I hope she has written many books.

Maybe a bit light on character development. Or maybe I m just wishing it had been longer.

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Riveting

I loved the story line of this novel. It was a great insight into police investigation and the logical steps through an investigation. It was beautifully performed and the pace of the performance was spot on.

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Keeps you interested every step of the way

Terrific story, well-written, well-narratted and informative about modern police procedures. The plot holds your interest at every turn.

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Awkward lot of numbers in the flat narrative.

"DoB if under 18, if over 18, put over 18" repeated FAR too often. Once was enough! It became insulting to the ear. Sometimes the bunch of numbers seemed to just ruin the story. Otherwise this is a pretty good book. Better editing needed. I would try this author again. I went back to listen again for what I may have slept through and, although I still dislike lists of numbers read to me, will try her next book.

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Too many numbers for me to enjoy

The actual story line is good and I so wanted to hear it all unfold and conclude. However, the style of writing in constantly stating all case numbers, file numbers, times etc. completely overshadowed the plot and character development for me.
Rarely do I drop a book part way through but I just have to in this case.

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Sex-Obsessed Punctilious Procedural

This first 'DCI Louisa Smith' investigation from Elizabeth Haynes involves a captivating mystery dealing with a brutally murdered promiscuous young woman and the simultaneous death of a serial-cheater neighbor. The two cases are eventually linked, and the twisty-turny investigation is handled nicely. Although she won't be winning any awards any time soon, Haynes is a creditable mystery writer (understanding plot progression, foreshadowing, and the importance of providing false leads and multiple plausible suspects).
On the other hand, she gets bogged down in procedural logistics (using intradepartmental e-mails between investigators as a plot device and including direct transcripts of witness statements - complete with tedious lists of 6-digit case file designations and investigator ID numbers). She furthermore glories in descriptions of explicit sex between investigators and investigators, suspects and suspects, suspects and witnesses, investigators and witnesses, etc.
The end result is a book seemingly preoccupied with behind-the-scenes mundanity but punctuated with graphic salaciousness. 'Under A Silent Moon' is a bit of a mess at times.

Fortunately, the reading performance from Victoria Aston is genuinely outstanding. Her professional diction and timing complements a timbre & cadence that is comfortable for hours of listening, pitch-perfect tonality, and truly praiseworthy voice-acting (unlike many British audiobook narrators, her American/Canadian accent is spot-on, for example). I would listen to more from Aston any day.

Altogether, this is an enjoyable audiobook. If you can get it as part of the 'Plus' initiative, it's definitely worth your time. If you are one of those who can tolerate X-rated story elements and accept religious adherence to procedural authenticity, this 7.5/10- star recording would even be worth a Credit.

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Entertaining

This is an engaging book. The female protagonist is a bit under developed and as a result I perceived her as somewhat distant and cold. Nothing hugely surprising in terms of plot/ fairly predictable.
I think deeper character development would result in a more engaging book. But I enjoyed it , the plot moved along at a relatively steady pace and I would read another one of this author’s books .
There are some graphic sexual scenes in this book if that’s an issue for you.

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Not to my taste

Loved the reader and the story itself, but not the unnecessarily long sex scenes. Didn’t read past about halfway.

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Riveting!

Such a good mystery! Enjoyable narrator, gripping story. I can't wait to finish it and go on to the second in the series. But it's so good I don't want it to end!

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