Faceless Strangers

Dr. Samantha Ryan Mystery #4

by Nigel McCrery

When the decomposed body of a homeless drug addict is found, Detective Stanley Sharman is put in charge of the case. Enlisting the help of Dr Sam Ryan, Stan is determined to discover who the young woman is and how she died. Without a name, without a face, and with no co-operation from the police, Sam and Sharman face a seemingly impossible task. But, slowly, the awful truth of the girl's life, and death, come to light, exposing a web of exploitation and corruption that reaches far into Europe...

Genres: Mystery, Crime, British Literature

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Nigel Colin McCrery was an English screenwriter, producer and writer. He was the creator of the long-running crime dramas Silent Witness (1996–present) and New Tricks (2003–2015).

Reviews

[Rob Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice mystery with just the right amount of suspects to keep you guessing but not overwhelm you. The story does end rather suddenly which is a shame considering the fifth book in the series was never released.

[Lainy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow xxx

[Kyle Theobald · Rating 4 out of 5]

A warning for anyone interested, this book touches on some very heavy and dark subject matter.

I don't know if this was ever intended to be the last book in the series but it has an endgame sort of feel to it as Dr Samantha Ryan resigns from her job and goes completely vigilante, teaming up with a suspended police officer and his girlfriend/prostitute to uncover the web of conspiracy behind a couple of murders. Some of her behaviour stretches credibility as it seems like she's motivated more by petty spite toward former lover Superintendent Adams than the actual pursuit of justice. As with most of these novels, the ending is rather abrupt and unlike the previous book there is no epilogue. The plot threads of the mystery are all tied up reasonably well but it would have been nice to get a bit more closure with the characters and relationships with it being the last in the series.

[Pers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite good.

I confess, though, I prefer Dr Nikki Alexander, Silent Witness' pathologist who took over once Ryan left.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pageturner

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the British TV Series called Silent Witness and written by the same as the TV series.

Not a massive novel but a gripping one! I really enjoyed it and ripped through it in a weekend. The story line didn't let up with twists and turns galore. The only reason it didn't get 5* is that it was over too quickly! Not too gory to say it was based around forensic science - infact there wasn't much really on the medical front at all. Yep, Good read.

[Bekha Youmans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a fan of the silent witness programme did the books differ? YES! The stories told are a lot more gruesome in the books and they are more forensically thrilling then the actual programme itself. The story had me gripped from the first page to the last.

[Kaylol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting story. I loved it. The last couple of chapters could have been written and concluded better though.