The Quiet People by Paul Cleave

Summary:

Suspicion is cast on two successful crime writers, when their seven-year-old son goes missing. Are they trying to show that they can commit the perfect crime? A mesmerisingly twisty, dark thriller from number-one bestselling author Paul Cleave…

Cameron and Lisa Murdoch are successful New Zealand crime writers, happily married and topping bestseller lists worldwide. They have been on the promotional circuit for years, joking that no one knows how to get away with crime like they do. After all, they write about it for a living.

So when their challenging seven-year-old son Zach disappears, the police and the public naturally wonder if they have finally decided to prove what they have been saying all this time… 

Are they trying to show how they can commit the perfect crime?

Electrifying, taut and immaculately plotted, The Quiet People is a chilling, tantalisingly twisted thriller that will keep you gripped and guessing to the last explosive page.

My Review:

I have been waiting patiently to publish my review of an outstanding thriller that is dark and twisted and one of the best five star reads of 2021. The Quiet People (Orenda Books) by Paul Cleave is the perfect crime novel for the Christmas period if you have not already read it that is.

As soon as the book landed on my doormat the cover just screamed at me. When a book has the has the words “Can crime writers get away with murder?” Well, there it is. Instantly it had in its grip and that was before I had even started reading.

The crime writing husband and wife that is Cameron and Lisa Murdoch seem on paper to be the perfect couple, happily married and they have become very successful as crime writers but when one night their son Zach disappears things start to unravel for the couple.

Both Cameron and Lisa tell the police that they think Zach has run away after a family argument. When there is evidence of the pair telling a writers panel that they could get away with, it is not long before the police and even the public start to question the couple’s innocence, let alone the media and we all know how the media love a high-profile case. Meanwhile the search for Zach goes on. What I really enjoyed about how Paul Cleave set out this pulsating thriller is how he uses key characters as narrators. You cannot help but become immersed in this superb plot that has many twists and turns before you reach the last page. One thing that struck me very quickly was Cameron and Lisa, were they really the perfect couple or was this just for show? A pretence to carry on selling their books perhaps. Something to me was not right. But I will let you find that one out for yourselves.

The chapters are short so you can easily put it down and go and pour yourself another drink, but you won’t want to leave this one alone for long. The Quiet People is a compelling and gripping read from start to finish and it will have one minute supporting the couple the next you won’t.

Yes, it really is that good. Forget the tv, go to your local bookshop and get yourself a copy of The Quiet People. You won’t regret it.

300 Pages.

My thanks to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review Copy of The Quiet People by Paul Cleave Published on 25^th November 2021 and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org