Splinter the Silence: A Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Novel by Val McDermid

Carol is a very stubborn woman.  She's at dinner in a neighbor's home and decides she's through being social.  She won't let anyone drive her home; she's OK.  Unfortunately, a breathalyzer test shows she's not...

Atlantic Monthly Press and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published December 1st.

I enjoy Ms. McDermid's writing.  She doesn't pull punches, she makes her characters both strong and weak, and she mixes love with hate.  Every character is complex and sorrows from the past still affect those carrying on.  Carol thought she was getting over the loss of her brother and his wife but all she was doing was hiding behind alcohol.  After all, if you're numb, then you don't feel.

Tony comes back into her life and works on straightening her out.  She gets angry about it but she knows she needs him to get it right.  Sitting in a jail cell gets the point across.

There's a new task force being put together.  The man in charge wants Carol to head it up.  Drunk driving is not a good thing but he manages to get her charges dismissed, along with a few others to make it look good.  It should have been a quiet matter but someone in the department leaked it.  Now she's got media attention she doesn't need.

Ms. McDermid writes with intensity.  Her characters are always stressed, their personal problems flow over into work, nothing goes right for them, but they continue to research the cases and use the talents they have.  Sometimes their talents take them beyond the law, but as long as it can't be proved, who cares?

I'm always hoping for the best when we get to the end of the book but the author is always leaves someone with a broken heart and someone with grudge.  Carol's problems aren't over yet.  I wonder what kind of case she'll get into next?