Keeping on top of the family funeral directors’ and private-investigation businesses is no easy task for the Skelf women, and when matriarch Dorothy discovers a human foot while walking the dog, a perplexing case presents itself … with potentially deadly results.
Daughter Jenny and grand-daughter Hannah have their hands full too: The mysterious circumstances of a dying woman lead them into an unexpected family drama, Hannah’s new astrophysicist colleague claims he’s receiving messages from outer space, and the Skelfs’ teenaged lodger has yet another devastating experience.
Nothing is clear as the women are immersed ever deeper in their most challenging cases yet. But when the daughter of Jenny’s violent and fugitive ex-husband goes missing without trace and a wild animal is spotted roaming Edinburgh’s parks, real danger presents itself, and all three Skelfs are in peril.
Taut, dark, warmly funny and unafraid to ask big questions – of us all – The Great Silence is the much-anticipated third instalment in the addictive, unforgettable Skelfs series, and the stakes are higher than ever.
The #SkelfSummer celebrations continue before the much anticipated publication of the sixth book in the series, Living is a Problem. I wasn't able to re-share my review of The Great Silence last week, which means I'll be sharing the Skelf love twice this week! Many thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things for inviting me and to Danielle at Orenda Books for organising the Skelf summer celebration.
The Great Silence is the third book in Doug Johnstone's Skelfs series and to say I look forward to each new instalment is probably an understatement. When reviewing later books in a series, I'll often say that a novel can be read as a standalone but would advise reading the previous books first. I'm going to go a little further here to suggest that although there is nothing in The Great Silence to prevent new readers from thoroughly enjoying it, I would very strongly recommend reading
A Dark Matter and
The Big Chill first to really appreciate this fabulous series properly.
All three Skelf women - Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah - are still affected by events in the previous two books but that's how it should be. This might be fiction but there's a truthfulness to it; Doug Johnstone acknowledges that life isn't like a story, the final page isn't an ending and so the Skelfs remain connected to the past. The present day is no less challenging however; they are understandably anxious about the whereabouts of Craig, Jenny's ex-husband and Hannah's father. His disappearance ironically only makes his presence in their lives even more overwhelming and Jenny, in particular, knows that she cannot move on until she finds him. Meanwhile, Hannah's happiness in her relationship with her girlfriend, Indy is marred by her father's actions too while Indy has her own emotional tribulations to deal with. Dorothy is now in a relationship with Thomas and although the characterisation of all three women is exemplary, the portrayal of the eldest Skelf is my favourite. She has an active love life, plays and teaches the drums, roadies for a teenage band, continues to run two businesses and supports those in need, despite being in her seventies.
In true Skelf fashion, the women don't just have their own problems to face, however. Running a funeral home requires them to provide the caring, smooth service that everybody needs at this time in their lives and as always with this series, there's a sense of comfort in reading about their compassion, attention to detail and dignified understanding of what their role means to the people who engage their services. Funerals and the work of funeral directors are often only mentioned in passing in books and yet we will almost certainly all need to use them one way or another at some point in our lives. It's always refreshing, therefore, to read this series which examines what happens honestly and openly.
They also have their private investigation business and while Jenny and Hannah are both approached with cases, Dorothy's comes via her dog, Einstein who runs off on a walk and returns with a human foot in his mouth. Without going into any details, this investigation is everything I love about the series; it's shocking, darkly humorous and heartbreaking. The same is true for Jenny's case after she agrees to look into the relationship between an ailing woman and her young, good-looking male carer and for Hannah's investigation into whether José is really receiving communications from space.
Hannah has recently graduated with first-class honours and has a fully funded PhD in the university's astrophysics department where José will be a colleague. As she looks into his claims that he's received Morse Code messages purporting to come from aliens, she looks into the The Fermi Paradox, also known as The Great Silence. If there's a high probability that aliens exist and come from much older planets - meaning they most likely developed intelligent life long ago, then why is there still no convincing evidence that extraterrestrial beings have made contact with Earth? I love the scientific elements of this series, they're always integrated into the plot so impeccably and explore challenging topics in an accessible, thought-provoking way.
This clever thriller combines each separate subplot seamlessly, there is so much happening here and yet it flows effortlessly, never losing pace or focus.The beautifully vivid descriptions are almost a love letter to the city but the scenes where characters are on a hill overlooking it aren't just to show us how the houses, streets and parks are intertwined. Edinburgh is also the perfect metaphor as Doug Johnstone reminds us that everybody is connected and a part of this universe; past, present and future, whether our time on the planet is long or too short. In a book which exposes the worst of human behaviour, it's both heartening and humbling to consider our responsibilities and importance to one another.
The Great Silence is an outstanding novel; it's as dark, twisted and gripping as you'd expect from crime fiction, imbued throughout with witty, empathic humanity and is intelligent, insightful and authentic - a wonderful read about death and life (and the first line is bloody brilliant!)
The Great Silence is published by Orenda Books. It can be purchased directly from their
website. Further purchasing links can be found
here.
Look out for the #SkelfSummer hashtag throughout August and into September.
About the Author
Doug Johnstone is the author of seventeen novels, many of which have been bestsellers. The Space Between Us was chosen for BBC Two’s Between the Covers, while Black Hearts was shortlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, The Big Chill longlisted for the same prize. Three of his books – A Dark Matter, Breakers and The Jump – have been shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. Doug has taught creative writing or been writer in residence at universities, schools, writing retreats, festivals, prisons and a funeral directors. He’s also been an arts journalist for twenty-five years. He is a songwriter and musician with six albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also co-founder of the Scotland Writers Football Club. 
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