The Silent Quarry

DI Winter Meadows, Book 1

By: Cheryl Rees-Price

Narrated by: Andy Cresswell

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

The Silent Quarry is the first audiobook in a series of murder mysteries featuring the perceptive but reclusive and love-shy detective DI Winter Meadows.

One morning, Gwen Thomas takes a short walk with her Siberian husky in the outskirts of the Welsh town she calls home. She is drawn to a desolate area where, some 20 years ago as a teenager, she was brutally attacked and her friend killed. Disorientated by a sudden rush of memories, she has a fall. Later, recovering in hospital, she begins to recollect the events that led up to her friend’s death.

DI Winter Meadows is encouraged to reopen what has for some time been a cold case. If Gwen can remember who attacked her, it could lead to a prosecution. But not everyone wants Gwen to recover her memory. Having got over her fall, she now faces a greater danger - from whoever else knows what actually happened.

©2020 Cheryl Rees-Price (P)2021 W F Howes

Good plot

The plot is good and the ending is excellent, but I didn’t like the characters and the narrator’s “female” voices are grating.

Good mystery set in Wales with an interesting plot

I enjoyed listening to the Audible edition of The Silent Quarry and plan on reading the rest of the DI Winter Meadows books if audio versions aren't available. The story moves along and Rees-Price does a fine job of character development. While I knew post-traumatic amnesia was central to the story, I have mixed feelings about its use in the book but it is a compelling story so it was not much of a distraction. I had read A Knot of Sparrow first (4th in the series and recommended), soo I was pleased to see DI Meadow's backstory laid out well in The Silent Quarry.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and police procedurals. It is emotional rather than dry. Additionally, I recommend it to people who have an interest in Northern Wales and contemporary Welsh writers.

Really good mystery

Good suspense And mystery. I couldn't figure out who did. There was a bit of a twist. Felt a little sorry for Meadow in the end.

Excellent book - ended up listening to it all in one day.

Really enjoyed this one!

I especially love that the characters are well-conceived and easily discerned from one another - lately it seems that most newer books that I read / listen to end up having a bunch of generic or stereotyped characters that are simply names and actions, but no personalities. That’s NOT the case here. Revelations about the characters’ personalities and histories are doled out gradually, and reveal themselves in an organic way throughout the book instead of having everybody’s life story, kinks, weaknesses, financial status, and mother’s maiden name being plopped down in front of the reader right up front in one big tropey lump.
Meadows’ (the protagonist police detective) identity as an “outsider” won’t be a surprise to fans of the genre… “outsider detective” basically IS the genre… but his particular vein of “outsider-ness” isn’t derivative or generic.

The reader has a pleasant tone and rate of reading, and his voices give additional depth to the personalities of the characters.

The story itself is nicely twisty, and the author does a great job of keeping things moving and changing, so that you don’t get complacent.

All in all, one of the best recent books I’ve found in the genre. I’ll definitely be getting more books by Price (as in, I’ll download the next in the detective Meadows series as soon as I submit this review!)

Certainly not gripping

This mystery plods along till it’s predictable conclusion.

Supposed to be set in wales but you would never guess from the setting created by the author or the accent of the performer

Overall, a disappointing read