Firstly thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review:

I thought this book sounded great but I didn't know that it was the part of a series until the story felt like it was missing some key things the author assumes you know and the flashbacks.

The main characters are Paige Northwood a British Sign Language interpreter working and Sasha Thomas a "profoundly deaf" social worker. I am naïve to books featuring deaf people but I feel the author really emphasized the characters deafness - it was always "profound" which became a annoying. I am not sure if this is because it is how it should be referred to or if it was a writing style but overall I enjoyed the concept and the depiction of people’s negative perceptions towards the deaf.

I found the plot quite slow, didn't love any of the character and the book is definitely gearing up for novel 4 and to be honest I am not sure I would be rushing to pick it up. Sorry Nell this one just isnt my cup of tea.

Paige Northwood #3

By the time sign language interpreter Paige Northwood arrives, flames have engulfed her clients home. Though Lucas is safe, his wife is still inside....

With this being the third book in the Paige Northwoods series, I would advise you to read the first two books in this series, if you haven't already done so. I like that this series is set amongst the deaf community. It shows the difficulties in communication between the deaf and the people who can hear clearly. The plotline is good and there was surprises and twists along the way. Paige Northwood is a BSL interpreter who at times works alongside social worker, Sasha. We learn about the hours before the house fire and the present day. Although i enjoyed this book and it held my attention throughout, i did not enjoy it as much as i did the first two books. It was as if something was missing. The story starts off slowly but the pace soon picks up. An interesting mystery'

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #AvonBooksUK and the author #NellPattison for my ARC of #TheSilentSuspect in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third book in the Paige Northwood series and again Nell Pattison has given us a great insight into deafness, signing and interpreting. I enjoyed the other two books and as usual this had a well written plot with good characters, but sadly this time I found Paige's amateur sleuthing and interfering a bit annoying and frustrating.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an arc of this book.

A very different novel- Luke’s and Nadia’s lives were turned upside down with drastic results. The storyline includes the difficulties sign language users have. I enjoyed it, but felt let down as the ending was very abrupt.

I have not read the first two books in this series. The book can successfully be read as a stand alone book but I think it would be better read I order as the relationships obviously have history and it is clear this is not the last book in the series.

As a stand alone book it is a good mystery. It follows Paige as she finds herself embroiled in another situation. Paige is an interpreter for a social worker and has also helped the police before.

Sasha (social worker) is determined to clear the name of one of her clients and Paige agrees to help her, until she starts to question Sasha’s own motives and honesty.

I enjoyed the relationships in the book and think it would get a higher rating as part of the series, as a stand alone it was good. I liked the unusual aspect of having lots of dead characters. I also enjoyed the social work aspect to begin with but felt let down later on by this character.

The Silent Suspect took me on a journey quite unlike any I've been on before. This was my first ESL focused book and I found it fascinating. The author has done a fabulous job with keeping my interest, progressing the story and making me feel like I'm on the journey with the characters.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC copy.

This is the 3rd installment in the Paige Northwood series and like the previous two it doesn't disappoint.

Paige Northwood is a British Sign Language interpreter who works along side the police and now with a social worker for deaf people. Growing up as the only hearing person in her family she spent all her life helping people. Although these days this does usually end up with Paige putting herself in danger!

This time one of her clients rings her as his house burns down with his wife dead inside. As Paige tries to work out what happened that night she once again finds herself in the line of fire while trying to deal with her complicated love life.

I really like this series and this book could also be read as a stand alone if you haven't read the other two. I love the way the author writes the signed parts of the conversations in italics, along side the speaking conversation, so you can differentiate between the two. It really works.

Highly recommended and looking forward to book 4.

WOW! I’m already looking forward to the next one as it surely can’t be left there!
This author is truly gifted, a fantastic thriller storyline with a tiny bit of romance thrown in there.
I will be definitely buying this book for keeps!

This book begins when sign language interpreter Paige Northwood gets a phone call from one of her clients Lukas, asking her to call the police as his house is on fire and his wife is trapped inside. When Paige arrives it is revealed that his wife was already dead before the fire started. Lukas then finds himself arrested and goes silent after telling Paige he knows who really killed his wife.

I hadn't realised that this book is the third in a series however, this didn't hinder my reading experience. I found the characters and plot easy to follow as Pattison kindly added in details about Paige's personal life that were applicable to the plot and her character development. I really liked Paige as the protagonist as she is such a strong and determined character that I feel many can relate to.

I love Pattison's writing style as this plot was so fast paced and gripping, I managed to read this book in just over 24 hours. Pattison also added some good twists and the plot was unpredictable, making me consider so many different outcomes.

Pattison gives a really good insight into the deaf community throughout her book, helping the reader understand differences in communication and lifestyle. I liked how she incorporated Sasha, a deaf woman working as a social worker, as this added an interesting dynamic to the plot as well as the inter character relationships.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good thriller that has an original concept and is also gripping. I definitely plan on reading the earlier books of this series.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unedited feedback.

Having read Nell Pattison's previous two books, both of which I adored and gave 5 stars, I was so excited to start reading the third book in the series.
This wasn't quite as strong as the two previous books.
It felt a lot more long winded and I didn't feel the same levels of excitement.
My expectations were that it would be even better than the second (my personal favourite in the series), however it was pretty lacklustre, in comparison.
But I did enjoy it and would definitely be up for reading more from Nell Pattison in the future.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Paige is a British Sign Language interpreter working for the deaf social worker Sasha. One evening Paige gets a call from Lukas (Sasha‘s client) to call the ambulance for him, because his house is on fire. His wife Nadia dies and Lukas refuses to talk to the police, but he once said that he’s innocent in front of Paige.

This was a tough read for me due to the fact that I didn’t know this was part three out of a series. Also I didn‘t like the combination of Paige and Sasha, Paige was acting profoundly stupid throughout the whole book and Sasha was so pushy and sullen. I didn’t like neither of them.
However I liked that I got to learn about the struggles of deaf people, because of dismissive behaviours from others.

Thank you NetGalley / Avon Books UK for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

i didn’t like the first book in this series and found I couldn’t finish it as it made me uncomfortable. Unfortunately this one was the same I just couldn’t get into it and gave up halfway through.

It makes for a very original background for the mysteries. However, I felt the plot was a bit rambling in this novel with the suspense never really building up. Paige's constant attempts to play amateur detective, is starting to wear a bit thin. Even when she has been hurt and warned off by Rav Singh, the friendly detective she is attracted to, she keeps naively going back to question someone she should instinctively stay away from. I think I would enjoy the novels more (and like Paige better) if she listened to everyone and wasn't constantly putting herself and others in danger's way. Hopefully she will have learned something from her latest adventure

I had a hard time getting into this one. I did not realize it is part of a series. Perhaps I’d have enjoyed it more if I had read the other books prior to this one.

This is another instalment in the Paige Northwood series. She's a BSL (non-hearing impaired) interpreter who does contract work occasionally with the police, and with other organisations. This is book 3, but this is easily a book that can be read as a standalone, as enough backstory is provided that the reader knows what's going on.

In this book, Paige is contacted by Lukas a client of a deaf social worker who happens to be on leave. He's ringing as his house is burning down, and he doesn't know where his wife is. Sadly, his son is located but his wife perishes - but the police advise his wife died before the fire. The question is, who killed her?

We have a deaf suspect, who is now charged with the murder of his wife and he's refusing to be interviewed with no other apparent suspects. His future looks bleak.

Paige is a go-with-her-gut person and everything she knows and discovers about Lukas tells her the police have the wrong man. So Paige makes it her business to find out what's going on and begins to work around the investigation. She's incredibly frustrating in a well meaning and socially just way, and her tenacity is admirable.

The books in this series are incredibly interesting in terms of their diversity and the issues they raise. They make the reader consider the most simple of tasks such a telephone calls or police interviews and how hearing impaired people may be challenged and disadvantaged, as well as being stereotyped or discriminated against as a result of their disability.

In this book we see Paige struggle with her relationship with her boyfriend Max, who is asking Paige for more than she is prepared to give. And asking herself why, she wavers on acknowledging the feelings she has for one of the investigating officers Singh of which the reader only has a hint of the potential for reciprocity.

There always seems to be alot happening in these books, and there are many subtleties due to the amount of dialogue and communication through sign language. The books usually have two timelines and this one is no different - they begin from the time of the main incident with subsequent chapters in that thread giving a chronology starting beforehand working forward to give a sense of momentum leading up to the incident. The other thread is then the investigatory details. As usual there are an array of suspects, all with potential motive, with a climactic finish with Paige in the thick of it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy to read and review. This one is out at the end of April (29/4).

I wish I had known that this book was third in a series before I requested it. It made it difficult to identify with the main character Paige, who is the BSL interpreter for deaf social worker Sacha, and her clients.
The characters came across as one dimensional, perhaps because no background was offered on their place in this story. I found the writing to be laboured and slow, with too much introspection around Paige’s relationship with the current man in her life, Max. This spoiled the flow of the narrative around the house fire for me, as did the author’s quirk of turning back the timeline, eg. to 10 hours before the fire, then 8 hours before the fire. It may be that this quirk continued, but this is the point at which I stopped reading. I just could not relate to the characters, unfortunately. Maybe if I had read the first two books in the series this would have been a better reading experience for me.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

I didn’t realize this is book three following Paige, a sign language interpreter who has worked with the police previously. She also has a heavy backstory with her love life that I was grow into. When books are part of a series I find there’s a balance between what information from previous books needs to be relayed, and how much is too much information. This book was the exact opposite. I’m introduced to Paige with no introduction at all, the author assumed I had read her previous books and would know who she was and what had happened previously. I felt zero connection to her because of this.

The story itself was very long and drawn out. Repetitive in the sense that Paige kept telling herself not to get involved in the police investigation, to then start investigating on her own and getting herself into trouble. Once she realized she was in trouble, she told herself not to get involved. This went on for the entire book, as she continued to get involved and step on everyone’s toes.

Unless you’ve read the previous stories, I would pass on starting this mid series.

4 Stars from me

Having read and been fascinated by The Silent House, I was delighted to read The Silent Suspect. It was good to get re-acquainted with BSL interpreter Paige Northwood - I do like a lady who knows her mind.

There are three strong threads through this book, the whodunnit style mystery surrounding Lukas, the issue of cuckooing and also Paige's love-life!

The cuckooing is a hot potato right now, it is a sub-plot appearing in lots of the books that I am read - and of course the almighty Line of Duty! I am glad that awareness is spreading - this is one of the most insidious and fast growing underground threats that seems to be kept on the down low by the shame factor. Those targeted are the disadvantaged, weak, impaired or vulnerable - it needs more people to be vigilant and aware in order for it to be stopped.

Back to the book... I find Sasha hard to warm to, almost prefer the miserable DI Forest! At least you know where you are with her. Anna, Nadia, Lukas, Lukas's son, Max, Rav and even Roy were all great characters (not all likeable but all great solid characters).

I love that these books carry such an important message and raise awareness all while being a stone cold crime thriller, thanks to Nell Pattison my knowledge and understanding of the deaf community has increased - also thanks to Will Dean who educates us on this theme too in Wild Pines. I am immensely grateful for this deeper awareness.

Another great read from Nell Pattison with a lot to make you think.

In the third installment from the Paige Northwood series, The Silent Suspect follows Paige, an interpreter for the deaf and profoundly deaf community.
After receiving a call from Lukas, who needed her help in reaching the emergency services because of a fire in his home, Paige rushes to help, and arrives before the police, finding herself tied up in yet another crime. The police need her as a witness in the murder of Lukas' wife, and possibly the attempted fire at their house.

Paige promises both herself and her friend, Detective Rav not to get involved with the case, but when Lukas is arrested for the murder of his wife, Paige believes that the police got it wrong. She saw how he looked when she was declared dead at the scene, and that was not the look of a murder! So she ends up doing her own investigation to prove Lukas' innocence and to find out what really happened that night.

I found the third installation of this series quite gripping, although I do wish Paige would keep her promises to Rav.

Looking forward to the next one!

The Silent Suspect is fab! This is the first book I’ve read by Nell Pattison and I will definitely be reading more of her work.
The characters are great and I love how determined Paige is and although she gets herself into a tricky situation or two she doesn’t give in.
This is fast paced with a fair few twists some of which I didn’t see coming at all.

Paige Northwood is a sign language interpreter and it’s really refreshing to see an author write in this way.
It made me realise how few books I’ve read with any kind of disability representation and how we need more of it in books.