A Deathly Silence

In British author Isaac’s competent third procedural featuring Det. Chief Insp. Helen Lavery (after 2015’s The Truth Will Out), Lavery, of the Hampton Homicide and Major Incident Squad, has been off work for two months following a serious injury, but she’s brought back into action to help investigate the murder of a colleague found in an abandoned factory. After a man walking his dog saw two kids fleeing from the building, he called the police, who entered and discovered Police Constable Sinead O’Donnell with her throat slit and multiple head and chest injuries. A prologue depicting two preteens coming across the body removes them from suspicion at the outset, but another member of the force becomes a person of interest: O’Donnell’s husband, Blane. Though Isaac doesn’t break new ground, she does a solid and moving job of depicting the devastating impact of the homicide on its survivors. Fans of Lynda La Plante’s Jane Tennison will be pleased. (Mar.)