Let the Dead Speak: A Mystery

Jane Casey

Jul 2017 · Maeve Kerrigan Novels Book 7 · Sold by Minotaur Books

About this ebook

"Casey is a true craftswoman, a writer who beguiles one through the most twisted of plots with a confident and seductive hand.
Let The Dead Speak is sharp, complex and gripping to the very end"
Alex Marwood, bestselling author of Wicked Girls and The Killer Next Door


When eighteen-year-old Chloe Emery returns to her West London home she finds her mother missing, the house covered in blood. Everything points to murder, except for one thing: there’s no sign of the body.

London detective Maeve Kerrigan and the homicide team turn their attention to the neighbours. The ultra-religious Norrises are acting suspiciously; their teenage daughter and Chloe Emery definitely have something to hide. Then there’s William Turner, once accused of stabbing a schoolmate and the neighborhood’s favorite criminal. Is he merely a scapegoat, or is there more behind the charismatic façade?

As a body fails to materialize, Maeve must piece together a patchwork of testimonies and accusations. Who is lying, and who is not? And soon Maeve starts to realize that not only will the answer lead to Kate Emery, but more lives may hang in the balance.

With Let the Dead Speak, Jane Casey returns with another taut, richly drawn novel that will grip readers from the opening pages to the stunning conclusion.

Ratings and reviews

Let the Dead Speak by Jane Casey is the seventh installment in the Maeve Kerrigan Novels. Chloe Emery returns home to 27 Valerian Road in London from visiting her father to find blood in almost every room of her home. DS Maeve Kerrigan (she got a promotion) and her team are assigned the case. There is plenty of blood, but they have yet to find Chloe’s mother, Kate Emery. Maeve starts out by questioning Chloe, and then proceeds to canvas the neighbors. The police bring in dogs to sniff out the victim, but they are unsuccessful. They do, however, uncover some helpful clues. Then Chloe and her friend, Bethany Norris disappear. Were they taken or did they take off on their own? What is going on in this neighborhood (and I thought I had troublesome neighbors)? Maeve, with the help of DI Josh Derwent, must discern fact from fiction to identify the culprit. Maeve will need to work quickly before more blood is spilled. I had a hard time wading through Let the Dead Speak. The writing style is awkward/stilted ((clunky is a good word). The story lacks flow (an easy style of writing) which makes for a hard to read story (insert yawn here). Let the Dead Speak sounded like a thrilling mystery novel, but, in the end, I was bored. The mystery may seem complex, but the solution is not. I solved the mystery early in the book (I would say how early, but then I would be giving away a spoiler). The suspect pool is small. Let the Dead Speak is a novel I read, but I was not pulled into the story or engaged. I did, though, find a great cure for my insomnia (I have suffered from it since middle school). One chapter and my eyes started drooping. I woke up with my ebook nearby and off (happened twice in one night). My rating for Let the Dead Speak is 2 out of 5 stars. I especially disliked the transcript chapter (that is when I fell asleep for the second time). The author needed to add more suspense and a surprising twist (and shorten the book). The basic premise had potential. I do want to warn readers that Let the Dead Speak contains foul language, violence, and intimate relations. Unfortunately, the Maeve Kerrigan series is not for me.

About the author

JANE CASEY was born and raised in Dublin. A graduate of Oxford with a master’s of philosophy from Trinity College, Dublin, she lives in London, where she works as an editor.