‘Five Silver Spoons’ by Sam Steele.

Published by Alison & Busby Limited,
23 April 2026. 
ISBN: 978- 0-7940 3362-0 (HB)

DI Hope Fenton has a lot to deal with, perhaps more than the average fictional police officer.  Her family life is difficult.  She has to cope with the nightmare of a missing son.  Noah, twin brother to her daughter Lily, vanished 8 years ago and it is not known whether he is dead or alive.  The stress has destroyed her marriage to Adam, a forensic scientist with whom she sometimes works, and with whom Lily lives.  In addition to this, her father, Derek, formerly a DCI, is now in a care home, the positive side of this being that she can live on his barge. 

Hope, who works from Finsbury Park Police Station, is called to a crime scene – Jack Garrett, a famous guitarist and junkie has been found dead.  It looks like an overdose but, when his body is examined more closely, a small silver spoon is found at the back of his mouth.  The continuing investigation discovers a card with the stark inscription ‘You’re first’, which suggests there might be further victims.  

In her search for who might be next, Hope finds a group of 5 Cambridge University graduates, including Jack, who were close (if not friendly) during their time at university.  The remaining four are now successful as:  a surgeon, an academic, a director of an eco-friendly company and a Junior Minister in the Ministry of Justice.  The remaining four are no longer close, nor are they keen to help her with her inquiries.  But when another one of the group is found dead, again with a silver spoon in his mouth, the tension mounts.  Hope follows what clues she can find, while the three remaining members of the student group set out to deal with the crimes in their own way. 

This is a cleverly-plotted debut novel, well-written and interesting.  The combination of police procedure and complex personal emotions works well.  Information about the case and her personal life emphasis the stress she is under and, at times, seems to overlap, as the investigation moves along some unexpected paths.  The tension is maintained to the very end, and the reader is provided with a number of different viewpoints, as well as story lines that need to be resolved.
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Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood

Sam Steele is the pseudonym of Sarah Steele, USA Today bestselling author of The Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon and other sweeping historical fiction. The Schoolteacher of Saint Michel, The Lost Song of Paris, The Traitor’s Wife, The Last Letters from Villa Clara, The Riviera Secret. She trained as a classical pianist and violinist before joining the world of publishing as an editorial assistant at Hodder and Stoughton. She was for many years a freelance editor and now lives in the vibrant town of Stroud. 

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop .  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.