Cheryl Rees-Price

Here we go again… “Frozen Minds” is not bad; but, sadly, it’s not good either.

It’s a convoluted story in which Rees-Price ventures onto thin ice; to write parts of the story from the explicit point of view, in some cases directly from the mind of a person with mental disabilities is problematic at least. I’m not sure I would call that attempt successful either.

But the story itself is already too much: Complicated to the point of implausibility. While the motivations of the perpetrator(s) might hold at least some water, the execution of their plans amounts to trying to hold water with a sieve…

Rees-Price undoubtedly means well in all she writes: From DI Winter Meadows who starts to become a team player…

»Having transferred from London eighteen months earlier, he’d found it a little too quiet at first. Now he was used to taking cases usually dealt with by uniform, and when his department needed assistance, he was never short of help. There was no “them and us” in the valleys.«

… to Blackwell who’s gaining at least a rough sketch of a character, things do evolve somewhat, compared with the first instalment. Sadly, the same cannot be said of Rees-Price’s talent as an author: Her characters are still very rough at the edges and lack nuances, subtlety, motivation and, in most cases, an actual perceptible character. Edris, for example, who was a young and hopeful newbie on the job, is now the caricature of a “young stud”. He is mostly busy ogling and flirting with same-age women and kissing Meadow’s behind.

»‘You’ve been right about everything else.’ Edris grinned.«

Poor Edris tends to tell everyone they put someone in their place. Repeatedly. With the exact same words, in the exact same context. Why am I mentioning such a detail? Because pretty much everything about Rees-Price’s writing feels strained, effortful and cumbersome, almost clunky.

I think most of her characters are shallow and stereotypical.

Not just her choice of words, repetitions, but also Meadows’ thoughts that are added verbatim to the narration in italics. That’s either a serious lack of talent or laziness. Either way, I didn’t like it.

»‘Fine,’ Jane snapped. ‘Do what you want, but please be aware that there are a number of confidential files on site containing sensitive information. I don’t want you or your officers nosing in those files.’
What was she hiding in them?«

There are also lots of loose ends and plot holes - why is a certain person anxious during a police search when nothing ever comes of it? Unexplained.

Why, ultimately, were certain choices made? Unexplained and not deductible either. Also: There were several points in the story during which it was absolutely clear to the reader what needed to be done and a hard-boiled ex-London cop doesn’t? Excuse me…
(Especially when what “needed to be done” would have amounted to just keep doing what they were doing instead of needlessly going elsewhere…)

The mystery itself, albeit badly told and needlessly complicated, was rather simply structured. The exact same plot devices have been used over and over and over. There’s absolutely nothing new. You feel like you’ve known the story and settings for a long time - just the character names have changed and the composition.

It’s sad because I liked the empathy that Rees-Price projects into Meadows (and even Blackwell, even though she’s not good enough to write him well either) for the challenged residents of the home. I especially really liked how Meadows interacts with Kevin.

And, yet, all in all, this felt like a waste of precious reading time. Bland literary fast food.

Three stars out of five and, to finish with Kevin’s words:

»‘Bye bye, Winter Man.’ Kevin grinned and climbed on the bus.«

I will not continue reading this series.

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I became aware of “The Silent Quarry” by Cheryl Rees-Price through the review of my Goodreads friend Barry. If Barry rates a mystery, police procedural or thriller highly, chances are high I’m also going to enjoy it.

I was intrigued by the novel's premise of a woman, Gwen Thomas, who survived a brutal attack as a teenager that killed her friend, but lost her memory of the event. When she starts to remember what happened, she becomes a target again. Tempted by Barry and having been looking for the next good read, I basically pounced upon it and finished it in a few hours as it’s a bit on the short side of novels.

I immediately related to DI Winter Meadows, a perceptive but reclusive detective (my wife calls me a hermit…), who tries to find the identity of the attacker before it’s too late. Beyond Meadows’ professional interest he’s further motivated by his teenage-crush on Gwen and the mutual metaphorical sparks are still flying between the two of them…

I really liked Meadows because he's empathic and kind. He’s an interesting character with a lot of (as of yet mostly hidden) depth. I also liked his interactions with his colleagues and the locals. He has a good sense of humour and a sharp mind. His casual weed consumption put a big (and, of course, entirely innocent!) grin on my face.

»He plucked a book from the shelf and opened it. The inside was hollow and held a small bag of cannabis, a grinder, tobacco, and extra-long rolling papers. He rolled a joint, plonked himself down in the armchair, and lit up.«

I also enjoyed how compassionately, fairly and understandingly Meadows treated Edris. He saw Edris’ potential and gave him a chance to prove himself which the latter immediately proved worthy of.

Gwen Thomas was also a very interesting character: Rees-Price’s depiction of Gwen felt very authentic and disarmingly honest. Gwen is disgusted with her marriage, her jerk of a cheating husband and yet she does all she can to help. Even if it puts her in danger and potentially comes at great cost to herself. I admired her courage and determination to face the truth.

There were quite a few twists that, I have to admit, I saw coming but still enjoyed - except for one that left me feeling sad…

Speaking of sad: There were a few rough edges; the interesting setting of Wales doesn’t really play a role at all. Apart from the names of the villages, this could have played anywhere rural. Apart from Edris, all of Meadows’ colleagues remain underdeveloped, indistinct and flat.

There also are a few loose ends: What is Carl Perkins going to do? What is Ariana going to do about Edris?

Nevertheless, this was an engaging, suspenseful, intelligent police procedural and certainly a good entrance into this series.

Four out of five stars.

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