‘The Silent Quarry’ by Cheryl Rees-Price

Published by The book Folks,
22 July 2020.
ISBN: 978-1-91351655-5

The story opens when teenager Gwen Collier awakens after being unconscious for several weeks.  Did I have an accident? she asks her mother. Despite physiotherapy and counselling Gwen has no memory of what happened to her.

Move forward twenty years. Gwen is now married to Matt Thomas, and they have two children. But it becomes clear that their marriage is not a happy one.

After a rather drunken party, to clear her head Gwen takes her Siberian husky, Blue, for a walk and ends up on Quarry Road a place that she has avoided since she had been found there unconscious as a teenager, and where her school friend Beth was found dead. She decides to go further but as she does, so her unease grows and as she reaches the shack, where she and Beth used to meet and she misses her step and finds herself falling,

When Gwen is reported missing DI Winter Meadows and DC Edris, the new trainee respond to the call.  The village of Bryn Melyn is not a big place, and Winter Meadows recognises Gwen’s husband Matt Thomas, as the same unpleasant bully he was at school.

Then Winter receives the news that Gwen has been found and taken to hospital. She is confused and has a nasty bump on the back on her head and according to the doctor, has regressed to a fifteen-year-old girl.  But it is possible that she may now regain all of her previous memories.

Soon Gwen begins to have flashbacks, but they are random and disjointed.

DI Winter Meadows reopens what has for some time been a cold case. However, it is to be remembered that Beth’s killer was never caught, and Gwen with her returning memory now faces a greater danger, at the hand of whoever killed Beth.

As Winter Meadows investigation progresses it becomes clear that many people have secrets that they don’t wish to be revealed. It also becomes clear that Winter Meadows is a little in love with Gwen. Will they have a happy ending?

And many people have lied, as to where they were at the time of the incident, two being Giles Epworth, the head teacher, and Gwen’s husband Matt. Will DI Meadows find the killer before he strikes to protect the truth emerging.

This is a fascinating story, with many twists and turns. But the most spectacular is the twist at the end. Now that is what I call a twist. Highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Cheryl Rees-Price was born in Cardiff and moved as a young child to a small village on the edge of The Black Mountain, South Wales, where she still lives with her husband and three cats. After leaving school she worked as a legal clerk for several years before leaving to raise her two daughters. Cheryl returned to education, studying philosophy, sociology, and accountancy whilst working as a part time bookkeeper. She now works as a finance director for a company that delivers project management and accounting services. In her spare time Cheryl indulges in her passion for writing. Her other hobbies include walking and gardening which free her mind to develop plots and create colourful characters.