Conspiracy of Silence
Non-series
Martha Powers
Review: An intriguing prologue in which a young woman, concerned about her family's medical history, learns she's adopted sets the stage for a decades-old unsolved murder mystery in Conspiracy of Silence by Martha Powers.
Clare Prentice is engaged to be married when her doctor gives her the startling news of her adoption. Though the woman she knew as her mother has recently died, and she was told her father died when she was young, she breaks off the engagement and leaves Chicago for Grand Rapids, Minnesota, a town in which her adoptive mother once lived. A reporter for a literary magazine, Clare is given an assignment by her editor that gives her a cover story for her trip: an interview with a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who happens to live in Grand Rapids. Once there she quickly discovers that her adoptive mother had a sister who was murdered in the town, presumably by her husband who subsequently committed suicide. But strange events begin to occur that suggest Clare is in danger herself, that in trying to discover her past she may be jeopardizing her future.
Conspiracy of Silence has a kind of quiet energy that keeps the pages turning despite some obvious problems with the plot. The small town setting works to the story's advantage, allowing Clare to integrate herself into the community quickly, investigating her own identity while keeping her true reason for being there largely a secret. The author adeptly incorporates several familiar plot twists that are generally successful in misdirecting the reader but unfortunately are not sufficiently developed to generate any real suspense. And there is a heavy reliance on Clare's memory returning at convenient moments and some wildly improbable coincidences to move the plot forward. Still, the whodunit aspect is handled well and as a mystery for that snowy afternoon in front of the fireplace, Conspiracy of Silence is a good choice.
Acknowledgment: Maryglenn McCombs Book Publicity provided an ARC of Conspiracy of Silence for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author …
Death Angel
Oceanview Publishing (Hardcover), October 2006
ISBN-13: 9781933515038; ISBN-10: 1933515031
Location(s) referenced in Conspiracy of Silence: Minnesota
— ◊ —
Conspiracy of Silence by Martha Powers
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 1-933515-18-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-933515-18-2
Publication Date: October 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): On a sunny day in July, Clare Prentice arrives in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Although she is on assignment to interview the town's notoriously reclusive novelist Nate Hanssen, Clare is really in search of a different story -- her story. Just months before, Clare was a bride-to-be, living in Chicago, and looking to the future. Until the day she learned her entire life had been a lie. Not only was Clare adopted, but there is no record that she or her adoptive mother ever existed. The only clue is a class ring from Grand Rapids Senior High School. Unable to get on with her future until she reconciles her past, Clare breaks off her engagement. Unraveling the mystery is like trying to sculpt fog -- until the first piece of the puzzle unexpectedly drops into place: Clare's birth mother, Lily Gundersen, was murdered in Grand Rapids. Lily's murder was one of the most talked-about events in the town's history, but no one is talking now. Clare doesn't know the whole story -- and someone intends to keep it that way.
— ◊ —