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A review by purplepenning
Splintered Silence by Susan Furlong
4.0
3.5 rounded up.
More injured than her IED scars indicate, ex-MP Brynn and her deaf, ex-cadaver dog Wilco, return to the home that hasn't felt like home for quite a long time — the community of Irish Travellers where she was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee. Wilco's talented, highly trained nose uncovers traumas from the past that overlap with current violence and mysteries, landing Brynn between the same rock and hard place as before. Does Brynn even have a chance at healing from her past and facing her future while dealing with the suspicions and loyalties of her family and clan and the bigotry and justice of the settled world?
This is a well-paced mystery / contemporary crime thriller that's a little outside my normal range of comfort (what with the descriptions of decomposing bodies, etc.). I don't require my mysteries to be cozy, but I generally prefer a little more character development and humor and a little less gritty realism. But it's an intriguing introduction to this canine/handler duo and the Traveller/outsider dynamic. And it's definitely a compelling read — I read it in a single day and I'm in for book two.
Content notes: various slurs for Travellers (including g****), settled folk/outsiders, and police; descriptions of decomposing bodies; human and canine PTSD (including flashbacks); violence (including gun, knife, injection, fire); substance use and abuse; rape and spousal sexual assault (backstory, brief descriptions, flashback, trauma); sadistic killing of a kitten (mentioned, not described); toxic and repressive gender roles
More injured than her IED scars indicate, ex-MP Brynn and her deaf, ex-cadaver dog Wilco, return to the home that hasn't felt like home for quite a long time — the community of Irish Travellers where she was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee. Wilco's talented, highly trained nose uncovers traumas from the past that overlap with current violence and mysteries, landing Brynn between the same rock and hard place as before. Does Brynn even have a chance at healing from her past and facing her future while dealing with the suspicions and loyalties of her family and clan and the bigotry and justice of the settled world?
This is a well-paced mystery / contemporary crime thriller that's a little outside my normal range of comfort (what with the descriptions of decomposing bodies, etc.). I don't require my mysteries to be cozy, but I generally prefer a little more character development and humor and a little less gritty realism. But it's an intriguing introduction to this canine/handler duo and the Traveller/outsider dynamic. And it's definitely a compelling read — I read it in a single day and I'm in for book two.
Content notes: various slurs for Travellers (including g****), settled folk/outsiders, and police; descriptions of decomposing bodies; human and canine PTSD (including flashbacks); violence (including gun, knife, injection, fire); substance use and abuse; rape and spousal sexual assault (backstory, brief descriptions, flashback, trauma); sadistic killing of a kitten (mentioned, not described); toxic and repressive gender roles