I'm always on the lookout for series that push the boundaries, show different cultures and allow me to experience second hand things I might never experience for myself. I also love narratives that shine a light on areas of society that are often ignored and Nell Pattison's novels fulfill all of that criteria with bells on. Then there's the fact that I recently met Nell at Hull Noir 2021, where I had the undoubted pleasure of chatting with her (and Alex North and Russ Thomas) on the In Cold Blood panel and she's lovely and very entertaining.
So far I've read the first three of the Paige Northwood series and am most definitely hooked and hope their will be more to come from this author.

The books are set in the deaf community which was illuminating for me as I'd never spent time with a deaf person before. Paige Northwood is a British Sign Language interpreter who is the only hearing person in her family (her sister is the only member of her family still alive). As such signing is an equal first language for Paige and because of circumstances I won't reveal (read the books to find out) she has had to give up her university degree and now makes a living as a self employed BSL signer.

Whilst Paige gets on well with DS Rav Singh, she doesn't get on so well with his boss and is often brought to task for pursuing her own instincts. However, her skill as an interpreter makes her indispensable to the police as does her insights into the community.

The novels are a lovely blend of police procedure and private investigation and each novel has it's own insight into different aspects of the deaf community. In Silent House, we become acquainted with issues around deaf children in mainstream education, the deaf culture and the community that holds them together. In Silent Night we learn more about deaf teenagers and deaf children in state care at a school for the deaf. In Silent Suspect we learn about a deaf person accused of murder and the process involved in interviewing him.

These books are gritty and compelling with a touch of romance as well. As the series progresses we learn so much more about the characters and their backstories which I absolutely love. I found myself rooting for a particular outcome for Paige (but again no spoilers here) I found the writing and representation of the deaf community to be authentic (although to be fair I have nothing to compare this too, but it felt real) References to adaptations to home security, interpreting to accommodate the varying need of the individual and the specific culture of the deaf community, felt real to me. The characters were three dimensional - some I disliked intensely, others I loved, a few made me frustrated and all of them were believable.

Paige, who has started working with her friend Sasha as her interpreter, gets a call from one of Sashas clients who asks for help. His house is on fire and he thinks his wife is inside, he needs Paige to call for help. When Paige gets to the house she finds Lukas trying to get in to find his wife Nadia who unfortunately is dead inside..When he gets to the hospital he tells Paige he knows who did this but when he meets the police he refuses to say anything. The police cannot find evidence of anyone else so in the end they arrest him for murder but he still refuses to communicate with them. Paige is convinced he is innocent and is determined to find out the truth.
I really enjoyed this book and liked the characters. There are many twists and turns until the culprit is eventually discovered. Paiges love life is part of the story and I am looking forward to the development of Paige and Ravs relationship
Thank you to Netgalley, Avon and the author for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I had read good things about this series and was excited to get an advanced copy.
Paige Northwood is a BSL interpreter and works with social worker Sasha.
Paige is on a romantic night out with her boyfriend of a year Max when she is contacted by one of Sasha’s clients Lucas who tells her his home is on fire.
Paige rushes to his home which is nearby and finds the place up in flames. He is rescued by the firefighters but his wife Nadia is found dead inside.
Paige then tries to work out what happened , like a modern Miss Marple but without the skills.. DI Forest repeatedly asks her to stop meddling but Paige carries on, putting herself and others in danger.
I really liked the setting of the deaf community but found Paige very annoying which spoilt my enjoyment.
It was also kind of obvious who was responsible half way through.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.
3 Stars ⭐️

I liked the concept of a story involving a character with disability and the insight it provided into deaf culture. The story was pretty predictable which makes the story pretty uninteresting.

This is the 3rd book in the series involving Paige Northwood, a sign language interpreter. I will say that you will want to read the first 2 prior to this one to be able to follow the history of the storyline.

I was anxious to read the 3rd book in the series but it did disappoint on some levels. There is a fire and Paige’s client confesses to knowing who killed his wife but goes silent upon questioning and becomes a suspect. Paige does everything in her power to find out the truth before the truth finds her. The storyline kept my interest but I found Paige to be very annoying at times and too reliant on Rav, a detective on the case. Many parts of the story seemed to drag as opposed to the other 2 books in the series.

I do look forward to the next book in the series as there are lots of questions to still be answered about Paige’s future. A big thank you to NetGalley for this advanced reader copy.

I enjoyed this book start to finish, despite not having read the first 2 in the series. Very easy to read and a real page turner

Paige, a British Sign Language interpreter, is back in the 3rd book from Nell Pattison. These books can all be read as standalone novels but there are references to the previous 2.
I have to admit to not enjoying this book as much as the previous two. In this book, despite not working directly with the police in the case, Paige still managed to get herself into a few scrapes by poking around.
That said its very refreshing to see a book centred on deaf characters.
Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review

BOOK REVIEW
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'The Silent Suspect' by Nell Pattison is a truly unique whodunnit. It is the third in the series, but I read it as a stand alone without any problems.
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"On a quiet street, one house is burning to the ground.
By the time sign language interpreter Paige Northwood arrives, flames have engulfed her client’s home. Though Lukas is safe, his wife is still inside. But she was dead before the fire started…
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Lukas signs to Paige that he knows who killed his wife. But then he goes silent – even when the police charge him with murder.
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Is he guilty, or afraid? Only Paige can help him now…"
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The plot was really interesting, made even better by the strong characters. I loved Paige, our lead, and her sister Anna. Their relationship is heart-warming!
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The majority of the characters involved are deaf or communicate in British Sign Language (BSL). This is a first for me- but why don't we have more deaf characters in fiction?! Pattison ensured the entire story told perfectly- there's just a lot less speech marks!
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have ordered the first in the series, 'The Silent House' to follow more of Paige Northwood's adventures.
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Rosie rates: 4/5
Thank you to @netgalley and @avon_books for the early-release kindle book. 'The Silent Suspect' is due for release in April!
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#thesilentsuspect #bookstagram #budleighbooks #rosierates #bookwormbudleigh #instareads #netgalley #avonbooks #earlyrelease #nellpattison #diversifyyourbookshelf #britishsignlanguage #BSL

Took me a while to get into this storyline but I think that was my fault as I didn't realise it was the third in the series. Overall it was a well written book and the characters were quite interesting but I was wishing I had read the first two.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I'D NEVER HEARD OF THIS AUTHOR BEFORE BUT I REALLY ENJOYED THIS STORY. I READ IT IN ABOUT THREE SITTINGS, WHICH IS GREAT, AND IT KEPT ME ENTERTAINED.

I’ve really enjoyed reading this series, but this book didn’t stand up to the others. Enjoyable but it was a bit slow. I didn’t enjoy it was much as the last two books in the series.

The silent series are based around the deaf community which I enjoy and find interesting!
This book followers British sign language interpreter Paige Northwood and the Police as they try and discover what happens on the night a house is set on fire and a women is found dead inside. Her partner is arrested on suspicion of murder but when being interviewed he sits on his hands refusing to communicate, he doesn’t plea innocence and he doesn’t accept help from solicitors or his social worker.

I enjoyed how the story tied together going between the days of the investigation and the days leading up to the crime however I do feel like it was slow in parts and I found Paige the main character quite irritating. Throughout the story I had my suspicions on who the murderer was and although I guessed one twist the whole truth took me by surprise which was good.

This is the first book I’ve read by Nell Pattison and it was a good read.

Paige is a British Sign Language interpreter for social worker Sasha Thomas. Paige gets a call one night from one of Sasha’s clients asking for help because his house is on fire. His wife’s body is found in the blaze and it looks like murder. Paige tries to unravel the mystery and faces danger at every turn.

I liked that the majority of the characters were from the hearing impaired community and the book detailed the trials and discrimination they are faced with on a day to day basis. It’s not something I’ve read about before.

I found the story a little slow in the middle but it picked up again towards the end.

While I like a strong female lead character I found Paige frustrating in the sense that she put herself unnecessarily in danger despite saying several times that she wasn’t going to get involved.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Publishing for this copy in exchange for a review.

Brilliant book. The first Nell Pattison novel I’ve read, and it’s the very first Netgalley ebook that I’ve had approved, and what’s even more incredible is that it’s all based in my hometown, Scunthorpe, which is just crazy.
I genuinely couldn’t put this down. The character of Paige is endearing; you find yourself just wanting her to be happy, and to find the happiness she most definitely deserves.
Nell kept me guessing the entire time with who the killer was; I genuinely didn’t have a clue!
Fast paced and intriguing, I really enjoyed it.

Thank you both to Netgalley & Avon Books for allowing me to read for feedback!

A phone call to Paige is what kickstarts this story into motion! A fire has broken out and a client of Paige's boss calls her for help and that's where the plot unfolds. Emergency services retrieve a body from the house fire and an arrest is made. Against her better judgement, Paige throws herself into helping prove that the person arrested for this crime is innocent. Full of twists throughout, this book is definitely a page turner! I usually figure the out the perpetrator straight away, but with this I had no idea! The characters were well written and the story was easy to read. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and look forward to reading more of Pattisons' work.

Book Review 🇮🇳📚
Book- The silent suspect
Author- Nell Pattison
Genre- Thriller/ Murder Mystery
Published- 2021 by HarperCollins

🔎 Story as per the author's pervious books has Paige ( interpreter for hearing impaired people ) and Sasha ( a social worker) again taking up investigative work on behalf of their client Lucas ( who is a deaf ).

🔎 Lucas's house has caught fire and his wife Nadia dies in it. What follows is a list of suspects ranging from Lucas, to his son or his wife Caroline and the money lender Roy.

🔎 The book creates many suspects and scenarios in the first half with many aspects unfolding in the latter part.
The author has done a good job of carrying on his series and also highlighting the difficulties faced by hearing impaired people. The book does drag out a bit in the middle, but overall the epilogue leaves you in a state of shock, totally unexpected and unimaginable.

Firstly, I really enjoyed this book and found it very gripping. I have not read the previous books in this series and I was not left confused. I think you can definitely read this as a standalone title however there are small references to previous books but luckily they did not have too much relevance to the story.

The plot was well thoughtout and well written. The characters were very complex - I like the first person view of Paige that really added to the story to know her thoughts and feelings.

One small issue I had was the spacing and formatting on some pages displayed rather odd on my kindle however it may just be my device.

I love this series of books and this one is no different. The story is told in the voice of Paige a BSL interpreter. Her character is so well written and believable (if frustrating!) that you really feel like she is talking to you and telling you her own story. The story is based within the deaf community which really gives you a unique insight into the daily challenges and prejudices faced by people with hearing impairments whilst showing you that at the same time their lives are exactly the same as everyone else’s with relationship problems, and money worries. The story is really well paced and had me racing to the end to find out the truth. The story is a really well written and enjoyable and I hope the series continues.

After reading the two previous books I was looking forward to see what this one had to offer. They genuinely just keep getting better and better. Thoroughly gripping read. Highly recommended

3.5/5

I didn’t realise this was part of a series but that didn’t affect my experience. I never felt that I was at a disadvantage because I hadn’t read the previous books and nor did I feel like too much time was spent going over past events.

Overall an enjoyable read. I was immediately drawn in at the beginning. I found it refreshing to read about deaf characters and it was a really interesting insight into the deaf community.

I found the middle lagged a little, but the flash backs to before the fire were just enough to keep me engaged wanting to read on. I also found Paige a bit frustrating at times!

But the reveal at the end and how the whole story wrapped it self up definitely made the book worth the read for me.