Jeremy has been accused of murdering his coach and mentor. Jeremy is 18 years old, and hasn't spoken since he was about nine years old. The story is told by his younger sister, Hope, who is the only one who believes that Jeremy is innocent. The attorney is going for the insanity defense, but although Jeremy has a disease somewhere on the autistic spectrum, Hope knows he isn't insane.
Hope sets out to find "reasonable doubt" so that Jeremy will not be convicted. She is assisted by her best friend, T.J, and a new friend, Chase, who happens to be the sheriff's son. And Hope has a huge crush on him. As Chase and Hope's relationship develops into more than friendship, T.J. becomes jealous.
Hope is desperate, but she really does some stupid things in her search for the real killer. Some of the things she finds SURELY would have been found by any police investigation, no matter how inept. However, there is more to the story than just the murder. Hope's mother is an alcoholic, and there are some family secrets to be revealed that will change Hope's life forever.
I found the story to move a bit slowly at times. I had a couple of suspects from the beginning, and one of them turned out to be the culprit. But, I still wouldn't call The Silence of Murder predictable. I LOVED the ending. I loved the process that was used to find the real killer.
The Silence of Murder is a pretty short book, so the slow parts didn't bog the book down too much. I think everyone will be surprised, maybe not by WHO the killer is, but by HOW the discovery is made. It's a great story about family and love and being determined to find the truth. This book won the Edgar Award and will be enjoyed by both boys and girls.
Published by Ember, 2011
Copy obtained from the library
323 pages
Rating: 3.5/5
I've never heard of this one but it does remind me a lot of the book called Silent to the Bone by E.L. Konigsburg which has a similar plot except I don't recall the suspect in question being autistic. I love mysteries myself so I'll definitely check this one out.
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