‘The Silent Killer’ by Trevor Wood

Published by Quercus,
18 July 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-52943-250-3 (HB)

First it was a homeless man; next came a teenage girl in an unrelentingly grown-up story. There’s one thing you can rely on from a new novel by Trevor Wood: a protagonist unlike any other you’ve ever encountered. The main player in The Silent Killer, and in the series, it heralds, is a detective chief inspector – but I guarantee you won’t have met a detective chief inspector like Jack Parker.

The story opens with a bang – literally. Jack’s sergeant Laura Kemp is driving him home when another car smashes into theirs, killing Laura outright and effectively ending Jack’s life as he knows it. Not through the injuries he sustains in the crash, though they take a while to mend. The killer blow is administered while he’s in hospital, by a CT scan which reveals the early stages of the disease which changed his father’s personality and eventually led to his death: Alzheimer’s. 

Some senior detectives would accept the writing on the wall and take early retirement. Not so Jack Parker. He tells no one except his ex-priest brother and faced with a horrific murder case on his first day back at work, he sets out to prove to himself that he can still cut it. As well as the murder he is tasked with, he also starts to conduct his own investigation into Laura’s death, which he is convinced was not an accident. 

Fans of the genre expect false starts, blind alleys, red herrings; they all go with the territory, along with a bright smart-arse female DS and a victim you love to hate. All these are firmly in place, with Trevor Wood’s own take on everything, so there’s nothing run-of-the-mill about the way the case unfolds. What makes the story doubly unique is the way Jack Parker faces his incipient problems; he runs into them head-on, and not always successfully.

It’s set in Newcastle, the city Wood knows so well, and uses to advantage. Like most cities it has its dark corners and leafy avenues; both have their part to play, as do the places everyday life takes place. Jack’s marital home is cosy and welcoming; his brother’s bedsit is cluttered and dingy; his old school is poorly maintained and crumbling.

Wood has set up a cast of regular characters with immense promise. Jack himself is an old-school cop, sharp as a razor, risen from the ranks, with scant respect for the new regime of policing. Emma, his new sergeant, and Leon, his established one, are in constant competition. Then there’s Jack’s brother and confidant, the voice of common sense but with his own issues; and Helen, the best wife any cop could wish for. Frankie Grant is the local bad guy, foxy and slippery; he will no doubt lurk in the background.

First a trilogy, then a standalone, and now the first in a series; with DCI Jack Parker, Alzheimer’s or not, Trevor Wood is in it for the long haul. This is a police procedural series with a difference, and one that will run for some time. Something to look forward to. 
-------
Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Trevor Wood has lived in Newcastle for 25 years and considers himself an adopted Geordie, though he still can't speak the language. He's a successful playwright who has also worked as a journalist and spin-doctor for the City Council. Prior to that he served in the Royal Navy for 16 years joining, presciently, as a Writer. Trevor holds an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) from UEA. His first novel, The Man on the Street, which is set in his home city, was published by Quercus 19 March 2020, winning the The CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2020.    

https://trevorwoodauthor.co.uk

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.