The Great Silence by Doug Johnstone
Keeping on top of the family funeral directors’ and private- investigation businesses is no easy task for the Skelf women, and when matriarch Dorothy discovers a human foot while walking the dog, a perplexing case presents itself.
Daughter Jenny and grand-daughter Hannah have their hands full too: the mysterious circumstances of a dying woman have led them into an unexpected family drama, Hannah’s new astrophysicist colleague claims he’s receiving messages from outer space, and the Skelfs’ teenaged lodger has a devastating experience.
Nothing is clear as the women are immersed ever deeper in their most challenging cases yet. But when the daughter of Jenny’s violent and fugitive ex-husband goes missing without trace and a wild animal is spotted roaming Edinburgh’s parks, real danger presents itself, and all three Skelfs are in peril.
Taut, dark, warmly funny and unafraid to ask big questions – of us all – The Great Silence is the much-anticipated third instalment in the addictive, unforgettable Skelfs series.
About the author.
Doug Johnstone is the author of twelve previous novels, most recently The Big Chill (2020). Several of his books have been bestsellers and three, A Dark Matter (2020), Breakers (2019) and The Jump (2015), were shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions over the last decade – including at a funeral parlour ahead of writing A Dark Matter – and has been an arts journalist for over twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three solo EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also player-manager of the Scotland Writers Football Club. He lives in Edinburgh. Follow Doug on Twitter @doug_johnstone and visit his website: dougjohnstone.com.
Review.
God I love the Skelfs. ‘The Great Silence’ is a level above some of the crime fiction out there at the moment. Doug is a writer at the top of his game. The stuff he comes up with is genius. Only a Skelf book would have the following - messages from aliens, a big cat on the loose, random body parts appearing on the Links, children thinking their mother's lover is killing her, and also Craig is still on the loose! Phew, that's a lot of plot points but it definitely works. It more than works - it is sublime. I seriously get excited when I realise a new book is coming out.
The Great Silence is the third of the Skelfs series of books and you could read this one as a standalone, but I heartily recommend starting at the beginning as this series is seriously good. All three women of the family are such strong female leads that you can't help falling in love with the family and their madcap adventures. Scratch that - all the recurring characters are just as devilishly good.
You can see so much of Doug as a person in the Skelf books. He is a keen drummer and even plays in a band with Val McDermid, has a degree in physics and a PhD in astrophysics. The scenes where Dorothy is playing the drums are magic, as you can feel the passion pulsating through the page. Btw Doug or Orenda you should set up a Spotify playlist for all the songs which are referenced in each book!
A moot point here - if you mess around with Hannah and Indy at any point in this series I will stalk Edinburgh until I find you! 🤣 Their relationship fills me with hope and a feeling of light when I am reading their sections. A genuinely profound couple.
I really hope that there are many more Skelfs books to come as I adore them! This is where I need to praise Orenda books. Karen is not afraid to take a risk on what other publishers would be terrified to touch. But it's their loss as I don't think there has been an Orenda book that hasn't been amazing. Imagine rocking up to your publisher or agent going ‘yeah I want to set it in a funeral parlour and they are also private eyes!’ They would think you are crazy. But Karen embraces that and let's writers imaginations run wild and due to that you get exceptional books like the Skelfs. Roll on the next one!
