Hold Your Tongue (DI Eve Hunter #1) by Deborah Masson
Genre: Crime fiction, police procedural, thriller
Read: 19th February 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 26th December 2019)
★★★★ 4 stars
HOLD YOUR TONGUE is the dark and gritty debut by Deborah Masson featuring DI Eve Hunter and set in Aberdeen, Scotland. Although slow to start, it soon picks up pace as an addictive and compelling thriller.
The opening Prologue sets the overall scene of what's to come. It is dark, it is disturbing and it is enough to make you balk in its vividity. And it's in this opening preface that we learn the significance of the title, which is more than apt. The identity of those in this prologue are unknown but as the story builds throughout it does become clear.
DI Eve Hunter is returning to work after six months leave following a brutal attack on her and her colleague, DS Nicola Sanders, leaving her with a badly broken femur resulting in a limp and Sanders paralysed from the neck down and in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Left with unresolved guilt Eve blames herself for the attack, believing she could have prevented it, and as we are drip-fed information throughout details of that night come to light further into the story.
In no condition to return, Eve must now lead a team where not everyone welcomes her or respects her - blaming her for what happened to Sanders. On her first day back, she is introduced to DC Jo Mearns who, although respectful, radiates an obvious air of animosity and contempt towards her. The fact that she came in replacing the very detective who suffered life-changing injuries on Eve's watch only fuels her hostility. It doesn't help that DC Scott Ferguson constantly sneers at Eve and makes snide comments regarding her ability to lead the team. Only DS Cooper remains in her corner as a friend and confidante, and someone she knows she can rely on.
But Eve has no time to dwell on her team's derision as she is thrust head first into the gruesome murder investigation on her first day. Eighteen year old Melanie Ross's body has been discovered in a hotel room tied with Venetian blind cord, her tongue removed and a newspaper headline pinned to her body. Upon informing Melanie's parents' they are quick to offer up a suspect and the case appears to be clear cut...until the following week, another woman is found in similar circumstances in a dance studio. Looking at the two cases, it is apparent that the killer is selecting these women based on the headlines pinned to their bodies where newspaper articles that had been written about them. So what, apart from the articles, links them? And what is the significance of the Venetian blind cord and removal of their tongues?
The following week, the arrival of a tongue sent directly to Eve immediately reveals the identity of a woman known to them and therefore has them questioning the significance of the victims. But it isn't until one of their own is targeted that brings the reality of these murders home to them and will have them stopping at nothing to unravel the mystery and catch this sadistic killer.
I didn't like Eve to begin with and although I warmed to her somewhat, I still found her constant martyrdom of self blame a little tiresome. I am not a lover of strong female leads who prefer their own solitude to wallow in self pity or drown their sorrows in a bottle of prosecco whilst putting up a front of strength and courage in the face of adversity and refusing help from concerned friends. Maybe I find it hard to relate to because that kind of behaviour is so far removed from myself but if someone is offering you a friendly ear or some company, where's the harm in that? Does being independent and self-sufficient make you a better person? Or just more lonely? Despite my niggles about Eve, I did warm to her a little further in and found myself advocating her along the way.
Eve's team are an interesting bunch and while they don't always agree they do work well together, despite their differences. DS Mark Cooper is reliable, honest and remains a good friend to Eve throughout the past and present. He has a family who welcome all and sundry into the fold....his wife Louise is so warm and welcoming I could feel her arms around me and smell her delicious cooking. DC Scott Ferguson has the makings of a competent detective with good instincts but he is arrogant and hostile, undermining Eve at every opportunity. He holds Eve responsible for the attack that left Sanders paralysed and unable to continue as a detective. DC Jo Mearns hails from Bolton in England and is new to the team, replacing Sanders after her untimely attack. Often paired with Ferguson, his animosity towards their boss rubbed off on her and she finds herself disliking Eve at first sight. But as the story progresses we see a vulnerable side to Mearns which adds to her character and her early behaviour. Then there is DCI Hastings. At the mention of the name Hastings, I found myself constantly picturing Supt Ted Hastings from "Line of Duty"...lol...yet this Hastings (yes, like the battle...lol) was not as hands on in that respect, though he is no-nonsense and respected.
I thoroughly enjoyed HOLD YOUR TONGUE, despite its slow build and my niggles with Eve, as it is not your regular police procedural. It is dark, it is disturbing and at times gruesome. But it also came with a well-written solid plot with twists and reveals to have your swiping pages into the night.
I love the primary setting in Aberdeen, as well as visits to St Andrews and Dundee. While this part of Scotland does have its own indecipherable dialect, I was pleased to NOT encounter it here as I feel the inclusion of language that it is not familiar to anyone unless they are from the area only serves to alienate that author's works to readers far and wide. I do recognise the "granite" and "grey" descriptions of Aberdeen that I was first introduced to with Stuart MacBride, whose works are also fairly dark and gruesome but also filled with dry witty humour.
A dark, compelling, intense crime drama HOLD YOUR TONGUE is told primarily from Eve's third person perspective with the addition of the killer's deranged narrative peppered throughout. The reader is left pondering the identity of the killer as we are lead a merry chase but even I admit to not seeing that one coming.
The first in a new series, I look forward to seeing more of Eve Hunter and her team and will be keeping my eye out for the next installment.
Not for the faint-hearted, if you like Katerina Diamond or Stuart MacBride then I'm sure you will enjoy HOLD YOUR TONGUE.
I would like to thank #DeborahMasson, #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK #TransworldPublishers for an ARC of #HoldYourTongue in exchange for an honest review.
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