Another 5 Star Bookouture Read! Thanks to you and NetGalley for this amazing ebook

So I have not read the first books.... Which innate reading series out of order! But didn't have time to catch up.
I think this can be read as a standalone but connects many dots if read as a set.

The Silent Witness by Arnold is a fast paced thriller!
Amanda Steele, a homicide detective with the Prince William County Police Department, is living in the small community of Dumfries, Virginia. I love this woman!
I thought this book had great characterization & a storyline which keeps you on pins & needles until the terrific conclusion.
Such an excellent crime thriller that is suspenseful, intense, and keeps you guessing to the end.

I swear its like Bookouture knows the way to my heart! With these awesome thriller books! Keep'em coming

Book 3 in the Detective Amanda Steele books. I loved this book!! Amanda is called to the scene of a double murder and missing little girl. It’s a wild ride from there and we see Amanda’s momma bear side, which after so much heartache in her life over the past few years is refreshing. Overall great book, I do recommend reading the first 2 it helps with the backstory.
Thanks for the read netgalley and publisher! Can’t wait for book 4.

Detective Amanda Steele's mother is on trial for murder. If that wasn't enough, she lands a double murder case and the victims six year old daughter, Zoe is a witness. Amanda also finds out a secret her parents kept from the family for over twenty five years.. Trying to solve the double murder, deal with the trial, and keep Zoe safe is a lot to deal with, while also dealing with the feelings from the accident six years ago that changed Amada's life keep surfacing. Can Amanda deal with it all and also close down the child sex trafficking ring that is operating in the area.

Detective Virginia Steele is investigating the double homicide of Brett and Angela Parsons. Even more alarming is the disappearance of the couple’s six year old daughter Zoe. Amanda can’t help compare Zoe to the daughter she lost and is determined that she save this little girl, even when she couldn’t save her own. When the child is found hiding in the house, it becomes obvious that she saw what happened to her parents, but she’s too traumatized to talk. With the fear that the killer will return to silence Zoe, Amanda must work quickly to gain the little girl’s trust

So I didnt realise how much I should have read the first two books but worked around it, and am going to read. About 10% in I could work out and just went with the flow.

I loved this book, the writing was superb, the character development, the story everything about it.

So glad I discovered this author and series.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

Amanda Steele... what’s in a name? On the outside she seems indeed to be made out of steel, but she did it to protect herself as the result of the tragedy that went on in her personal life a few years ago.
Inside though she has a heart of gold and her steel exterior seems to have lifted a bit too except when she is dealing with crime.

A double homicide. A very young witness who is not speaking. What if the culprit finds out she is still alive? Will they try to silence her too? Who are they and what drove them to commit this horrible crime? That’s all the police force has to work with. A lot of questions and very little to non answers…

The only one the little girl seems to trust and rely on is detective Steele. She will have to walk on eggshells because one wrong sentence or question can make the girl’s mental health take a further step backwards. Will Amanda succeed in uncovering the truth and keep the girl safe?

Meanwhile she has a lot going on in her personal life too. Happy tears and sad tears fight for her attention.

Can this book be read as a stand alone? Yes and no. When you take the murder case pure and simple, yes but everything is so connected to what happened in the previous books, you really should read them all in order to fully understand the whole.

I loved it. 5 stars

It’s 4 a.m. when her mom shakes her awake. “Get up baby, we’re going to play hide and seek.” The little girl presses back into the dark space, holding her breath as she hears the shots ring out. She knows she’s next…

When the bodies of a local family are discovered on a quiet street in the small town of Dumfries, Virginia, Detective Amanda Steele takes charge of the case. Brett and Angela Parker were shot three times each, leaving no hope of survival, and their tidy suburban home has been ransacked. But there is no sign of their beloved six-year-old, Zoe.

Zoe is the same age as Amanda’s daughter was when she died, and Amanda can’t bear the thought of another little girl in danger. She’s organizing a search for the child, when she notices something strange about the ottoman at the foot of the Parkers’ bed. She opens it to find Zoe, mute and traumatized, but alive.

With Zoe completely uncommunicative, Amanda must find another way to untangle what destroyed this seemingly perfect family. It’s clear that the killer is searching for something the Parkers had, and until she has this monster behind bars, Amanda fears that he may return for Zoe. When she learns that Brett Parker cut short the family’s recent lakeside vacation, she wonders why. What happened at that lake house, and did it ultimately get them killed?

Amanda heads out to Lake Chesdin on the feeling it might be key to the case, and when she finds a cell phone in the murky waters next to the Parker cabin, she knows she’s made a breakthrough. But then terrible news reaches her from Dumfries; Zoe has been taken from her school playground.

Someone wants to silence the Parker family for good, can Amanda catch them before the little girl she’s desperate to protect pays the price. This is the 3rd book in this gripping series.
Great characters, fabulous storyline and I fully recommend you read this book. Well paced and finished this one in one sitting. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just as I thought Carolyn Arnold could not pull apart Amanda Steele's heart any more... Ms. Arnold places Detective Steele at the scene of a murder where she locates the daughter of the murdered couple hiding in a trunk. Zoe saw the murder of her parents, but is not at the point where she can share with Steele what happened to her folks. Whilst Steele is working the case, her Mother's trial begins with many surprises for the family. Ms. Arnold has created such a fantastic supporting case - Trent and Malone especially! I loved how this book ended - and I believe other readers will enjoy it as well.

Good book! This book was filled with suspense, action, intrigue, and lots of good detective work! It definitely was a good murder mystery! The storyline kept me glued to my Kindle through the whole book! I definitely recommend reading this book! Its well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!