Sarah Reviews… The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie

It has been a quieter week here on SWB, I just wasn’t feeling like blogging the past weekend! However, I am delighted to be sharing my review of The Silent Daughter as part of the blog tour for Emma Christie’s debut novel!

Title: The Silent Daughter

Author: Emma Christie

Publisher: Welbeck Publishing Group

Publication Date: 3^rd September 2020

Format: Paperback

This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review

About The Book…

How well do you know the ones you love?

When news reporter Chris Morrison’s wife Maria ends up in a coma after a serious fall running, the first thing he does is try to assemble the family at her bedside. . . but his daughter Ruth doesn’t respond despite repeated calls and emails. This isn’t unusual – Ruth is frequently gone for months at a time working abroad, only communicating via social media – but when he thinks about it, when was the last time anyone actually spoke to her?

As questions are raised about the circumstances surrounding Maria’s fall, Chris starts to question everything he knows. Why is his son Mikey acting so suspiciously, and why won’t Ruth answer his increasingly desperate calls? As he begins to unravel her digital footprint, he realises how easy it is to ‘fake’ a life. Could Ruth be missing . . . or worse? And who is to blame for Maria’s accident?

As Chris pieces together the recent movements of his family, one thing becomes clear –
Maria, Mikey and Ruth have all been lying. But how many secrets can one family keep? And will Chris be prepared for the final reveal?

I killed Ruth Morrison.
Do I feel guilty? Yes.
Do I regret it? No.
Would I do the same again? Yes. But sooner.
The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie

Chris Morrison is a journalist, he’s away when he receives the call no one wants to receive, his wife has been in an accident, she’s in a coma and the prognosis isn’t overly hopeful. He’s told to call his family and prepare for the worst, unable to get hold of his daughter he reaches the conclusion that she could be missing and uncovers and increasing web of questions and deceit.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I picked up The Silent Daughter I received an email asking if I’d like to take part in the block tour little while ago, at the time I read the blurb and thought it sounded really interesting and so it was very happy to say yes. And then life got in the way, time passed and a number of other books vied for my attention and by the time it was time to pick up The Silent Daughter I had forgotten all but what the few lines on the back of the book told me. However, I’m pleased to say I was absolutely blown away by the story!

I absolutely devoured this book! I read it cover to cover in a single evening after finishing work. It took me a few chapters to really get into, but once I hit a certain point, I knew I was not going to sleep until I had finished reading it and discovering the truth about what had happened. I don’t want to give any spoilers away so I will keep this short but I felt the book was right tightly plotted with thoughts of little hints of information and possibilities to keep the reader guessing about what had actually happened. I think the section in italics from a different point of view were particular strengths of the book, they were quite dark in parts and were a major reason behind me second guessing my theories on what was happening.

I adore a good crime book; you may have noticed if you’re a regular visitor to SWB! I adore series like the Detective Natalie Ward series by Carol Wyer and the DI Kelly Porter series from Rachel Lynch but I especially enjoyed the fact that The Silent Daughter had a little bit of a different twist on a crime mystery type of book. The vast majority of the plot focused on Chris trying to piece together what had happened to his wife and where his daughter was rather than placing the focus on the police investigation and seeing things solely from that ‘official’ point of view.

I can’t quite decide if I liked Chris, I think I do, I certainly don’t particularly dislike him but at the same time I can’t help but think even after following him for the entire book I didn’t know him that well! There is something in Chris’s past I would have possibly like to have a little more detail on. It’s not particularly relevant to the plot itself so I do understand why it’s not covered in detail in the book, but my curiosity was peaked! What was it that led to Chris being side-lined as a major news journalist to a features writer? I understand that the events of Barcelona affected him deeply but there’s the hint of something else having happened to cause the paper to make that decision and the nosy part of me wants an answer!

Finally being a girl who has taken Scotland as my adopted homeland I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised to find the book set in Edinburgh! It was something I either missed or forgotten from when I initially read about the book. I always really enjoy a book set somewhere that I know well, I think if I can clearly visualise the place it adds a little additional dash of realism to the story and I have suffered up the steps of Fleshmarket Close on more than one occasion!

Final Thoughts…

I thought this was a fantastic debut from Emma Christie! There were so many twists and turns and I can genuinely say the ending is not one that I even came close to predicting. I am really intrigued to see what comes next from Emma and I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good modern mystery tale and is perhaps looking for something just a little bit different from a police procedural type book.

About The Author…

Emma Christie was born and raised in Ayrshire, Scotland. After studying literature and medieval history at Aberdeen University she spent five years as a news journalist with one of the UK’s topselling regional daily newspapers, The Press and Journal, covering crime, court proceedings and
politics. She was also briefly the ‘Trump reporter’. Emma now lives in Barcelona and works as a tour guide and lecturer in history, culture and politics, leading educational journeys across Spain, France, Portugal and Greece. She loves hiking and coffee and volunteered as a translator on a coffee farm in Nicaragua. She also loves playing guitar.

The Silent Daughter is Emma’s debut novel.