SILENT NIGHT {PAIGE NORTHWOOD 2}

YAY! Apart from a recap of the books read 2021 this is my last review from last year.                         

SILENT NIGHT by NEIL PATTISON.

What happened when they were sleeping?

A school for the deaf takes an overnight trip to the snowy woods. Five teenagers go to sleep, but only four wake up. Leon is missing, and a teacher’s body is found in the forest…

Sign language interpreter Paige Northwood is brought in to help with interrogations. Everyone at the school has a motive for murder – but they all have an alibi. 

As Paige becomes increasingly involved, she suspects there’s something sinister going on. With the clock ticking to find Leon, only one thing is certain: the killer is among them, and ready to strike again… ... Back Cover Blurb

As he stared at the body on the ground, a snowflake fell on the back of his neck, making him flinch. ... First Sentence, Prologue

Drat! My copy passed onto a friend, I've somehow managed to misplace the post-it note with my 'Memorable Moment' on it.

My Thoughts ... The second book in the Paige Northwood series, but the first to be read by yours truly. 

If read other than from the beginning/not in order there's always the question, would the book have been better if I had read previous/other books in the series 

My answer? 

Whilst its can be fun and beneficial to get the back story on the characters' histories because, as is often the case with books of this genre {this one included}, each is generally a separate 'case' they mostly read perfectly well as a standalone novel ... I know this one did despite the fact the author sometimes alluded to things I wasn't privy to.

I guess we are all different though. Thinking my mam would enjoy Silent Night, I had bought her a copy for Christmas and a chapter or two in she decided she'd benefit from reading the first book in the series, The Silent House, which, having asked Mr T to order her a copy, she went on to read first, returning to Silent Night only when she'd finished the first instalment.

For myself I did enjoy Silent Night ... just not as much as I thought/hoped I might.

The plot is OK, nicely paced with enough twists and turns to keep you interested and yet, despite this, at times I felt the story dragged somewhat. Something that wasn't helped by the {to my mind} unnecessarily large portions of the book that were given over to the personal life of interpreter Paige. 

Alas not a character I found particularly interesting or plausible, I thought Paige naïve and more of a hinderance than a help a lot of time; putting herself in unnecessary danger on occasion, to say nothing of withholding information from the police, compromising the investigation. That the book focused too much on her at times, rendering the mystery something of a poor second, disappointing and frustrating.

However, an incredibly under-represented community when it comes to literature, I did enjoy the deaf/hearing impaired aspect to the book; finding the glimpse into what it is to be a teenager with hearing loss in a world where the majority can hear and of the different methods of communication used, insightful. 

That said, whilst the book does address important social issues, the difficulties of not only being a teenager but a hearing impaired teenager, bullying and domestic abuse included, these also had an impact, detracting from the crime/mystery element.

When all is said and done, as I said, an enjoyable enough read. My mam liking it more than I did ... so much so that not only did she ask for a copy of The Silent House but, having read it and Silent Night, she has requested we order her a copy of the third book in the series, The Silent Suspect.