A thoughtful mystery that incorporates topical issues. Detective Jimmy Vega is a treat- he's smart he's got a sense of humor, and he's empathetic, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Ooooo this book was good!!!! Police mystery mixed in with some romance, my FAVORITE!! I will be looking for more books by this Author in the future. I really enjoyed finding a new romantic suspense author and one who writes a legitimately suspenseful book.

Detective Jimmy Vega is called to investigate the apparent suicide of the DA’s wife and the mysterious disappearance of her undocumented domestic employee. ICE shows up to find this person and to deport another immigrant who takes refuge in the synagogue where is employed as a janitor. This complicates matters for Vega, not only because his girlfriend runs an organization to support immigrants, but also because it turns out that the main ICE investigator is Vega’s estranged half-sister, Michelle. It’s an excellent police procedural with plenty of extra conflict to keep the story engaging while Vega pursues leads. Tension builds as time and options run out for those seeking sanctuary, and Vega faces a mystery from his own past with help from Michelle. All of these high stakes make for compelling reading. At times matters get a bit heavy-handed, especially the depiction of the bad guys and the politics of immigration. Bad guys need a little nuance, or they end up being caricatures along the lines of every corrupt small-town sheriff in basically every old TV show. The main characters, on the other hand, are strong and complex. I look forward to seeing more of them.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital advance review copy.

Tensions are on the rise in Lake Holly, NY, along with ICE raids and deportations and an anti-immigrant district attorney. Jimmy Vega, cleared of charges in the shooting of an unarmed man, but still on limited duty, responds to a call to that same DA's home. The new wife of the DA, Talia Crowley, has been found hanging in their flooded basement. The police are ready to call it a suicide but will go through the motions, especially in their search for Crowley's immigrant maid. The maid is the niece of Edgar Aviles, the long-time custodian at Beth Shalom Synagogue. When ICE shows up to deport Edgar, the synagogue somewhat reluctantly gives him sanctuary and calls in Adele Figueroa, Jimmy's girlfriend, and the force behind La Casa, the local immigrant advocacy group. Added to the mix is Michelle, the ICE agent sent to supervise the case; she is also Jimmy's estranged half-sister.

Voice With No Echo starts with a bang, and the action doesn't let up. The ugly underbelly of local ICE and police operations is exposed in this case. Jimmy has to confront some demons from his past. He also must deal with doing what is right as opposed to what is legal, and the fact that sometimes people are not at all what they appear to be. Once again, Suzanne Chazin is even-handed in her characterization of both the immigrant and legal community while spinning an intricate plot.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

A thriller is a puzzle for you to figure out and a well written and well told story like this one will have you guessing from the beginning until the end. Happy reading!

Suzanne Chazin’s series with Jimmy Vega gets better with every book. In Voice with No Echo Jimmy is dealing with immigration, missing people, drugs, gangs, murders, and suicide. Chazin is able to take all these issues and make them into a thrilling mystery that will not only impact Jimmy professionally but personally. When the DA’s young wife is found dead in her flooded basement, is it a suicide? Where is the undocumented maid? Where was the DA? Vega’s half-sister Michelle is now working for ICE. Meanwhile, Vega’s girlfriend/activist wife is on the other side of immigration issues. What is the nagging memory that Vega is afraid to remember from his childhood? These questions get answered with lots of excitement along the way. And, there will be may be an inkling of more adventures yet to come in the next book! Highly recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the opportunity to review this book.

"What I'm saying is, it's not the big choices that define us. It's the little ones." Zimmerman, Holocaust survivor.
Voice with No Echo by Suzanne Chazin is the fifth book in the Detective Jimmy Vega series. This story could have been taken from today's headlines as the action unfolds in the search for Lissette. Finding Lissette may be the key for answers to the death of her employer which was thought to be a suicide until Jimmy Vega looks at the crime scene and has his suspicions. Vega finds more questions about the death of Talia Crowley, the DA's wife. Edgar Aviles has received a letter from ICE informing him of immediate deportation and he fears his niece Lissette may have been taken by ICE agents because of information she has regarding some undocumented Hispanic workers and the death of Talia Crowley. Edgar contacts Adele, who is also Vega's fiance', who is an advocate for those seeking citizenship in the US. He. seeks sanctuary in the temple where he has been employed for ten years because his wife and son are very ill and need him.
Vega is partnered with ICE agent Michelle Sanchez, a half-sister he has never acknowledged as family. This partnership brings a flood of bad memories from Vega's childhood which begin to haunt him. The story features the unfortunate plight of Hispanics who have lived in the US as productive citizens with work permits for years and suddenly they are facing deportation and the loss of their homes and families. The use of undocumented young girls as sex workers and human trafficking is an atrocious fact in society today. Vega has to make hard choices as he considers he is first and foremost an officer of the law but he also sees a corrupt system within the laws for illegal immigrants.
Publication Date: March 31, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

I was so happy to see a new entry into this wonderful series and could not wait to read it. If you like a good mystery with underlying currents of deceit and mistrust, then please add this one to your to read list.

Regardless how you feel about illegal immigrants and the current immigration situation, Ms. Chazin introduces you to a small community with plenty of immigrants just trying to make a living and hoping for legal status, if not for themselves at least for their loved ones. Throw into this mix the murder of the DA's young wife, rogue cops and possible ICE shenanigans of the illegal sort and you have an intriguing story with a thrill of an ending and main character, Jimmy Vega in the thick of it all. This one hits a little too close to home for him and brings to the surface personal feelings he would rather keep hidden.

4 1\2 stars
Suzanne Chazin uses current events to create the background for Voice With No Echo. Most author wouldn't take on the complications of current events, with a large cast of characters and location that are all intertwined to the point everyone at some point will meet. The author is able to keep readers focused to keep from getting lost in the story.

As a readers I found myself lost when it seemed we had already met certain characters in another series or book.

Suzanne Chazin is a top notch Mystery\Thriller writer that this reader will need to go and find her other books.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a advance copy of Suzanne Chazin Voice With No Echo.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Kensington Books for an advance copy of Voice with No Echo, the fifth novel to feature Jimmy Vega, a county police officer in New York State and his girlfriend, immigration activist, Adele Figueroa.

Jimmy is called in to help Lake Holly PD with the death investigation of Talia Crowley, the wife of the local district attorney. The local police are leaning towards suicide but Jimmy isn’t so sure. Then ICE gets involved because the housekeeper Lissette is undocumented and the agent sent to investigate is Jimmy’s half-sister, Michelle, who is more or less a stranger to him. Adele, in the meantime, is trying to help Lissette’s uncle, Edgar, who is being hunted by ICE for deportation.

I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Voice with No Echo as it is a top notch thriller but the human cost of the current immigration policies as shown in the novel makes it difficult not to suffer angst, pity and upset. In the afterword the author refers to her work as “controversial” but for an outsider like myself it is hard to see the reality shown in the novel as such. I should point out, however, that there is little discussion on a theoretical or proselytising level (which I hate) it’s more show and tell, allowing the situation to speak for itself. It’s really well done.

The plot line held me enthralled from start to finish. It is quite complicated, full of intertwining threads and relationships, but it seems to flow naturally and is not too difficult to follow during the main narrative although the twists near the end are slightly confusing as they require the reader to remember several prior incidents. The final twist is the best.

At the same time the reunion with Michelle forces Jimmy to take a trip into an episode in his childhood he has no memory of. It’s interesting and adds to the picture of the rather solitary, self sufficient Jimmy Vega.

Voice with No Echo is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.