The Quiet People

I always think that picking up a Paul Cleave novel to read is like going to see a Coen brothers’ movie. You know that elements of comedy, bloody mayhem and matter of fact violence will take central stage, together with bad people, and bad people who somehow don’t understand they are bad.

The Quiet People is no exception to this rule, but there are more twists and turns, and perhaps more sympathy for the main police character, DI Rebecca Kent, and writer parent, Cameron Murdoch, than for some of Cleave’s previous characters. New Zealand, where the book is set, comes in for a battering, as do its people and police force. Although Cleave’s success demonstrates he has clearly been clearly forgiven by his fellow countrymen!

The book is built on a child’s disappearance and the terrible mistakes in the subsequent investigation. The police chase their tails and, as more evidence piles up, build a case against the child’s best-selling crime writer parents. After all, they have written about missing children before – as well as boasting about planning the perfect murder …

The story is told through the first-person voice of Murdoch and in the third person by DI Kent. This has the potential to become a difficult to follow muddle but Cleave makes it very easy for the reader. Murdoch is complicated. He’s explosive, plagued with voices in his head that incite violence, and clearly devastated by both his son’s absence and the blame and anger thrown at him by the public and police. His pain is intense and his drive to retaliate and seek vengeance is shocking.

Kent’s point of view follows the ups and downs of the investigation, and her emotional reaction to the unfolding drama. She, in turn, is plagued by guilt when wrong decisions are made decisions and tortured by their seeming inability to find the missing boy. Her relationship with Murdoch is both tender and hard.