True crime fans will see echoes of popular stories in this book. Highly recommended, and very twisty!

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a decent book. I had a hard time getting attached to the characters. A lot of them were very unlikable. I liked that there was a dual timeline. The story moved very slowly. I would have expected it to move faster. It was interesting that part of the story focused on the removing of aboriginal children from their homes because I had just read a book with a theme of the removal of Native Americans in Canada. Interesting how that policy impacts not only the children but others.

Drama, suspenseful - Interesting story set in 1967 and 1997 Australia. There is a sad part of Australian history during the 1960's that the novel goes into - the taking of aboriginal children from their homes and families to try and wipe out the population. The two dysfunctional families involved are Mandy and Steve Mallary and their neighbors, Joe and Lousie Green, and daughter, Isla. Mandy Mallary disappears in the late 1960s and no one really looks for her until 30 years later when the police accuse Joe Green of killing her. The characters are not at all likable - they are complicated and flawed. I could not find any empathy for them - really didn't care what happened to them. The Australian history was interesting - I wish there was more regarding the Stolen Generation in Australia. The book is well written but the pace is slow. Not a pleasant read for me.

A very complex novel of psychological suspense. When a woman is thought to be missing and her father suspected, Isla leaves England and returns to Australia to support him. There she discovers relationships and secrets between family, friends and neighbors that she had forgotten, never realized or never known when she grew up there. Through the a variety of characters eyes in the past and present, the damage of silence between friends, between husband and wife, between neighbors, the damage even of the silence of the community for the actions of the country are laid out in a heartbreaking narrative of deadly accurate psychological action and reaction. This is not a book to "enjoy," but it is one you will certainly respect. It has some of the most believable characters I have ever met, and the more you think about it, the deeper it gets. Quite mesmerizing. I can't say I like it (it's too painful), but I'm still thinking about it.

I could not put this book down. The Silence jumps right into the story with an intriguing opening and keeps the pace with short chapters riddled with mystery and suspense. It’s the sort of book that continually begs for “just one more chapter”. Dripping in atmosphere, this is one for fans of Jane Harper or Tana French. I love how the two timelines build suspense and layer on top of each other to paint the complete picture as we piece together the puzzle. Like many of my favorite mysteries, The Silence has mini mysteries peppered throughout, along with subtle clues and clever misdirection. This may be a debut but it’s written masterfully. It’s heartbreaking as you watch the hope unravel for so many characters and the book opened my eyes to an even more heartbreaking piece of Australia’s history.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the story, setting, tone, and prose, I found myself wanting more out of some characters. My biggest disappointment was that the dialogue felt unrealistic at times, leaving me struggling to connect with characters due to believability. I found it hard to read the tone and intention behind some of their words. I also felt that Isla’s background was somewhat glossed over. Mentions of her alcoholism and struggling relationship were sporadic and surface level. Still, this is a debut I’ll remember and recommend for fans of atmospheric suspense.

I love a good mystery, but what I really love is when a good mystery is mixed with wonderful prose and thought provoking settings and choices. The Silence, by Susan Allott, is one of the latter.
The story moves between the time of the crime that is driving the plot- 1967 and the time in which the crime is discovered and solved- 1997. In 1997, Isla, daughter of Joe and Louisa, gets a call about a family crisis back home in Australia. Upon returning home, Isla is drawn back in to the world of alcoholism and abuse that had driven her away. Isla herself is releasing that she is an alcoholic and can be abusive just like her father. As Isla grapples with family issues in 1997, the chapters also move to 1967, as Louisa and Joe, Mandy and Steve, are struggling with issues that lead to one of them dead.
I ended the story rooting for Isla and her newfound sobriety. I grew to care about her character and not just care about solving the mystery. This is a worthy read combining interesting characters with a suspenseful mystery! #netgalley #arc

Almost Hitchcockian suspenseful, this mystery is filled with flawed characters, some I like and some I didn't. The setting at the time when aboriginal chiclren were sent to live in institutions or adopted by white families made the story more intense.

The Silence started a little slow for me to be honest. I had a hard time relating to the characters...any of them. I did like the book and it did keep me turning pages and want to keep reading. But, I believe the plot and character development could have been better.

A clever and nuanced debut novel about secrets and buried truths. Isla is summoned back to Australia from London when her father is questioned about the possible disappearance of a neighbor some thirty years prior. She struggles to understand the hazy events from her childhood and to come to terms with her relationships with her family as well as a dark period in Australia's history.

Susan Allott bursts onto the crime fiction scene with her literary debut. The Silence is far more than just a good story. It’s also a character study on the long-term impacts of traumatic childhood events and an investigation into a shameful part of Australia’s history.

Allott places one half of her story against the horrific actions of the Australian government. As we learn from an author’s note at the end, “The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia who were forcibly removed from their families during the period from 1910 until 1970 are known as the Stolen Generations.”

The total number of children removed from their homes is unknown, but what is known, is those children often endured physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their “protectors.”

While one half of her chapters set in ’66 and ’67, Allott locates the other half in 1997. “In a basement flat in Hackney, the telephone rings. It’s two in the morning. Isla Green stands in the hallway, pajamaed, barely awake. She is entirely sober.”

The phone call is from her father, Joe. A man who might have been involved in the disappearance of a woman who lived next door to the family when Isla was a child.

Thirty years after her disappearance, Amanda Mallory’s family tries to locate her but finds no trace of the woman. Now the police have come knocking on Joe’s door to ask questions he would rather not answer.

“‘Her father died last month, left her most of his estate, but she hasn’t come forward. Her brother’s been asking around, trying to trace her. He turned up a few things the police are looking into.’ He laughs unconvincingly. ‘One of those things is me.’”

That phone call begins Isla’s journey back to both her childhood home in a quiet neighborhood in Sydney, Australia, and into her childhood memories. Images of Mandy, who once babysat Isla, begin to surface in Isla’s mind.

“Isla catches the scent of eucalyptus from the tree next door and she sees Mandy in a rich slice of memory, folding laundry into a basket. A blond woman, on the plump side of curvy, with a conspiratorial smile.”

Allott ratchets up the tension as Isla remembers more and more about her childhood. Her mother’s unhappiness. Her father’s drinking. How much she loved Mandy and how she sometimes feared Mandy’s husband Steve.

Steve was a police officer, a man haunted by all the children he tore from their families, a job that began to take its toll. “Steve’s shoulders began to shake and he made a high, thin noise before he broke down and cried.” He was a man who spun out of control over the awfulness of his own, albeit politically sanctioned, actions.

Mandy’s story also appears in the past. Allott allows her “victim” to be present in her own time, while simultaneously dangling the carrot of whether or not readers will discover the woman alive and living under another name or dead and buried for the last three decades.

Readers glimpse Mandy’s affair with Joe through Mandy’s eyes, juxtaposed against Isla learning of her father’s indiscretions in her own time. Isla’s mother had fled back to England, making it easy for Joe and Mandy to start a physical, and emotional, relationship.

As a long-time resident of the neighborhood tells Isla, “Joe was ‘round at Mandy’s place the minute Steve was out of sight. Steve was away with work for days at a time back then.”

But after Isla and her mother return from England, Mandy and Steve disappear. The question is whether or not they left together, and if they didn’t, what happened to Mandy.

In addition to the mystery of Mandy’s disappearance, Allott’s characters face loneliness, alcoholism, and the damage of abusive relationships.

“Joe stood, shut the back door behind him, and reached for the whisky. Poured it quickly, a big one, hand shaking a bit, but this wasn’t too early in the day. Almost five-thirty. He’d put a full day’s work in—his first in over a week—and he’d earned a drink a dozen times over.”

No character is immune to the problems of the others. Isla and her brother Scott are impacted into adulthood by their parents’ issues. Isla’s own problems with drinking hurt her loved ones, and weigh on her, as demonstrated during a visit to her brother’s home. “She feels his disgust. She doesn’t have the guts to hold his eye. She is grubby and useless in his bright, clean house.”

Throughout it all, the underlying theme of the Stolen Generations returns again and again, a constant reminder of the larger picture of the times and the terrible things man does to man.

Allott delivers her intricate and suspenseful story with the voice of a literary writer. This stellar debut brings a fresh voice to crime fiction for readers who love a good story told with lilting prose about complex characters.

The Silence by Susan Allott is set in Australia and toggles back and forth between 1967 and 1997. Isla has been living in England after being raised in Australia. She goes back to investigate a long-ago disappearance of her neighbor after her father has been questioned by the police. This book deals with something that I've never heard of before called the Stolen Generations. This was a policy that Australian officials had of removing children from Indigenous Australian families and placing them into homes to be trained as future servants. Very eye-opening information. Read and enjoy!

Every major character in this novel is somehow fragile and damaged, and opening an inquiry to the whereabouts of a women who hasn't been seen or heard from in 30 years opens the cracks over carefully crafted facades. The mystery of the disappearance of Mandy, along with the sad family histories of Isla, both her parents, and their neighbors of 30 years past, told alongside the shameful story of Australia's treatment of Aboriginal children, all blend together seamlessly, and the tension builds as the story shifts back and forth between 1967 and 1997 towards a somewhat surprising conclusion, leaving the reader to speculate on what the future holds for anyone in this family.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow Books for a free galley in exchange for my honest review. The Silence is much more than a typical slow-burn whodunit... it’s a dark and emotional unraveling of 30 year old secrets exposing the devastation they’ve caused in the lives of two neighboring families. In addition, the story includes a thread of historical fiction, shining light on a disturbing piece of Australia’s history known as the Stolen Generations - a time when Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their homes by the government for the purpose of assimilating them into a white society. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and think that it is a fantastic debut by Susan Allott! Definitely some Jane Harper vibes going on in this Down Under story, so highly recommend to add this to your TBR list if you’re a Harper fan.

Have ever looked at the cover of a book and for some reason just know you are going to love the book? It has nothing to do with the author (the author is a new to you author) but the cover just calls out to you. It’s not too flashy, not to minimalistic but for some reason you what to know more about book just based on the cover. This the exact feeling I felt when I saw The Silence and….my instincts served me very well.
 
Isla Green has been going through a rough time. The ending of a relationship has made it harder for her to stay away from alcohol. Also, she is going through the process of buying an apartment in London. Late one night she receives a phone call from her father, Joe. He is under suspicion regarding the disappearance of a neighbor, Mandy back in Australia. 30 years ago, Isla lived in Australia with her parents and younger brother Scott. Reluctantly Isla returns to Australia to support her parents. Being back in Australia dredges up unpleasant memories for Isla as well as questions. How well does she really know her father? Were all her childhood memories lies? More importantly, are her parents lying to her now?
 
Isla and Joe have a special relationship. Isla is blindly loyal to her father, much to the annoyance of her mother, Louisa. Louisa is British and extremely homesick living in Australia. Isla’s and Joe’s relationship leaves Louisa feeling like an outsider in her own home. Although I can appreciate the bond of a father and daughter, the connection between Joe and Isla is extreme. It is normal for a child to admire and attempt to emulate their parents. However, most children grow up and realize their parents are just people who are capable of mistakes too. Isla never reached this realization when is comes to her father. This high pedestal on which Isla has placed her father sets her up to be consistently disappointed, but her loyalty never waivers. I had a lot of compassion for Isla but she also confused me. Why was she devoted to her father but not so much to other members of her family? Isla is one of the most complex characters I have ever read. I found her interesting and frustrating in equal parts.
 
The Silence discusses a very tragic part of Australian history. The Stolen Generations are a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were separated from their families as children. People of The Stolen Generations were taken into foster care, government institutions, or adopted by white families. I was completely ignorant of this extremely sad period of Australian history. Allott incorporates The Stolen Generations into The Silence in a tactful and respectful manner. Paying tribute to those who suffered as a result of these horrific actions.
 
I have read reviews which compares The Silence to The Dry by Jane Harper.  I do see the similarities; atmospheric, richly developed characters, moody. However, what sets The Silence apart is its parallel story line of The Stolen Generation. This historical element made the story part fiction part world history. Readers who are fans of either genre will be equally pleased.

Murder and Moore Rating:
4.5 out of 5 Stars

The Silence by Susan Allott is a highly recommended mystery set in Australia.

Isla Green who is living in London returns to Sydney after a phone call from her father, Joe. Apparently Mandy, the neighbor who lived next door and sometimes cared for Isla, disappeared thirty years ago, in 1967. Her father always said the couple who lived there moved away, but now Mandy is believed to have been murdered. Now, in 1997, Isla's father is the main suspect because he was the last one to see Mandy alive and he had a brief affair with Mandy just before she left.

Now Isla is returning home for the first time in a decade to support her father. This is not a happy visit. Her mother, Louisa, is an angry, bitter woman. Her father, Joe, is an alcoholic and has a history of domestic violence. Once Isla arrives she begins to remember more about her childhood, Mandy and her husband Steve, and 1967.

The narrative alternates between the present day action in 1997 and thirty years previously in 1967. Secrets from both couples are slowly revealed from the past and set against the current investigation. Isla mines her memory and begins to ask those around at that time questions. Obviously more was going on back then than people will admit and Isla begins to make some connections and expose some of the secrets.

This is a character driven mystery, so Allott spends time and care while developing her characters and establishing their pasts and present. She does a good job placing her characters in a specific historical time and place. The plot is a slow reveal as more information is exposed. It is not always an easy read, as domestic violence is part of the plot, along with other atrocities of the past, but it is a well written and intricately plotted novel.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins
After publication the review will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

This is a clever debut novel set in Australia with a mystery involved. We have Isla Green as our main character. She currently lives in London but has spent most of her life in Sydney. She has been called back to Australia to help her family as her father is a suspect in a case dating back 30 years. She’s been sober for a few months, but definitely has a drinking problem like her father.

The story alternates between 1967 and 1997 with Isla’s family interacting with the neighbors in 1967 and then Isla trying to figure out what happened back then when she was a child. The neighbors are Mandy and Steve – Mandy has helped with caring for Isla and Steve has the tough job of taking Aboriginal children out of homes deemed “unsatisfactory” to family services. Steve is pressuring Mandy to start a family, but his job is really getting to him. These two dysfunctional families have a good bit of drama!

There are some serious secrets from that summer in 1967 and it has taken 30 years for them to bubble to the surface. The author does a great job with atmospheric writing and describing the hot scorching days in Australia. What really happened to Mandy that summer and does Isla’s dad know the answers? This one kept me guessing until the very end.

This one shared a bit of the tragedy that happened in Australia with removing Aboriginal children from their homes. I am wondering if that is what the title refers to in this case? It’s definitely got me thinking!

This was a refreshing read as it is marketed as a mystery, instead of a thriller, which settled you in as a reader to enjoy the pace, as opposed to being duped into thinking you are in for a speedy, suspenseful read. In this age of thrillers everywhere you look, I have missed a good, solid mystery and this one certainly delivers just that. It's a great mystery, taking place in Australia and switching between the 1960s and the 1990s. The time switching keeps the pace lively and relatively short chapters keep the pages turning. This book also exposes a horrific time period of Australia's history but twists so interestingly and presents the true victims of both sides.

Written in an engrossing style, The Silence is a mix of murder mystery, the struggle of an unmarried daughter living in London to come to grips with her family's dysfunction back home in Australia, individuals' conflicting ideas and needs to have children, and an expose of the forced removal of Aboriginal babies from their families in Australia's not-too-distant past. Allott succeeds in bringing these stories together in this successful debut novel. I hope this is just the first of the books we will see from this British author.

The Silence was a perfect combination of mystery and family drama. I found myself enamored by Mandy the way young Isla was. I love that the chapters alternated between 1967 and 1997 adding depth to the storyline and keeping me interested to the very end. I will definitely recommend this book to our patrons!

Isla's father asks her to return home after he becomes a suspect in the disappearance of a neighbor 30 years earlier. It flipped back and forth between Isla in the present finding out things about her family that she never knew, and 30 years earlier with Mandy, the missing woman, and her complicated relationship with Isla's family. I liked this a lot, a good family drama and mystery that hold attention without a lot of unnecessary twists. Four stars.