Silent Sands

by Eva Bernhard

When murder strikes, you’d better know who is friend—and who is foe.

Agnes Taylor travels to a German North Sea island for a summer holiday with her mother, hoping for sea air, solitude, and a chance to smooth the rocky edges of their past.

Instead, fog rolls over the dunes, their remote cottage feels far from safe, and the island’s small town seethes over a controversial wind park scheme.

The project’s polished sales representative promises locals a fortune if they vote yes. But his charm offensive has made him enemies among protesters, politicians, and wealthy second-homers alike.

Then a morning walk reveals a body on the beach—with Agnes’s mother crouched beside it.

As gossip, grudges, and suspicion ripple across the island, Agnes begins to piece together the mystery with the help of two unlikely new friends—and one watchful dog. But every clue seems to point in a different direction, and someone on the island is hiding a deadly truth.

A traditional mystery for readers who enjoy atmospheric island settings, classic clues, red herrings, and murder with a view. Available also in Large Print paperback and hardcover editions.

Genres: Mystery, Ebooks, Crime

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 10, 2021

Reviews

[Amanja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to author Eva Bernhard for providing me with a copy of Silent Sands in exchange for this honest review.

Silent Sands markets itself as an "Agnes Taylor Mystery" which implies that there will be more books to follow. Maybe not sequels but a serialized set of similar mysteries. My biggest problem with this is that Agnes is not a detective of any kind. She's an academic professor, and not for law or crime from what I could gather. So why is she solving multiple mysteries? Even this one mystery seems odd for such a character.

Agnes and her mother Sera do not get along and have not seen each other in years. For some reason, they have decided to vacation together on a small German island. They don't seem to have any plans of what they want to do on this island and didn't research anything about the location before arriving.

They find themselves in the middle of a small town renewabe energy debate. The town is split on whether or not they should put up windmills. Agnes becomes engrossed in this debate. Why? I have absolutely no idea. My ideal vacation does not include getting involved in local politics.

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[Kathleen E. Apodaca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Windmills round and round

This books worst flaw is that it left the reader hanging. A common set up for the series is frustrating to crime series readers. The twists and turns of this story are enough to hold the readers interest, but the mysterious identities are frustratingly complex.

[Cynthia Bowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring Mystery

This book started out slow and continued to drag on, for the entire book. The characters were not well defined. The only reason I finished the book, was to see how it ended.

[Maureen Doyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

good story, slow

There couldn’t possibly more sidetracking in a novel. Questions were left unanswered without acknowledging they were. Good, strong character-profiles. Interesting geography.

[Maryam J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to follow

This t has a lot of characters. The author follows one and then another. Sometimes it takes a page or two to figure out who it is.

[Pamela Sewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Sirens eARC. Agnes and her mother Sera have been estranged so she agrees to a holiday on a remote island. Upon arrival they find the village in turmoil over protests of an upcoming wind turbine farm. On an early morning walk they find the body of one of the protesters. I did not find any of the characters likeable with Agnes being needy and whiny. I think it is more challenging to write unlikeable characters so kudos to the author. I was not invested in the victim due to little info and not too concerned with who did the deed. What kept me turning the pages were the reveals about old family history and secrets of the island. How did Sera seem so familiar with the area? The interaction between the characters were well done. The information concerning wind and solar energy development and its impact was thought provoking. Enough storylines to hold the reader's interest despite the underdeveloped mystery.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

three or four?

It was a bit better than average. Overall, it was a decent mystery with too many characters and too many backstories. It all came together in the end, but getting there was a struggle. Two things bothered me about this book. First, I felt like I was reading a book written by Yoda. Too much reversal of words there was. The other problem I had was the use of imp and elf ad nauseam. Her name was Polly and, although she may have been small in stature, there was nothing impish about her. Frankly, I found it simply irritating. I’ll definitely not bother to read the sequel.

[Marg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting setting but lead character is infuriating, indecisive and weak! She seems cowed by her mother most of the time. Polly is much more interesting. Pity she is not the lead.
The island they are on is very clear in my mind - its weather, topography and vibrant culture. Sounds like Rugen renamed.
The plot is vague and convoluted. The writing is bitty with far too many half sentences, and there are way too many characters, mostly very shadowy. After a third of the book I was losing the will to live but had to finish it to find out the truth. Thank you, Polly.
Don’t think I’ll be bothering again unless there’s another book without Agnes but with Karl and Polly instead!

[Jayme · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm still getting into this genre so I'm relatively new to it. There were so many characters to keep track of. Lots of switching which character you're following and I sometimes found it hard to discern who it was we were following. Lots of detail the ended up not mattering in the end - though I suppose that's to throw you off. I'm confused as to why these folks were investigating - they were on vacation and not at even remotely involved with any sort of police work or criminal justice or law. Over all the plot is fine, characters are a hit or miss.

[Meg Rice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot intriguing

I liked the main characters and setting. I read to the end to learn “who done it.”

Distracting was the lack of paragraph changes to signal a change of speaker such that multiple careful rereading were frequently needed to unravel who said what.
Inner dialog was at times hard to distinguish from spoken text. Paragraphing and italics might have avoided the confusion.

[Sienna S'Zell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awkward jerky writing style for conversations. I thought the plot was interesting, and also all the info about windmills. Liked some of the characters, but I sure am getting tired of main characters (Agnes) who are so emotionally distraught all the time but supposedly come from a successful academic career.

[Christine Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different book to ones I usually read, set on an island where two Canadians, mother and daughter,are on holiday.The author tricks you into thinking you have solved a riddle, only to find you are wrong ! Therefore you are kept guessing until the end.

[sharon helgason · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read with interesting characters!! Good plot development and outcome.

[Donna Kaczynski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different

This is a very interesting story and I enjoyed it. If you get the chance you should read it and decide for yourself.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I put the book down and forgot about it. I finished it this morning and found I was not thrilled about it.

[Sylvia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not enjoy book. Too confusing with the added German words I didn’t understand. I couldn’t follow the time line nor the jist of the book.

[Judith Mosconi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Confusing story. Difficult to understand which character was actually talking. Main character, Agatha, seemed to over react to a lot. Ending was slow and not satisfying.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book as an ARC because I read the prelude (also an ARC) and enjoyed it. My honest opinion: the story is interesting, Dr Agnes Taylor and her mother have a strained relationship and don't see or speak often. Agnes is surprised when her mother tells her she's booked them a holiday, staying in a cottage on a small German island. There they meet a group of diverse, interesting people. The interactions between the characters is interesting; one of them is the mysterious Polly, who died a lot of detective work and digs into secrets people have been hiding for decades, including Agnes' mother. The murder of an activist heightens anxieties. I wasn't at all keen on Agnes' constant internal conversations, worrying about how her mother and others saw her. I got a bit confused here and there with some of the names, but overall not a bad read