A school trip to the woods turns into a murder mystery, and Paige Northwood, a freelance British Sign Language interpreter, joins the investigation into uncovering what happened. Nell Pattison crafts an engaging police procedural highlighting a community that often isn't featured in similar stories. The book is a little on the lengthy side, but Pattison uses the pages to create interesting characters with depth that balance out the story. The plot is tense throughout as the mystery builds, filled with twists and turns that keep you turning the page to see just what happened in the woods that night, who killed the head teacher, and where did Leon, one of the Deaf students on the trip, disappear to?

Thank you @avon_books and @netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by Nell Pattinson and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't read the first book in this series however I don't feel like you need to have read it as there's enough detail to fill you in. Wonderful representation of the deaf community - pleasantly surprising. Great plot, easy to read, and overall enjoyable story.

An interesting premises and entertaining thriller. Lots of suspense and great written characters. A welcome break from the usual romantic Christmas reads

I had really been looking forward to reading Silent Night by Nell Pattison and it did not disappoint. I haven't read the previous book but there was enough back story in this one to understand the characters and their relationships without spoiling the previous story (which I intend to read). I really liked the characters of Paige and Singh and look forward to reading further books including them.
The story kept me hooked right until the end (I stayed up till 2am to finish it!) and the ending was a complete surprise to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my ARC.

This is the second outing for Paige Northwood. She is a freelance sign language interpreter who the police call upon to help. She also likes to investigate a little herself.
Silent night is where a group of teenagers from a deaf school go camping. As bad weather closes in the head teacher is found murdered and one of the students is missing. There are lots of motives and lots of alibis.
Nell Pattison does a great job of bringing the deaf community into her books. A great read and a fab series.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC

DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Netgalley and Avon Books for providing me with an ARC copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Silent Night by Nell Pattison is a mystery/thriller/suspense. I haven't read many thrillers this year, and when I saw this title on Netgalley, I knew I needed to get it. When I got this book, I didn't realize it was part of a series, and this was the second book. It didn't say on Goodreads either, just that it's the second book from the author. Luckily for me, the books can be read as standalone, which is amazing, and I am glad I picked it.

The story follows Paige Northwood, who is an interpreter for the deaf community. She is working as a freelance interpreter and is struggling to get jobs. So, when she gets the call from the police for an interpreter job she takes it up. The story revolves around a murder and a missing child. The kids from the school for the deaf are taken on a weekend trip to a cabin. The headteacher finds out that one of the kids is missing along with his possessions. It was snowing badly, and the teacher heads out to look for him. After a while of waiting for the teacher's return, the remaining people realize that the two were not coming back. The police are informed, and Paige is brought in to interpret the sign language. The Police and Paige, on their search for the missing visitors, find the body of the headteacher leaving, more questions than answers to the mystery of the missing boy.

I loved the plot, and it was unique. In my opinion, the inclusion of the deaf community and the nuances attached to their lives were very well depicted. The characters were all intriguing, and they all had something to hide, making the twists and turns very interesting. I was engrossed in the story the whole time, and I finished it in a day. It is one of those suspenseful mysteries where the mystery of the events takes a new shape with each piece of information unveiled.

I highly recommend checking this story out if you are a fan of mystery/thriller where the protagonist is playing detective to solve the different crimes. It is one of those police procedural stories that will take you along the journey to discover the clues and put together the puzzle. I did not figure out the culprit, and there were not many clues to show the readers who the killer was, and it shocked me. I enjoyed it and gave it 3.5-4 stars. If you are in the mood for a quick, genre-change, and suspenseful detective type story, go ahead and check this title out.

Five deaf students go camping in the woods with three adults - interpreter, social worker and head teacher. After the first night, one student disappeared and the head teacher has been murdered.
Paige is hired to interpret as the police investigate. Singh leads the case as newly appointed DS.
When Paige arrives at the cabin, she realizes the school's interpreter is her abusive ex - five years together, three years since they saw each other.
As the case builds, Paige struggles to maintain her distance from Mike while working on her relationship with her current boyfriend, Max.
There are some good twists in this book - but overall predictable.
I feel this book did a great job bringing attention to children in care and their vulnerability. Often they are targeted, exposed to predators.

I give this a 3.5.

Paige Northwood is a freelance BSL (British Sign Language) interpreter who is brought in by the police after a 15-year-old deaf student (Leon) goes missing on an overnight school camping trip. Also missing is the head teacher, Steve, who is found a short time later, murdered. The police -- along with Paige -- are desperate to find Leon, but the other residential students and the teachers are keeping secrets and slowing down the investigation.

I know this is book two of a series, and I didn't read the first one (which sounds exciting,) but I thought there was a lot of character development with the Paige Northwood character in this book, and I didn't feel like I missed out on a crucial detail by starting with book two. I liked the story idea, and I really enjoyed how the author used her own experience with BSL to add more dimension and realism to this story.

However, no matter how much I liked the author's writing style, the fact that Paige kept finding out more and more information from the students, staff, and her own work, she consistently decided it wasn't worth sharing with the detectives, even when it gave critical details about the crime and Leon's disappearance. It really drove me crazy through the entire book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for providing me with an e-galley of this book in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.

Snowbound Woodland Trip Turns Sour.....
Atmospheric suspense. A trip to snowbound woodlands turns decidedly sour when a body is discovered. Tension building read, well developed and suitably chilling. Book two in the Paige Northwood series, and lacking the sinister feels of the first, but can be read as a standalone.

A murder and a missing pupil at a residential school for deaf children is the opening of this interesting and atmospheric mystery. Starting in a snow bound location we meet Paige who is a councillor for the deaf and also an interpreter for the police. Paige has a sad and violent history that she has to live with throughout her life. Reading the first novel by Nell Pattison about Paige and her deaf sister first would have bought me up to speed with Paige’s history quicker but this is a standalone murder mystery Everyone one is worried about 15 year old Leon who holds the key to this mystery. Paige’s ex boyfriend complicates matters for her and what role does he play in the death of the headmaster of the school?
This is an exciting and atmospheric story told with great sympathy for those involved. It is beautifully written and leaves us guessing right until the end. This author is one to watch out for.

A school for the deaf takes an overnight trip to the snowy woods and when 5 teenagers go to sleep, but only four wake up pandemonium ensues. It turns out that Leon is missing, and if that wasn’t drama enough, a teacher’s body is also found in the forest…

We meet Paige Northwood, a Sign language interpreter and she has been brought in to help the investigation especially with the i interrogations. But there is a problem, you might think everyone has a motive for murder at the school as details come to light, however everyone seems to have an alibi too.

Where is Leon? Who is the murderer? Who is lying? A fast paced thriller killer to race you to the end of a whodunnit style read.

Leon is missing and Steve, the head teacher goes to look for him- and then is murdered. Talk about a school trip gone wrong. Add to it that it's snowing and oh, the kids are deaf. Paige Northwood comes to help DS Rav Singh and DI Forest - she's a sign language interpreter. What she finds is more twisty than she expected as she talks the kids through what happened. That's especially true when she learns that Mike, her loathsome ex, is teaching at the school. This is a nicely done procedural with a unique protagonist as well as good supporting characters (I especially like Rav). This is the second in a series but I read it as a standalone and it was fine. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This is the second book featuring the British Sign Language interpreter, Paige Northwood, and the second I have read and although you don't particularly have to have read the first (The Silent House), it does help.

Here we have a complex story of the murder of a teacher and the disappearance of one of his pupils; the police employ Paige as the interpreter but she soon becomes embroiled in the investigation whilst she is also having to deal with a lot of angst in her own life and herein lies the problem for me. The story already covers a lot of themes; the deaf community, bullying, coercion, domestic abuse, relationships and that's before we get to the murder and the missing child! On top of all this, there is a lot of time taken up about Paige and, I felt, it was just too much and I found it became more and more tedious, repetitive and annoying so by the end, it had an impact on my enjoyment of the book. I am sure however that there are many out there who will find this focus on the main character and her story appealing as opposed to the crime itself but it just spoiled it a bit for me I'm afraid.

Putting that aside, the twists and red herrings were excellent and I was constantly trying to guess who-done-it. The characters were well developed and interesting. The pace was a little slow to begin with but picked up in the second half/final third. The look into the frustrations experienced by the police when witnesses/suspects don't cooperate and withhold vital information was infuriating and probably pretty accurate!

Overall, a pretty solid book but just a bit too much focus on the main character for me.

Thank you to Avon Books UK via NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

Paige is a freelance BSL interpreter for the Humberside police. She is called in when a child from the Lincoln School for the deaf goes missing and the head teacher is discovered murdered. Where is Leon and did he kill Steve? What follows is a story of grooming and manipulation from various different angles. Along side this Paige is having to deal with her dreadful ex Mike who just so happens to work at the school.

I have read a lot of ‘who done it’ novels but this is the first I have read featuring the deaf community. Whilst I loved the different take on the typical detective novel it took me a while to get into it. It didn’t initially grab my attention and I found it hard to concentrate. However it soon picked up and I was taken in by the story. I was going to give this story 3 stars due to how long it took me to get into the story but the ending had to bump it up to 4 stars. I was convinced I knew who had done it so was shocked when I discovered who it was.

This was the second novel in this series, I haven’t read the first one so this might be why it took me a while to get into it. There was quite a few references to the first novel and her sister Anna. I am going to read the first novel so I can understand what happened to Paige and Anna. I look forward to reading more from Nell.

A well-structured suspense with a unique focus and cast of characters.

While I hadn't read the first installment, this book was a lovely read on its own. There were a good amount of past references to the first book, but also enough backstory and new developments to not leave you feeling confused if you just tuned into this series. Paige is a BSL (British Sign Language) interpreter, having grown up in a deaf family. This particular murder mystery centers around the School for the Deaf that Paige's sister attended growing up. After a trip with their live-in students leads to the murder of their head teacher and a missing boy, Paige is brought in to work with the police. There's an abusive, controlling ex-boyfriend that complicates matters, teenagers with tightly held secrets, and a suppressed love spark between Paige and DS Singh.

The author was able to add in multiple layers and elements without muddying anything up and leaving this as quick and easy read. While not a huge surprise at the end, I enjoyed learning and experiencing this unique focus on the deaf community and, of course, the Christmas atmosphere at this time of year!

1* I couldn't get on with this book at all.

It's an interesting premise; A sign language expert is called in as translator by the police when a Head Master and a young boy both go missing whilst on a school trip in some snowy woods.
What follows just couldn't hold my attention as I found the writing style wooden and awkward and the storyline uninteresting.

I'm grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview, not one for me.

Thank you to @Netgalley, @avon_books & @writernell for this ARC. This is released on November 12th and is just the thing to distract you from the current state of the world.

READ THIS IF... you like page turners, protagonists who don’t do as they’re told, and/or reading about dead bodies being discovered in the snow while you’re curled up under a blanket.

THE STORY... Paige Northwood, freelance sign language interpreter, has been called to assist with another police matter. This time, during a trip made by a school for the deaf, a student and the headmaster have gone missing. This gripping book is a sequel to The Silent House, but would also make sense as a standalone.

I WAS... so excited to read this after how much I loved The Silent House, and this surpassed my expectations. Almost every character was unreliable (for differing reasons), and I enjoyed scrutinising them as Paige interacted with them. The teenage characters were so well written and believable, and the issue of safeguarding students was an intriguing central theme. As with The Silent House, the explosive climax of the book had my heart racing while I tried to read as quickly as possible.

I am also so invested in Paige. From her determination to crack cases (even though that’s not her job!), to her complicated but loving relationship to her sister, to the compelling love triangle she’s in the middle of, everything about her makes me love her! I am firmly declaring myself as Team Singh - I got emotional about how much he cared about her throughout both books, and I love their dynamic. The ending lines were very promising for a) a sequel and b) more character progression for Paige. I’m looking forward to seeing her continue to grow, and I am rooting for her to train to be a detective or get some kind of permanent role with the police.

NOW... I will be hounding everyone to read this and The Silent House. I’m desperate for a third book and I’m going to have to be patient and remind myself that books (especially books as good as these!) take time to write! Now, go and preorder this, and get yourself The Silent House too if you haven’t already read it!

This is my first Nell Pattison book, I wish I had read her first as there are odd references to it in this but it didn’t detract from the story, that said if you haven’t read her first yet I’d definitely recommend you consider doing so before this. I really liked the main character Paige who is an independent interpreter who gets given an assignment with a police case regarding a missing deaf schoolboy, the unexpected encounter with someone from her past added a strong element to this as did the mix of teenagers and teachers. I did work out the killer about half way through but it didn’t stop me enjoying the book and there were still surprises to be had. I’m definitely looking out for the next in the series to see how Paige’s story progresses.

Initially I was concerned I was not going to get along with this book as the first few chapters kept referring to the previous book, which I hadn't read.
However once that disappeared and the story became more about the current story I then became very engrossed with the story, and needed to finish. Now I need to go back and read the first book and then the next etc.
I learnt so much about the deaf community but it wasn't educational speak if that makes sense.

Really tight plot and all the strands came together.

Fully recommend you will not be disappointed.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley to review in exchange for an honest and fair review which I have done so.

This is the second book in the series, but I had no problem catching up with the story line as the author gave enough back story to explain the characters and their relationships. In fact I was given so much I am intrigued to go ack and read book one at this time. Our heroine, Paige, is a BSL translator, (the British version of ASL) who has assisted with one police case previously. That is when she and DS Rav Singh met, a few months back. We learn that she and Singh have a complicated relationship of sorts, but that is not a prime story line. in this story, Paige is needed to translate for the police at a local school/home where many deaf youth attend or reside. The first murder does not take place at the school, but rather while some of the students are on a weekend getaway with classmates and school staff. in additions to the murder, one of the students as gone missing. As the story progresses we meet Paige's sister, her boyfriend, and her ex boyfriend the abusive Mike. Mike is now working at the school using the BSL he learned from this relationship with Paige and her family who are deaf. Some red herrings are thrown at the reader and this reader was sure one of those red herrings was the truth. For those who enjoy detective stories with an outsider as the heroine, this is a good series for you. Get in now while the cases are new. I give this a solid 4 star review.