Review: Silent Victims

Silent Victims by Lynda La Plante
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Prime Suspect series has intrigued me for quite some time, and having now finished all three books I can honestly say I was a bit disappointed. This final book, Silent Victims, was easily my favourite, but even then it wasn’t anything mind blowing.

In truth, Silent Victims has left me rethinking my ratings of the prior two books. I gave all three books a three-star rating, but this final book is a much stronger read. Despite how much stronger this book was, I couldn’t bring myself to give it a four-star rating. When comparing this book to my usual four-star ratings, I found it to be lacking. Therefore, I consider this more of a three-point-five-star rating that didn’t quite make it to being rounded up – and the two prior books were more so two-point-five-star ratings that did make it to being rounded up. Complicated, I know, but this book made me rethink just how much the two prior books failed to hit the right marks.

As stated, Silent Victims was my favourite of the three Prime Suspect books. It was so much stronger than the two prior reads, keeping me entertained throughout. I still had a number of issues – it is much the same as my issues with the prior books, a reflection of how this series has not aged well – but as a whole I was a lot more invested in the story.

The reason I enjoyed this one so much more is because of the story. There was a bigger mystery to this story, with a number of different elements being involved throughout. The two prior books were much simpler reads, whereas Silent Victims has you guessing how things come together. There is still a lot of predictability to be found, but with so many interwoven elements there is guaranteed to be something that piques your interest and slips by your attention before you can figure everything out.

Although this third book was the most enjoyable, it has not convinced me Lynda La Plante is for me. I’m glad to say I have finally read the Prime Suspect books, but I doubt I will be coming back for more of the author.

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