I picked up this book having not read the previous two in the series so felt a little daunted, but I needn't have worried as within the first 10 pages I felt like I'd known Detective Manon Bradshaw for years. The prose is wonderfully warm and relatable, and the twists and turns are deftly plotted and keep you guessing. The characters were believable and true, and the issues of immigration and migrant abuse were sensitively but skillfully drawn upon.

i never fail. So i was very eager to read this book to find it is book 3 in a series. Stopped mid way and intend to read the other 2 in the series. Cant wait to get back to it. But highly recommend so far and the other two are now high on me to read list in order to finish this book. Will review again once finished.

A good book in highlighting modern day slavery. you can tell the author put a lot of research into this book and made the plot realistic and still enjoyable. I believe this book can be read as a stand alone however if you want the best from DI Manon Bradshaw its better to read in order, if you enjoy the plot more than characters then it works fine to read as a a stand alone. Overall well written and interesting story line.

A book that highlights the appalling conditions of the migrant workers, making it uncomfortable to read in some places knowing these things happen. If the author wanted to raise awareness of modern slavery then she succeeded.
The murder/ suicide investigative element of the story worked well although all tied up in a rush at the end.
The feelings and stresses of Manon were understandable and made her believable but I felt that it impeded the flow of the book and made it a somewhat disjointed read overall.

This is book three in the Manon Bradshaw series and I would recommend reading the previous ones first. Although the book started with at a slow pace, it soon picked up pace and built suspense. The plot centres round migrant labour and the struggles of the people coming to look for work and a better life. It's a powerful and dark read centred on people trafficking and forced labour, with a tough lead character. My thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This is a wonderfully gritty thriller that picks up the real animosity towards different cultures.
A group of lithuanians have come to England looking for a better life, for work that pays well and a better quality of life but on arrival find out that they re debt bonded and maybe would have been better off at home.

The younger girls like the men who are more 'manly' but the older men feel like they re taking the jobs away from them. The workers just want to earn enough money to go home and then a 3rd body turns up.

Whilst fiction this book really could read like a news story. it feels all too realistic which is great as a readser but almost a litte sad.

I was very undecided about this book as it was part of a series. I didn't enjoy it wry.much which is why I only gave it two stars. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

There is a body hanging from a tree near the playground where detective Manon Bradshaw is with her young son Ted. So starts the latest case with Manon leading her team, is this a murder or suicide? There is a note pinned on his coat hand written in Lithuanian saying “The dead cannot speak.”.
I have loved all of Susie Steiner's books, and this one is no exception.
Brilliant depiction of life in small town rural England where the immigrant workforce is needed on the farms. Realistic, well researched, characters and situations. Work and personal life drawn in parallel to the plot. The modern workplace and political correction imbedded.
Highly recommended, what a fantastic read, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for the early read.

It’s DI Manon Bradshaw who finds the body and calls it in. She was enjoying a day out with her toddler son, Teddy, while trying to keep up with him. But now duty calls. A note is pinned to the body which is written in Lithuanian and a Google translation reveals that it means ‘The dead cannot speak.’ But who is he and where does he come from? And is it murder or suicide?
The body is identified as Lukas Balsys. Manon and her sergeant, Davy Walker, are advised to start with what is known as the Lithuanian Hub in the centre of Wisbech. She’s been plucked from cold cases to head up the investigation. They visit the hub which is a seedy, run down HMO from which its neat, tidy neighbour shrinks away in disgust. Everyone in it denies knowing Lukas and Manon sense the air of despair inside the house. Mattresses line the floors and there is little in the way of personal belongings or comforts. Edikas, the spokesman and interpreter, is determined to keep the police at bay and Manon soon realises that slavery is involved.
It’s a world of young and some old men who are enticed to leave their homes in Eastern Europe to come to the UK in search of a better life. Matias, Lukas’ friend, persuaded him to come with him to the UK and leave their home town of Klaipeda in Lithuania. However, instead of the Promised Land, they find slavery, gangmasters and no escape. In fact, their dream has become a nightmare. The long tentacles of the gang can even reach out back home to their loved ones…..and Lukas is ill and depressed. He’s known as a ‘doom balloon.’ If the migrants become ill, they either get better or they disappear. No one knows they’re here and no one knows that they’ve gone.
There are marches and protests about the migrants presence in the town as it causes tensions. But it’s a selfless act to draw attention to their plight that sets things in motion and Manon finds herself on the trail of Matis and his partner as they flee to the coast. Does he know too much….
Meanwhile, Manon has problems closer to home as her partner, Mark is diagnosed with cancer, and Davy’s fiancé is determinedly planning their wedding and future lives. But he has a secret to tell her and it won’t be one that she’ll be happy about…
This is the 3rd in the Manon Bradshaw series but it’s the first one that I’ve read. The main plotline featuring the Lithuanian migrants was realistic and well described and I appreciated the author’s research in travelling to Klaipeda in Lithuania which was Lukas and Matis’s home town. The section on their lives there is told in flashback and reveals what they left behind and why the UK was so tempting. She has also done her homework on how the migrants become slaves as soon as they arrive with their bank cards and passports taken away from them. The hard agricultural work that they do and the conditions in which they live give the story an authenticity. One of the men in the HMO ends up buried under a driveway when he finally dies after an accident and the householder seemed more annoyed about the police digging up his driveway than the fact that someone had been buried under it and it was a crime scene. Such are the disposable lives that these men lead.
It was a fast paced book which I read at one sitting. I sensed the author’s sympathy for the exploitation of the migrants who were enticed to the UK to improve their prospects and found the opposite. I felt that the author handled the plotlines assuredly and led the reader to a believable, if somewhat downbeat, ending. However, Manon does do a lot of soul searching about her life. She’s 46, middle age has crept on her and she agonises about who takes out the bins and how fed up she is with Mark. She often ruminates about having a pre schooler while in her 40’s and age in general. This, for me, had the effect of slowing the action down as I was more interested in the main plot than a few pages of her pondering. There is some of it at the end and I have to confess that I did skim through it.
But it was a solid, well written novel which didn’t shy away from its subject matter.


My thanks to The Borough Press and Netgalley for an ARC.

Tricky thriller,very up to date storyline. Couldn't really get into it tho,wasn't liking the characters much.

Good premise but a very slow paced book. Very moany lead character which I did not bond with at all. Just an ok book for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Quite an enjoyable read highlighting the lives of immigrant workers in this country and the abuse they endure.

Manon Bradshaw is back to work, part time, in cold cases. Partner Mark seems distant and so does teenage son Fly.
Manon and her toddler son Teddy go to a local park on a grey day and she finds the body of a young man, swinging from a tree. This draws her into a network of secrets, lies and violence, trafficking and exploitation.
I admire Steiner's characterisation - everyone has flaws, everyone is probably doing their best part of the time but distracted by life for the rest. She seems to get right inside the characters she describes. I love her language and her plotting. This is another marvellous book from her.

This is the third in the DI Manon Bradshaw series.... and it is another fantastic read!

I love the character of Manon - a tough, hardworking, loyal, funny, realistic women :-)

The story focuses on modern slavery, human trafficking and exploitation.. managing to be both entertaining and informative around this timely, terribly sad subject.

Read it in one sitting and cant wait for the next one!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Pithy, insightful and laugh out loud funny, that's Manon the lead detective in Susie Steiner's Remain Silent. With more stereotypes than twins bashing a couple of Olivettis, a detective thriller it isn't, frankly it's not even a good plot but it's one heck of a great read. Manon reflecting on her partner's possible demise and despite (or maybe because of) their lacklustre relationship, muses, "He is her stalwart presence that allows her to yearn for freedom". A brilliant summation of many a dull relationship. Manon is the saving grace of this novel and I hope we shall be seeing more of her in novels to come, she's a breath of fresh air.

The book is diverse and switches from one character to another. The thread focuses on a body discovered hanging from a tee and Manon is moved into the role of SIO on the case. She frets about family life and the case trying to strike a balance. The victim is East European and the his story is narrated by his friend Matis. The two friends have travelled to Britain in the hope of a better life but find themselves bonded to brutal gang masters and hostile locals. The settings are very well described and easy to imagine. I look forward to reading more from this author. A big thanks to Net Galley for ARC.

DI Manon Bradshaw is such a real character, so very believable and that along with an obviously well researched plot line serves to give an incredible read. Remain Silent is, I believe one in a series but I hadn't read any others and it worked very well as a standalone novel.
My thanks to Netgalley for my copy, Ithoroughly recommend and my very best wishes to Susie Steiner.

A well written book about immigrant slave labour and all the associated problems. Interwoven with this story there are a series of plot lines that keep you guessing. I have enjoyed all of Susie Steiner's books but I did not think that this was her best. Still an enjoyable read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the advance copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins, for the review copy.
This is an unbiased review of the author's work and style. If you want spoilers, please see the publisher's blurb and other reviewers' reports.
The depressing nature of this yarn makes for a tough read. If you are a fan of Manon, (then I realise you are probably not reading this!), however, this episode is incredibly depressing and has lost a bit of the original sparkle.
I hope Ms Steiner's health is improving and stable. Four stars this time - I look forward to reading the next book with hopefully a fresher take on the plot and avoidance of the overcrowding back story of Manon.
Four Stars

The story follows police officer Manon Bradshaw as she deals with a cadaver found hanging close by the police station she works at. All evidence points to murder and as she investigated with her team she is led to a Lithuanian community.

Matis is from Lithuania and after seeing an advert offering good pay in England he begs his best friend Lukas to come with him and make some money for his parents. When they reach England they’re taken to a house where there are lots of other Lithuanians in the same situation. Their passports, bank cards and documents are taken off them and they are forced to live in dirty conditions and work until they drop. This wasn’t the life he’d hoped for and things only seem to get worse.

I’ve really liked reading this book. On reading the acknowledgments at the back I see that the author has done a lot of research into modern day slavery and the book is based on real exploitation cases. I have to say it was a real eye opener, you see these things on the news but to read it from the immigrants point of view is quite sad. To think they thought they were coming to England to get a good job and settle down when in reality it was nothing like that. A very sad and illuminating story.