The blurb is all you need to know about this book. That's all that happens. Bored is an understatement.

I was really excited to dive into The Quiet Woman by Priscilla Masters, especially with such an intriguing premise. A nurse, Florence Shaw, finds herself caught up in the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Christine Clay, a quiet woman who allegedly entered a suicide pact with her husband. However, despite the potential for a gripping mystery, the book fell flat for me.

For over 300 pages, the story largely revolves around Florence’s dating life, managing her ex, and repeatedly rehashing her suspicions about Christine’s death. Unfortunately, the plot lacks the momentum to keep you hooked, and the repetitive narrative feels like a missed opportunity for deeper character development or investigative intrigue.

If I hadn’t been reading this as an advance reader copy, I’m not sure I would have finished it. The pacing drags, and the mystery, while interesting in theory, takes a backseat to Florence’s personal life. I don’t enjoy giving low ratings, but this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

Nurse Florence finds herself dealing with a strange middle-aged couple: the woman comes to her with increasing frequency, accompanied by her husband. She complains of a different ailment each time, but it is he who eagerly answers the nurse's questions. Each time, thorough examinations are carried out but, apart from the usual annoyances of age, such as high blood pressure, everything is normal, to the point that the nurse decides to go to the doctor and propose a psychological consultation for the woman, who she believes is being psychologically abused by her husband. Before the consultation, however, a strange visit takes place in which the woman participates alone for the first time. The couple commit a classic murder-suicide. She dies and he is narrowly saved. But who killed, or wanted to kill who? Florence sets out to investigate almost single-handedly, discovering a reality she would never have imagined and which makes her doubt her ability, even her professional ability, to read people's character.
There is material for a fine novel, but Masters seems unable to work it properly. The psychological insight into the characters that she gradually inserts instead of clarifying things makes them muddled, so that one often has the impression that the author does not quite know where she is going with this. The ending is extremely weak.

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!

SOOOOOO slow and so repetitive..... Florence was a nurse practitioner has a patient, a man and a wife who keep visiting her Clinic. The wife keeps claiming different symptoms but all her tests keep coming back negative even after months of investigation. The Husband is always there and speaks for the wife whenever the nurse asks her a question. Later the wife is found dead and the husband in a coma in the result of what seems to be a suicide pact. The nurse is convinced that the husband had gaslit his wife into committing suicide, and he took a low-dose of the drug that had killed her so he would only end up in a coma and not die.
That sounded like such an interesting premise for a book, didn’t it? I was excited to get into it, however for about 200-300 pages, nothing else happens other than nurse Florence dating, dealing with her ex and just regurgitating her suspicion of the circumstances in which the wife died. There were times when I wanted to yell at Florence OKAY FINE I GET IT?! You don’t think it was a suicide. Can we please move on already?

If you do wanna read it, just read the summary and the last 2 chapters of the book and there you go for the entire plot. Thanks for the e-reader copy, unfortunately just was not for me!

Reading the summary I was really excited for this one. Though while reading it I just kept wanting more from it and more twists.

The Quiet Woman - by Priscilla Masters

1 star ⭐️

The description of this book had so much promise, it sounded like it was going to be a really gripping domestic thriller however I was completely disappointed.

At first I thought it was a slow burn full of character development and story building but due to the main plot twist being given away in the synopsis, nothing really happened that we didn’t already know from the description.

The whole storyline felt dragged out and unnecessarily repetitive and I found myself getting frustrated with the FMC for being so nosey in other peoples lives (mainly her ex husbands) and seemed more interested in mothering the local petty thief than having a relationship with her own son.

Finally, the connection in the storylines between The Clays and Ryan felt so disjointed that it didn’t flow naturally and therefore felt like two completely different stories which seemed pointless.

Overall I was bored reading this and the only reason I didn’t DNF it was because I was waiting for something exciting or shocking to happen, but it never did. The ending was such an anticlimax.

Trigger warnings: Suicide, gaslighting, controlling and coercive behaviour

Thank you to NetGalley, Severn House and Priscilla Masters for this free ARC in return for an honest review. I am leaving this review voluntarily

Was it a double suicide or did Richard know just how much to take to put himself in a survivable coma? That's the question Florence sets out to answer even as she's working out issues in her personal life. Evidently this is part of a series but I read it as a standalone. It's a quick read with an intriguing premise but it doesn't deliver the punch I'd hoped for. Regardless. it made for a decent armchair evening. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Interesting story!

How far will one go to punish another? Years? This story shows how far and long one woman will go to get her revenge.

Nurse Florence Shaw has seen Mrs. Clay over 10 times in her clinic in the past 15 months. Each time she's accompanied by her dominating husband who doesn't let her speak. All along, Florence thought that Mrs. Clay was a meek woman who was afraid to speak in front of her husband. She couldn't have been more wrong.

Florence has recently started dating again after her ex-husband, Mark, cheated on her and left her for a younger woman. But that woman trapped Mark by getting pregnant, making him a father after raising two of his own kids to adulthood. Mark is now full of regrets and wants her back, Florence isn't interested.

But when Florence hears about the Clay's suicide pact, something doesn't add up. She goes to pay a visit to the grieving husband and daughter only to find out things are not always what they seem to be.

A wild story.

I was disappointed with this book. The premise sounded really interesting - a double suicide but the man pulls through. However I felt it was dragged out, the ending was rubbish and the story just seemed to stop.
The story follows Nurse Florence, who meets a just retired couple through her job, the woman seems downtrodden and manipulated and the man seems aggressive and overbearing. Then Florence finds out that there has been a double suicide, but the man pulled through. The story follows Florence trying to work out what happened.
I read lots of thrillers and enjoy the twists and turns but I just found this one dry and nothing really happened.

Florence was a nurse practitioner has a patient, a man and a wife Who keep visiting her Clinic. The wife keeps claiming different symptoms but all her tests keep coming back negative even after months of investigation. The Husband is always there and speaks for the wife whenever the nurse asks her a question. Later the wife is found dead and the husband in a coma in the result of what seems to be a suicide pact. The nurse is convinced that the husband had gaslit his wife into committing suicide, and he took a low-dose of the drug that had killed her so he would only end up in a coma and not die.
That sounded like such an interesting premise for a book, didn’t it? I was excited to get into it, however for about 300 pages, nothing else happens other than nurse Florence dating, dealing with her ex and just regurgitating her suspicion of the circumstances in which the wife died. There were times when I wanted to yell at Florence that fine ok I get it! You don’t think it was a suicide. Can we please move on!

Honestly, if this was not an advance reader copy I would have not finished it. When I receive an arc book, I take it seriously and I make sure to finish it. I hate giving bad reviews. I don’t enjoy it. I know how much work and effort goes into writing a book. I am struggling right now to find something good to say about this one.
If you do wanna read it, just read the blurb and then read the last two chapters of the book and you will know exactly what happened in the entire book.

The mystery sounded very interesting when I read the synopsis, and initially the author was great about making me think something else, but I soon had it figured out. The narrative was somewhat repetitive with the MC repeating things numerous times. Also, it ends rather abruptly and seemed unfinished at the end (although I'm sure it wasn't). All in all, not one of my favorites.

This book was a good read. The writing was very clear and moved the plot along nicely. The characters were likable and compelling. I would recommend.

There were a few twists in this book, but I feel like it was a slow read. It led up to an ending that was less than satisfying. This book was not for me.

Well Considered..
The next instalment in the Nurse Florence Shaw series finds Florence struggling with a recent death, an apparent suicide pact. As her obsession with the mystery grows, she makes discoveries along the way. What is really behind this mystery of a seemingly quiet woman? A well considered and keenly observed slow burn mystery with a deftly drawn cast and a narrative which successfully maintains an unsettling undertone of menace throughout.

2/5.
This book was sooooooo slow and I also felt like it was super repetitive often repeating things from chapter to chapter. Also the ending - uhhh? I guess it’s setting up for another book but seriously it just ends, no real conclusion of anything.

Thanks NetGalley for the early read. But if I were you - I’d skip this book and find another thriller.

Priscilla Masters, The Quiet Woman, Book 2 of A Florence Shaw Mystery, Severn House, July 2024.

Thank you, Net Galley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

The Quiet Woman is an intriguing murder mystery in so many aspects –characterisation, plotting, pace and writing style. Nurse Florence Shaw is a quiet woman, herself, although the title refers to the woman who attends her surgery, the occasions accumulating with no answers, her husband’s irritation and coldness readily apparent, and Florence Shaw’s concerns tumbling throughout her mind as she goes about her other activities.

Dates and times are appended to most chapters so that Florence Shaw’s days hour by hour are accounted for. She wakes, dresses, has breakfast and leaves for work. There she interacts with the receptionists, sees her patients and exchanges warm conversation with Jalissa who brings her lunchtime sandwich. Later she investigates her former husband’s activities with his new partner on the net, or meets friends, one of whom she interacts with increasing frequency. Will and Florence share both an interest in detection and the possibilities of a romance as they spend time getting to know each other better.

Florence’s detection brings her into contact with the Clays, their daughter and past staff from the surgery. She is also concerned about her patient on a quit smoking program. He is an oddly appealing young man of questionable behaviour that is likely to get him into serious trouble. A lot of Florence’s detection is based on her experience of the couple and understandings about controlling partners. However, she is constantly brought up short as another part of the puzzle quietly slips into place.

This is the first of Patricia Masters’ books that I have read. Book 2 , while drawing to a satisfactory conclusion in relation to the mystery, also leaves an intriguing trail to be followed. I look forward to a sequel to The Quiet Woman and intend to read Book 1 in the series. I realise that I have missed a treat that needs to be rectified, so thank you again, NetGalley for an excellent introduction to a writer it would have been sad to miss.

A decent thriller but all I could think about is geez, this nurse is really obsessed with this couple.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

On the whole I enjoyed this book. It was a quick easy read. Part of the mystery surrounding the deaths was quite easily guessed mid way through.
The pacing was fairly good but not spectacular.
The ending felt very abrupt and a bit off. I suppose it’s setting up for another book but it felt like there should be at least another chapter. Plenty of loose ends left.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc copy to review.

Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the eARC.
Nurse Florence has been seen by Christine and Richard Clay often. Christine has many complaints about her health, but it's always her husband who speaks for her... in a very cold and irritated way. Florence worries about her and feels her husband is way too controlling. When the news comes that Christine is dead and Richard in hospital, it's deemed a suicide pact gone wrong. A horrified Florence promises herself she'll find the truth - she's certain Richard killed Christine.
This is a thoughtful and suspenseful book that has quite a few surprising events in it and I liked it very much. Can't wait for the follow-up!