The Silent Voices

DI Tara Grogan #3

by Robert McCracken

A covert cop becomes a target when she picks the wrong cover story The Treadwater Estate has become the epicentre of a series of strange events. People go missing. Bodies are found – buried and wrapped in clingfilm. Yet there appears to be no connection between the victims and no motive for the crimes. The estate looks anonymous, its residents inscrutable. Door-to-door inquiries fall flat. No one has seen anything, everyone resents the police presence. Someone must be hiding in plain sight. Faced with a wall of silence, to dig deeper DI Tara Grogan must get closer to the action than is safe. Not being from the area, a local choir provides her with an entry point. But will the very guise that she adopts to be accepted into the community, that of a reformed con, be her undoing? If her cover is blown, her life is in danger. But if she doesn’t push her luck to the limits, a killer will get away with it.

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 21, 2021

About the author

Born in Belfast. Spent some of my childhood in Australia. Back in Northern Ireland I attended Dundonald Boys High School. Studied Chemistry at University of Ulster, gained a PhD in agricultural food science from Queen's University, Belfast. Worked for thirty-four years at Department of Agriculture, latterly, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute.
My first novel, An Early Grave, was published in 2015. I am married and live in County Down.

Reviews

[Mary O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant read

This book developed DI Grogan more and had me guessing to the end who all were doing the vigilante killings. I read the book in one go as I couldn't put it down. I recommend you read it.

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Tara is really in the thick of it, investigating murders and disappearances that all seem to happen on the same bleak housing estate. When there’s no clues as to who perpetrated the murders and disappearances she goes undercover. This is where the ‘fun’ starts, posing as an ex con, she has to get inside the residents lives but soon her life is in danger. I couldn’t put this down, in fact I made myself late for work...

[christine arlott-clay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent read by Robert McCracken,

The third in the inspector Tara Grogan series...by chance I read the fourth one before the others..totally recommend this series. 1) Early Grave, 2), the daring night.3) the silent voices 4) lethal dose...I desperately searching for a book 5 lol. The writing is brilliant, really books you in, plenty of red herrings, and quite fast paced. Enjoy

[Mr Kenneth L Mullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book

Another great story featuring DO Brogan and her team though she was more on her own this time working undercover. Lots of good characters and a strong story line.

[paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love it!

Its hard not to feel like you're part of the story and that you know these people. Her books are almost impossible to put down. Looking forward to the next one!

[Leonard Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb book. Loved every minute

[Stephanie Grandstaff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Audiobook
I skipped through a couple of hours and didn’t feel like I missed anything.

[Joyce Lorenzen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really enjoying this book until the foul language started. At first I ignored it, but it became so frequent that I deleted the book. Sad!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the discovery of several bodies in different locations, each one wrapped in clingfilm, the police turn their attention to the Treadwater Estate. Once notorious, its reputation has improved so what is the connection? Everyone claims not to know the victims and the police are met with a wall of silence. To break down these walls, it is decided that an undercover officer is to be sent in to live among the residents and DI Tara Grogan is not happy to discover that the officer in question is her. In order to find out the full scale of what is happening on the estate, she must immerse herself completely, placing herself in danger with whoever is responsible for the deaths.

This is the third book in the DI Tara Grogan series and, in my opinion, is the best so far. Tara is really developing as a character and we are continuing to see what drives her as a police officer. Although reluctant to go undercover, I enjoyed seeing how Tara really threw herself into the role, going above and beyond with her personal appearance to ensure that she was fully accepted by her new community.

The plot is engaging and the conspiracy of silence meant that, like Tara, it was difficult to know who she could trust. Robert McCracken has written a great cast of characters, some more likeable than others, each of them plausible candidates for being involved in what has been going on at the Treadwater Estate. The estate itself is a great setting, the author painting a very vivid picture of the deprivation some are experiencing.

I am pleased I found this series as I am thoroughly enjoying it. The first three books can be purchased as a box set on Amazon (on Kindle) for the bargain price of £1.99.

[Erik Empson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tara Grogan goes undercover to catch a killer on a housing estate. But has she been rumbled? A gripping read.