Fog of Silence by SJ Richards
Luke and his team investigate goings-on at GNE, a global news and entertainment company, after a whistleblower asks for their help. They are shocked by what they uncover but executives refuse to act, even when it becomes apparent there have been deaths that are unaccounted for. A serial killer is taking advantage of the culture of secrecy and no one is safe
About the author
Let's get one thing straight: my name's Steve. I've never been called 'SJ' but Steve Richards is a political writer hence the pen name.
I was born in Bath and have lived at various times on an irregular clockwise circle around England. After university in Manchester my wife and I settled in Macclesfield before moving to Bedfordshire then a few years ago back to Somerset. We now live in Croscombe, a lovely village just outside Wells, with our 2 sprightly cocker spaniels.
I've always loved writing but have only really had the time to indulge myself since taking early retirement. My daughter is a brilliant author (I'm not biased of course) which is both an inspiration and - because she's so good - a challenge. After a few experiments, and a couple of completed but unsatisfactory and never published novels, I decided to write a crime fiction series as it's one of the genres I most enjoy.
Review
It was such a delight to return to a series which I have begun to adore! This is the third book in the series but it can be easily read as a stand-alone. I do recommend the whole series though as they are cracking reads and quite funny as well! They do deal with heavy topics and this book is no exception but this is juxtaposed by the lightness of especially Josh's character. He is the comic relief with his ‘Gucci’ and naivety. But he isn't a caricature, he is as well developed and nuanced as the rest of the team!
As the Head of Ethics, former DCI Luke Sackville has been asked to investigate some staff members at GNE, a television company based in London. The whistleblower thinks that a staff member’s parties are a bit dodgy and that young boys are attending and maybe being groomed. Luke asks Josh to go undercover to attend the next party and he definitely witnesses this going on. But what the team don't realise is that things are a lot worse than they seem…
As well as the case the team is looking into we also learn a bit more about Luke’s background and present family life. His parents the Duke and Duchess of Dorset are getting older, with his mother in particular having health issues. We also get to meet the newest arrival who is a lovely bright spark of a girl who might transform every ones relationships with each other!
I flew through this instalment on a very bad pain day and it was a real tonic. The author’s voice is getting more distinct as the series progresses and I just love spending time in this fictional world! Get pacing, heaps of tension and a relevant and poignant plot!
Let me know if you pick this one up!
