? I found another great Irish writer: Stuart Neville. I should have found him a long time ago, although I did, unknowingly, read him once before when he wrote under the pen name Haylen Beck. That was a four–star book; this definitely gets five stars.

THE FINAL SILENCE is the fourth book in a series, but I'm relieved that Neville’s next series continues with one of the detectives who plays a major role in this book. I would suggest that you start with Neville's first book in this series (also his first novel), THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST. I wish I had. The majority of THE FINAL SILENCE can be enjoyed as a standalone story, but I think I would have understood the main character better if I had known more of his backstory.

The book begins with a man's suicide. We know he was a bad man but not much more. Later, his niece, Rea (pronounced Ree in the United Kingdom, I learned), a woman in her 30s, finds in her uncle's home a sort-of scrapbook filled with the names of people, notes about murdering them, and keepsakes from each, such as locks of hair. She also finds an old picture of six men, including her uncle and her father. Rea's father is now a politician.

Rea wants to notify the police, but she first calls her parents. Her father's only concern is how this will affect his career, so he doesn't want the police involved. But she does call an old boyfriend, Jack Lennon, a detective with the Irish police, to ask for his advice. Except Lennon is off duty, maybe to be suspended, after what sounds like a previous shootout with another officer. (That's part of his backstory that I would have understood if I had read the earlier books in the series.) He hears her out but doesn't quite believe her.

The story continues with more death, convincing Lennon of what Rea told him. But now no one believes him. Then another detective is introduced to the story: Serena Flanagan. She is convinced Lennon is guilty of murder, and he tries to convince her otherwise while he searches for the true murderer.

The problem with reviewing a five-star book is that you want to write the review well enough that the book sounds as good as it is. But I am also concerned about writing too much and spoiling it. I would rather say too little. Just read it.