After the Silence is a seriously creepy crime thriller that lures you in with a Siren song before you realise that it's actually nothing like you might have expected. The premise is simple, for ten years the mystery of one of the island's most popular girls turning up dead has remained unsolved. There are lots of theories, but no answers. Now a documentary team is coming to the island to try to clear up the mystery one and for all. The Kinsella's have more to lose and more to gain from this documentary, as they try to clear the family name whilst keeping their own skeletons under lock and key.

But this isn't just a murder mystery, in fact for the majority of the novel the murder itself is in the background as O'Neill digs into the lives of her characters. What O'Neill does exceptionally well is draw the different faces of abusive relationships - some of which we are already more than aware of, but others are more insidious and lurk beneath the surface. In terms of the actual mystery, it's a very slow burn novel. But O'Neill uses that space to build up the relationship between Henry and Keelin Kinsella, a relationship where things feel subtly wrong from the beginning and those alarm bells keep on ringing through to the end.

The tension in the novel comes less from the gradual build-up to the final whodunnit, and more from the dysfunctional relationships on display. Keelin thinks she has everything she ever wanted; she escaped a severely violent relationship with her young son and then found Henry. Henry has the looks, the charm and the money, but the entire relationship revolves around him. I was more interested in seeing whether Keelin came to her senses than I was about the murder, but that's all right. It's not what I was expecting, but it made for a deeply uncomfortable read that kept me turning the pages.

Could more have been done with the murder mystery? Yes, almost certainly. Nessa's character is really underwhelming; the blonde, popular pixie girl beloved by everyone on the island but with no real character or flair. I saw the ending coming from a mile off, and I'm not usually that good at guessing culprits. The background characters including Nessa's family also felt rather flat for much of the novel. So if I was rating this as a murder mystery alone, it would have a far lower rating. But as a domestic thriller, it was disturbing and captivating and that is a good enough reason to rate it as I have.

I'm intrigued by this author, particularly as I note she has another novel which doesn't side step the important issue that ends up being the focus like she has domestic abuse here. I'll almost certainly be reading that in the future and possibly her more young adult dystopian novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this novel.

Ten years ago Henry and Keelin Kinsella had a party at their luxury home on the island of Inisrun. During the party there is a violent storm cutting off the power. The next day the body of Nessa Crowley is discovered in the garden. Who killed her? Nobody could leave the island, so the murder should be easy to solve!! Henry is to blame but no one is convicted of the crime.

Ten years later a film crew arrives to investigate wha did kill Nessa and Henry is keen to clear his name. Everyone on the island is to be interviewed, but are some secrets best kept buried!!

I love a good murder mystery. I loved that it was set in a close knit community with the storm adding a dramatical touch. I had fun looking at all the party guests trying to work out who killed Nessa.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

This is the first Louise O’Neill that I have not devoured in one sitting. It just wasn’t for me. I will keep an eye out for more of her books, I think she’s extremely talented as a writer and storyteller and for me I’m happy to put this book as a fluke, just not the right story for me. I trust her next book will be right up my alley again!

An insightful look into emotional abuse, domestic violence and gaslighting. I liked the use of the documentary as a narrative device, however I felt like the mystery element wasn’t as strong.

This a sad story of families damaged by circumstances. I found Keelin to be a woman who allowed the men in her life to rule her life to keep themselves happy. The story was well written and interesting, i was held by it. A murder story that unfoldthrough different timelines spanning several years. Unfortunately there were only 3 people that could have committed the murder, so the who dun it line was not very exciting. I waited for the end of the book, to ensure that justice was done, unfortunatly it was not.
I am sorry to say that I found this book a disappointment.

Having previously read Asking for It, I was looking forward to reading After the Silence. Unfortunately I found it to be very slow going, no redeemable characters that I could root for and ultimately ended up not finishing the book.

On the remote island of Inisrun, Nessa Crowley was found dead in the garden of the house belonging to Henry and Keelin Kinsella’s house after one of their wild parties. No one was charged with her murder and the truth stayed buried but the islanders knew who to blame. Ten years later, two documentary makers arrive with the intention of shining new light on the case and finally getting to the bottom of what really happened. Exploring the dark realities of domestic control and violence, the mystery is gradually built in pieces via interviews with various people surrounding the case and the island. It’s brave, harrowing and hauntingly realistic, making it an important read on a dark winter’s night.

Quietly Gothic.

After the SIlence is about a tight-knit community on a small island and a documentary of an historic incident.

O'Neill paints the world vividly. Her writing is engrossing and cleverly brings out the absolute worst in her characters! She has written a book about the inner tumoil of women and the lengths we go to disguise it.

It's a clever and subtle read. Slowly revealing secrets and lies. I can't decide if I liked the end of not, but I think that's probably intentional.

Thanks to Quercus and Netgalley for the chance to read and review.

Louise O'Neill books never fail to haunt me. This book will stick with me for a long time just like only ever yours.

I love love loved this book

There seems to be a lot of new books around at the moment where a group of people are trapped together and cut off from the rest of society whether in a chalet (2 so far) in the alps, or on an island and one of th party is murdered so help is not at hand. A play on the original Agatha Christie story. This was an interesting read but the characters were quite dreadful at times and I did find myself getting a little bored in places. It had an ending that disappointed me a bit, there was so much more potential there.

A gripping, atmospheric thriller. I loved this but thought the ending was unsatisfactory - although that's probably a point in itself? Lots to untangle in it and I also would love to read a sequel!

Louise O'neill's books always pack a devastating punch! Told with her trademark intelligence, this will be a huge hit with fans of 'Only Ever Yours.'

This writer has an amazing insight into the inner turmoil of women, The book is set on a small island amongst a tight knit community. An unforgettable incident occurs on the night of a bad storm. When a documentary about the incident is about to be made, the peace on the island reveals itself to be fragile. This plot is very clever and subtle and the secrets on the island and within families are slowly revealed in an extremely well crafted and well written way. I have read all of this authors books and look forward to reading more from her. Review also sent to goodreads, Instagram, Facebook and amazon. Thank you to NetGalley for this great read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus books on the arc of After the Silence by Louise O'Neill.

4 stars- This was a great read, very enjoyable and and thrilling read had me enthralled into it and hooked on every page such a page turner. It is well written and structured amazingly too.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh dear. The story was very interesting, and I *should* have enjoyed this book. The descriptions of wild and beautiful West Cork were so vivid. The problem is that Louise O’Neill excels at writing unlikeable characters and I couldn’t bring myself to finish this book.

This is a new author to me but I will certainly be looking out for more books by her. The setting is a remote island is Ireland which adds to the mystery - there are few inhabitants and everyone knows everyone else. The Kinsellas live in 'the big house' and are not popular with the locals even though Keelin is one of their own. They live quietly, separate from the locals following the death of 'One of the Crowley Girls' ten years before.Two Australians come to the island to make a documentary - with Henry's agreement - and from there we follow what led to the death of a young girl. The relationships between the Kinsella family are fraught and complicated and well portrayed.
Physical and mental abuse within marriage is investigated and relevant to the story.
I was kept guessing to the end.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Louise O'Neill/Quercus Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for this arc. I absolutely loved O'Neill YA books, Only Ever Yours and Asking for it, so was excited to read her first thriller. Unfortunately this didn't quite pull me in. It covers ground that's been told many times in this genre. I found the protagonist insipid and just wasn't drawn in. The writing itself was quite heavy-handed with its constant Irish phrases and bursts of history lessons. It's 2.5.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 as i was fully engrossed and read it very quickly. Its thought provoking, easy reading, and while dressed up as a murder mystery mainly its a story that revolves around the horror of domestic abuse (both physical and coercive). I like the way O'Neil does this with topics around women - always questioning but not heavy handed lit fic.
The whodunnit element is compelling enough throughout but ultimately not really the main reveal and resolution, and that was frustrating. I feel like the conclusion should have gone there more, either in resolving the murder or the marriage. It isn't a book where the premise can outlive the finale, and suffered for it

A dark, shocking book, delving into a years old murder, and also confronting the tricky subjects of coercive control and domestic violence. Not an easy read, but very well written.

This chilling and atmospheric unsolved mystery thriller is a gripping read that will leave you angry and shocked. Aside from trying to find out who killed a young woman on an island off the coast of western Ireland, this book deals with very important issues of domestic abuse and controlling behaviour, so please beware of those triggers! This book makes me want to scream at the main character, Keelin, to run as far as she can from her husband, but I’m also so engrossed in the story and just want to know what happens next!