Review: The Silent Women by Sara Blaedel

Title: The Silent Women

Author: Sara Blaedel

Series: Louise Rick, #2

Published: November 2018, Grand Central Publishing

Format: Paperback, 384 pages

Source: Publisher

Summary: 

Homicide detective
Louise Rick chases a terrifying serial rapist who meets women on a
popular online dating website in this fast-paced #1 internationally
bestselling thriller from Sara Blaedel, whose books have sold over 3
million copies worldwide.

An online flirtation can have horrific
consequences, as Detective Louise Rick discovers when she is called to
an idyllic Copenhagen neighborhood where a young woman has been left
bound and gagged after a profoundly brutal rape attack.

Susanne
Hansson met her rapist on a popular dating website. But the man is
hiding behind a labyrinth of false pseudonyms, and neither Susanne–nor
the police–have been able to trace his true identity. With the internet
as his playground, the rapist will almost certainly strike again if
Louise can’t unmask him before it’s too late.

Incredible suspense and a diabolical series of twists take Sara Blaedel’s wildly popular series to new heights.

My thoughts: This is the second book in Sara Blaedel’s Louise Rick series, and the second book in the Homicide Trilogy that Grand Central Publishing is releasing this year. I am so excited that this whole series will now be available for readers here in the states…it really is one of my favorite crime fiction series!!! 

Just a word on this particular installment…this book has already been translated into English prior to this publication. It was originally called “Call Me Princess” and then it was published in the UK and called “Blue Blood.” So, if you have read either of these titles, you have already read this book. For some reason, when Grand Central re-released the book, they opted to change the title yet again…not sure why, and now having read the book, I can see that all three titles actually work.

This book is dark and very disturbing. It deals with a heavy topic – rape and sexual assault, so for those who are triggered by that, this might not be the book for you. It’s graphic at times, but those graphic descriptions are few and far between. The theme of rape and sexual assault, though, is carried throughout the book, as this is the case that Detective Louise Rick and her team are investigating, so it is mentioned time and again. 

In addition to the above-mentioned topics, the case also has Detective Louise Rick diving into the world of online dating. And this is where journalist, and Louise’s good friend, Camilla Lind comes into play. She has written articles about this topic in the past, and so helps Louise navigate this topic, and also happens to be involved in online dating right now herself. What’s interesting to note is that this book was first published in 2011 and the dangers that Sara Blaedel discusses in her book still apply in today’s world. 

I feel in this book, we got a very solid look at Louise Rick herself. She is struggling with her personal life here and at times, it affects her judgement. She is also having a hard time turning off this particular case when she is off the clock. There are some unsettling developments in her personal life and I am anxious to see how things progress from here.

I found the pace of this book to be just right. It would amp up at just the right times and the tension and suspense built slowly and steadily until the end when I just couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. This is such a gripping story and I found myself completely enthralled the entire time. And that ending….I cannot wait to get my hands on that next book!

 

A Note on this series:

***This series was first published in Denmark. Grand Central Publishing has started publishing some of the later books here in the US, which have been grouped in 3 trilogies ‘The Missing Persons Trilogy,’ ‘The Camilla Trilogy,’ and ‘The Homicide Trilogy.’

The Missing Persons Trilogy (Available in US now):    

  1. The Forgotten Girl
  2. The Killing Forest 
  3. The Lost Woman

The Camilla Trilogy (Available in the US now – as of 1.2.18):  

  1. The Night Women
  2. The Running Girl
  3. The Stolen Angel 

The Homicide Trilogy (Will be available in the US this year): 

  1. The Midnight Witness – out now
  2. The Silent Women – out now
  3. The Drowned Girl – to be published December 24th, 2018

Louise Rick Series (as Sara Blaedel published it):  

  1. The Midnight Witness
  2. Call Me Princess / Blue Blood / The Silent Women
  3. Only One Life / The Drowned Girl
  4. The Night Women (formerly published as Farewell to Freedom)
  5. The Running Girl
  6. The Stolen Angel
  7. The Forgotten Girls
  8. The Killing Forest 
  9. The Lost Woman    

*** You’ll notice book 2 has three titles and book 3 has two titles – I actually have all these books,
all in English, all from different publishers, released at different
times! This is how much I love this author and this series, that I have
these different editions!!!

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1 Comment

  1. Mystica
    November 21, 2018 / 3:11 am

    The series and the author both new to me. Thanks for the review.