giving a fast-paced narrative I couldn’t put down and an ending I was not expecting.

These are fantastic characters that I could not get enough of and whom anyone would enjoy.

This is actually the third book in a series that I was not aware of, so certain scenes and characters took a while for me to work out, but this did not put me off, and I highly recommend this novel; but also suggest readers read the first two novels first. I will be going back to read these and will be adding this author to my go-to list.

David Fennell is a new author to me. THE SILENT MAN is the third in his DI Grace Archer series, something I didn’t know when starting the book. The novel begins with a very tense and chilling murder of a father, by a killer who gains access to the victim’s home without force, without detection, and leaves no trace other than a man suffocated, his head taped, and a son who heard nothing, unaware until his discovery of his father’s body next morning. We then meet DI Archer and DS Quinn.

Initially a little confusing, there is a lot going on, with several callbacks to events in previous novels but, like Marvel Comics used to do, anticipating that this might be a first reader, Fennell brings us up to speed, without excessive exposition, respecting his readers’ intelligence and ability to put it together. Di Archer is a prime target for a London Crime Boss who blames her for the death of a jailed family member and so targets Grace’s grandfather. There are moles in the Metropolitan Police and the organised crime gang seem able to attack Archer with impunity. It’s a little Infernal Affairs/The Departed in Charing Cross, and, while I wasn’t drawn to it as much as the concurrent hunt for the killer, possibly due to a lack of familiarity with the characters, it is well-plotted, very well written, and the protagonists engagingly drawn.

When a second body is discovered with seeming links to the first, another child the sole survivor, Archer and Quinn suspect a serial killer and it is here that things really took off for me. The killings, seen from the murderer’s POV, are harrowing and heart-stopping. The search for evidence is painstaking and littered with red herrings. As a procedural crime narrative the novel is first class, the constant threat hanging over the main detective, heightening the tension constantly. There are other subplots which eventually dovetail with the main threads and the author expertly garners the reader’s sympathies for the characters, and not always for those you might expect.

Yes, it may be have been better to start at the beginning of the series, but I did not feel lost or my enjoyment of the story irrevocably harmed by not doing so, and I look forward to dropping back and catching up.

This is the third book in the DI Grace Archer series (although it can be easily read as a stand-alone too).

DI Archer and her team are called to a murder, a father has been brutally murdered while his young son slept. It soon becomes clear they have a serial killer, with a particularly haunting signature on their hands.

This book was brilliant, I raced through it! Not wanting to give any spoilers but the side story of the wee boy was fantastic addition too and for me had an unexpected ending!

I loved this one, would highly recommend and would suggest checking out the entire series too! Fantastic crime writing.

I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of this and it’s out now!

I read a lot of good books but The Silent Man is a great book and I had a blast following the action.

DI Grace Archer is a woman with a whole world of problems. She's had a long-standing enemy in London gangster Frankie "Snow" White and things appear to be coming to boiling point. Having not read the previous books* I am presuming past events have seen Frankie White blaming Archer for an incident which caused him a great deal of pain and cannot be undone (no spoilers). Frankie White is gunning for Grace Archer and nothing is going to get in his way.

From the early pages of The Silent Man the readers see the ruthless nature of White, the extent of his reach and the sinister methods he is prepared to adopt to get to Grace and her family. David Fennell creates tension right from the very start of this book and I found myself considering every new character as a possible threat to Archer. It's a highly effective way to ensure I kept reading - I want to pick up a book and feel I am living the story and that I care about what happens to the characters, Fennell nailed that in The Silent Man.

Archer is a likeable character, a good cop and has a loyal partner at her side. You'll root for her to escape the attentions and machinations of Frankie White and you'll will her to track down the dangerous killer who has been targeting people in their homes. Wait, what killer? There's not been talk of a killer so far...

Yes indeed - not content with pitching Archer against her nemesis the author also has a really nasty serial killer on the prowl and he's the titular Silent Man. The killer operates under the cover of darkness, entering the home of his victim, incapacating them and leaving their body with masking tape wrapped around their head and a distinctive image penned onto the tape. The police don't have much to work on but their first victim wasn't living an angelic life so their initial focus is on people who may have been holding a grudge.

Conducting a murder investigation while avoiding the increasingly direct and dangerous attacks from Frankie White will keep Archer stretched and stressed. There's so much going on that readers will be kept breathlessly entertained. It's books like The Silent Man that I love to read: no pacing issues, no plots which feel like padding, no messing about - this is a full throttle thriller and I'm very much here for it.

If you're a crime fiction fan and you want a stone cold page-turner to keep you entertained then you should look no further than The Silent Man.

What a start to a book, I was so creeped out and hooked. I loved being back with Archer and Quinn, they have the ‘best’ cases, so gruesome and gory! I do also like how there are other storylines included and we get to see outside of work.

This is also an emotional read, as well as feeling for the killer, the ending broke me. Whilst I’m excited to see what the author has coming up for us fans, I’m glad that it’s not the end of Grace Archer and I cannot wait to be back with her.

This is an absolute must and I will shout about this trilogy to everyone and anyone!!

This is a brilliant crime thriller. Fast paced and a great story.
Detectives Grace Archer and Henry Quinn are no strangers to serious crime but when it’s clear one particular criminal is determined to make Archer suffer, they need to stick together.
Alongside this a killer is murdering people by wrapping their heads in tape and drawing on them. They seem to be targeting parents and leaving the child alive.
When events take a nasty turn with White and his gang, Archer and Quinn come close to losing their lives.
They have no time to recover as they need to catch a serial killer whose identity is causing them some confusion.
This is a brilliant crime thriller that I’d highly recommend.
Thanks to Bonnier Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

David Fennell’s novels always feature something very original in their plot, elements that can surprise and terrify you at the same time. This happens also in this novel that I read in two sitting as I wanted to know who-why-did-it.
There’s a sense of dread in the first pages and there’s a sense of urgency when we meet Archer&Quinn as there’s a sort of target on their back.
I was glad to catch with them even as Archer first appearance in this book is not in a very happy moment.
There’s humour in this book, there’s a very dark and twisty plot and a serial killer who must be stopped because they will kill again and in a very cruel way.
A page turner I couldn’t put down and I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to Embla Books and Compulsive Readers for this arc, all opinions are mine.

I gave The Art Of Death and See No Evil, Fennell's previous two novels in the DI Grace Archer & DS Harry Quinn series, both five stars and The Silent Man is an easy five star too.

If you haven't read any books in this series before, enough information is given to you to learn a bit about the backstory of Archer and Quinn, but I would highly recommend giving the other ones a read as they are so good.

In The Silent Man, Archer and Quinn are tasked searching for a serial killer whose MO is to taser their victims before wrapping their heads in tape and drawing an emoji style face on them. All of the victims seem to be parents too.

Alongside this, we have the story that runs across all three books, a crime family who are intent on harming Archer. They had previously been the reason for her father's death too.

The pacing is fantastic and I literally did not want to put this down. I just gel with Fennell's writing style and I like this chase. I have to say, as a Belfast native I cackled with laughter at Quinn's line "...my head's poundin' like an Orangeman's drum"! It has everything I want in a police procedural/thriller and a great, diverse host of characters too.

If you haven't read this series yet, you need to!

I didn't realise this was the last book in a trilogy when I started reading it and whilst it is clear that I have missed the back story, it didn't affect my enjoyment of this book one little bit. My only gripe is with myself, how did I miss the first 2 books in this series??

From the very first page, I was hooked and couldn't read it fast enough. The characters are excellent and I loved the easy and natural relationship between Archer and Quinn. The story is told from various points of view which give a rounded view of the two main plots and whilst this can sometimes cause confusion, not so here.

Written at a fast pace with plenty of twists, turns and scenes of violence and peril, The Silent Man is a book that I can highly recommend to those of you who love a gritty and dark story with a serial killer who uses a unique way to both identify and despatch his victims.

I will definitely be looking out for more by David Fennell in the future and thanks must go to him, Bonnier Books, Zaffre and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Silent Man.

4.5 stars
This is the first book that I've read by David Fennell and it won't be the last as this certainly impressed me.
I really liked that this had two stories happening at the same time.
I actually found myself sympathising with the killer, something that I never ordinarily do in these kinds of books.
He was interesting main character to follow.
I wasn't aware that this was part of a trilogy, so I will definitely need to go back and read the others.
I will also be keeping an eye out for what David Fennell does next.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A really great and intriguing read. I loved the characters and the story. Will look out for more from this author.

I would lile to thank Netgalley and Bonnier Books for an advance copy of The Silent Man, the third novel to feature DI Grace Archer and DS Harry Quinn of the Met.

Archer and Quinn are called to a murder scene, a teenager has found his dad dead in bed with his head wrapped in tape and a sad face inked on the tape. They are investigating the case, but have a more immediate concern as gangster Frankie White has vowed to kill Archer. Then a second father is murdered in the same way, so they are now hunting a serial killer while trying to dodge death.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Silent Man, which is a short, sharp read, full of tension with some good twists. It is told from various points of view, so the reader is in no doubt about Frankie White's intentions or who is involved, but the serial killer's identity and motive are more elusive. There is some misdirection involved and it is extremely well done - I didn't have a clue until all is revealed, in fact I had to re-read the reveal to believe what I was being told.

The novel moves along at a fast pace and switches between the two plotlines. The threat to Archer is the one that engenders all the tension with some near misses and smart talking. I was gobsmacked by its resolution as it is obvious in so many ways, because the reader has all the information, and yet it still came as a surprise. The hunt for the serial killer is the intriguing part of the novel. Nothing is given away, so the reader is left guessing about identity and motive. It's very cleverly done.

I like Archer and Quinn. They are smart, no nonsense detectives with a great working relationship. They undergo a fair amount of trauma in this novel and the way they react to it hints at deeper feelings.

The Silent Man is a good read that I read in one sitting, so I have no hesitation in recommending it.

This book starts wonderfully for a thriller with a crime that's been committed, of which is very unusual! It really does throw you straight into it and that's where it had me, I was already intrigued. From there the story is just pretty full on, with lots going on and two different time lines to follow throughout. It's cleverly done and it's actually a really emotionally driven book. You will undoubtedly have empathy for everyone involved.

Archer and Quinn are both very likeable characters with a solid, realistic partnership and I do hope there is more to come from this duo!

Overall, a really great read that I would 100% recommend

4.5⭐

This is my first introduction to author David Fennell and if The Silent Man is anything to go by it won't be my last.

As this was a cracking read.

That grabbed me from the very first page and never let go. With a storyline packed full of murder, darkness, twists and turns.

And it had me guessing until the very end. As protagonist DI Grace Archer is pulled away from a personal threat and a sick grandad to investigate the bizarre murder of Jason Todd.

And it's a murder that puzzles from the start as he is killed at home with his son in the next room. A son who is left unharmed.

But as Archer and her colleague Quinn begin to investigate danger stalks ever closer. As the threats against Archer increase. And there's a big chance neither Archer or Quinn will live long enough to see this case through.

And what a case it is!!

And with plenty of shocks, humour, macabre moments which I loved and a killer I did not expect. This was a truly brilliant read. That I'd thoroughly recommend to others and I'll definitely be reading the books I've missed out on in this series. Just as soon as I can.

Not really sure about this author as a whole. Quick chapters but I could not connect to the characters at all and that impacted my enjoyment. I would recommend that other mystery fans try it out, it however was not for me.