Fantastic book that had me gripped throughout. I didn’t realise this was a series and as a result of this have bought the other books. I was saddened to read of the authors health at the end of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Brilliant. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Third in the series of the Detective Inspector Manon Bradshaw trilogy. (I hadn't read the rest, but I will do now) At first, I found it bit confusing to know what is going on. As I did not know the back story, but I soon got into it. Well-written, great characters full of intrigue. A great read.

This is the third book in the DI Manon Bradshaw series but my first. The story begins when Bradshaw is taking her two-year-old son for a walk in the park and discovers a man hanging from a tree. The note makes it unclear whether it is suicide or murder. All the note says is ‘The Dead Cannot Speak’.
It is clear that Bradshaw is feeling pretty washed out, middle-aged, having a young son and a teenager, dealing with her husband’s illness and continuing working, be it on cold cases. That was until now. Now Bradshaw is put as the lead in solving what has happened to the dead man, an immigrant called Lukas.
The story drops back to follow how he and his best friend on how they came to leave the home town that held no real future for them in Lithuania and head for the UK. The horrors of falling for the sweet talk of a ruthless gang promising wealth and opportunity. What they got was their passports taken from them, told they owed huge debits and enforced to living in disgusting conditions, little food and long hours doing work no-one else wanted. The pair, along with their housemates were forced to catch chickens with no protection or thought of their well being. People fell ill and simply disappeared. Leaving wasn’t an option. Leave and your family gets a visit.
This is a gritty hard-hitting story that you just know goes on all over the country. It is big business that keeps migrants as slaves like hamsters in a wheel that they can’t get off. The migrants are hated as locals protest about them taking over the areas they live in, bringing house prices tumbling. It seems that everyone wants to get on the bandwagon and have a chunk of them. The migrants are living in misery.
It is not all doom and gloom as Bradshaw certainly has her moments. She is witty with her one-liners and had the ability to make me laugh with her look on life and what to do about it.
A very well written hard-hitting story that left me feeling quite helpless.
I wish to thank the publisher and NetGalley for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

A great contemporary setting for a murder mystery. Well-written and researched, plus a set of characters I really cared about. I will look for more books by this author.

I really enjoyed this book. It seems on the surface to be a standard police procedural but is brought ot life by the quality of the writing. The characters are very likeable and realistically portrayed. I liked the ordinariness and messiness of their lives. The plot about the death of an immigrant worker was good - interesting, relevant and well written. I would read another one of these if there is to be a series. Very good.

I had not previously encountered this author and requested this book due to the description, but I was glad I did. The book is gripping from start to finih and keeps you absolutely hooked.

A body is found hanging in a tree. It is unclear whether it is murder or suicide. The book focuses around Lithuanian immigrants and the dark unseen world. Fascinating insight and really sensitively written. The book follows the lives of different characters as DI Manon Bradshaw looks to uncover the truth. Really excellent crime novel and would really recommend. Plenty of twists and turns.

Definitely recommend this one. It is such a good read I haven’t wanted to put this one down. Devoured in just one sitting

Absolutely cracking read, really interesting as the current information around modern slavery and human trafficking is something I am both horrified and moved by.
Manon is a really good character, very realistic as a person and I could understand her reluctance to fully engage with her partner's cancer.
The sadness of the case she investigates was moving and tragic. I'm glad she cracked it in the end.

This was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. It is the first Manon Bradshaw police procedural that I have read and it certainly will not be the last.

I loved the main character who was sympathetically drawn and the plot was realistic and drew me in from the beginning.

The quality of writing was taut and excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This is so much more than a crime novel: the characterisation is fantastic, and issues such as modern day slavery are described in such detail, it is quite difficult to read. Manon, the main character, has a sharp sense of humour, and her take on marriage is brilliant. I absolutely this book. ,

Sometimes all it takes is reading about another person’s struggle to allow space for you to accept your own struggle. In the third book following Manon Bradshaw, Manon is really struggling. On the work front, she is investigating the death of an immigrant at a time when she feels like the entire country hates immigrants. At home, she is overwhelmed, exhausted, and just generally done. For me, in this book, the crime was not really of interest. It was visiting Manon, Davy, and the rest of the familiar faces again that kept my attention. I’ve been having a hard time focusing the last few weeks, so it was nice to go back to someone I felt like I knew.

Plenty of twists and turns. No idea how it would pan out. Great pertinent story of today’s England. It made me think!

Third in this crime series featuring police detective Manon Bradshaw. Now married with a toddler Teddy. While out on a walk she comes across the body of a Lithuanian migrant worker hanging from a tree. Is it murder or suicide? Manon is on the case. Well written enjoyable read.

This third Manon Bradshaw book lived up to expectations. Manon is the most "human" character I have come across recently. She battles family life as a middle aged mother of a toddler and teenager, going through the motions of life with her long term partner, while balancing life as a police officer. She's appointed SIO of a murder enquiry and has to return to full time working, at the same time as her partner is experiencing health issues. Manon is frequently overhelmed by all that is happening in her life, but her instinctive policing never leaves her. She is blunt and forthright, and this doesn't always make her popular, but she'll speak out for her team. I also love the setting, having lived in the Huntingdon area for a few years, I have fond memories of this part of the country and it's great to picture familiar landmarks - my son was born in Hinchingbrooke. I can't wait for the next in the series and have images of Manon battling the menopause with all its attendant hot flushes, anxiety, weight gain and brain fog! #netgalley #remainsilent

The third in the brilliant DI Manon Bradshaw series, this is part detective novel and part exposure of the high price some East European farm labourers are paying to bring us cheap meat and vegetables. Manon is called in to investigate when she finds a young Lithuanian man hanging from a tree while out for a walk with her young son. It looks like suicide but a note pinned to his trouser leg suggests otherwise. Her instincts lead her to delve into the horrible world of gang masters trafficking young Lithuanians to work as virtual slaves catching chickens for slaughter whilst running the gauntlet of a racist group who want them to stop taking British jobs. The story is heart-breaking in parts and left me determined to never buy cheap supermarket chicken again, but at the same time the humour that comes out in some of Manon’s battles with her ambitious boss who would rather see crimes go unpunished than risk upsetting the powers that be means it is never maudlin.

Another excellent installment in this series. Manon is so human, so flawed and relatable that it makes theses novels really easy to read, as if you're catching up with a friend.

The investigation also runs smoothly, even with the addition of a nuisance--a new boss. Fly has just a minor participation here and there but it's so good to keep up with this wonderful boy, to see how he is growing up.

The whole Lithuanian situation was absolutely heartbreaking. Lukas is a magnificent character and he moved me to tears from the beginning.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with and ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The third book in the Manon Bradshaw series, sees our protagonist return a little older and now married, with her older adopted son Fly doing his GCSE's and a toddler named Freddy.  Currently working 3 days a week and on cold cases, the fewer days suits her but the lack of urgency in her new role doesn't.

Whilst out one day with Freddy she stumbles across the dead body of a Lithuanian migrant, tied to a tree with a strange note attached.  She calls it in and later finds herself assigned to the case along with her old colleague Davy.  Is it a murder or Suicide?

This new book gives us a Manon full of dry wit and some great one liners.  The way the author combines Manon's love for and skill at her job, but also the moments when she just feels like life's just one big pain in the the backside brings such a realness to the character.  

The case Manon finds herself assigned to is a very real and deeply unpleasant one, looking at a group of migrants housed by illegal gang masters,sleeping on filthy mattresses, threatened, beaten and used to work for no pay.  The description of this is dealt with sensitively but Manon and Davy's humour help balance the book out.

It's a slower paced story that concentrates more on the characters than the action but there are well portrayed and very believable scenes of hostility and rent-a-mob type actions taking place within the town.

As with the other books Manon's personal life slips in and out of the story with this book mainly focusing on her marriage to Mark.  We don't hear much about Fly, who is studying for his GCSE's but we meet her youngest, Freddy, who seems a delight!  You do not need to have read the previous books to follow the story line but they really do give you more of a connection and feeling for the family if you have and make for a great series and a very likeable character to follow.

What is it that makes the DS Manon Bradshaw series such good drama? Quite a lot, actually. This is the third book containing our brutally honest heroine and the quality is as exceptional as ever. In Manon we have a woman struggling to balance the demands of work and home life with a toddler, a teenager and an ailing partner. Working part time in cold cases has helped to keep her head above water but that changes when she finds an Eastern European migrant worker hanging in a tree dead. Back in the middle of the action as SIO investigating the death is her role going forward, much to her delight.

Manon is a wholly unvarnished, completely flappable, slightly overweight woman in her mid forties who misses the better days of her past when she was unencumbered and didn't feel the onset of old age every time she climbs out of bed in the morning. We, as the reader, have access to her every worry and thought. Flattering? Not in the least but it is honest and purely Manon. She can be a bit gobby and bossy, too, and is as close to a real flawed person as you are likely to meet in a work of fiction. I love her dearly. I can relate with the issues she is dealing with on a personal level and adore her on again/off again views of the world that change with the weather, circumstance and hormones as well.

These books are worth reading solely for her but that isn't all that's gold. In this outing we take a deep dive into the trafficking of Eastern European migrant workers. This is a horrible industry that needs cleaning up pronto as it's on par with inhumanities China perpetrates regularly. I have not thought migrant workers could be treated so badly and kept as indentured servants living and working in such awful conditions. It's painful, heart-wrenching stuff. Seeing the state of the world through the eyes of migrant workers is a real eye opener that adds to the depth of realism this book exudes. Not only is the story strong, the personal development of the main characters is pitch perfect in its detail and fine tuning. There is much here to appreciate as this series goes from strength to strength giving readers a novel we can invest in emotionally.

An outstanding thriller:
Third in the DS Manon Bradshaw series, "Remain Silent" is thrilling, boasts an original plot and great characterisation. Whilst many thrillers of late feature illegal immigration as the core crime, Susie Steiner does this in a singularly unique manner. As the novel progresses Susie Steiner places the reader side by side with the immigrants as they seek a way out of their miserable plight. The reader is immersed in the terrible lifestyle forced on many by criminal gangs.
Meanwhile DS Manon Bradshaw is desperately trying to unravel a message left by a murder victim as to the perpetrator of the crime. Will she solve the clue before other immigrant lives are needlessly lost?
This is a fine novel, which brings the living conditions and lifestyle of the immigrant to the fore, and is one of the best thrillers I've read in a long time. I would, without hesitation, recommend "Remain Silent" to others.