Dying Voices

by Laura Wilson

Dodie Blackstock, child of a multimillionaire, was only eight when her mother was kidnapped. The rescue attempt went disastrously wrong, and no body was ever found. Now Dodie is twenty-nine, and her mother's body has just been discovered - but she has only been dead for forty-eight hours.

Dodie returns to the family home and begins to piece together the fragments of her mother's life, whilst trying to come to terms with her own troubled past. But someone is watching her every move...

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

293 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Laura Wilson is an English crime-writer based in London, where she was born and raised. She has degrees in English Literature form Somerville College, Oxford, and University College London, and has worked as a teacher and editor of non-fiction.

Many of her novels have either a historical setting or a distinct historical connection, and often have split or dual narratives. Her first novel, A Little Death was shortlsited for a CWA Dagger award, and her fifth, The Lover was short listed for both the CWA Gold Dagger and the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger.

Reviews

[k masterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Nice little mystery novel with enough going on to keep you intrigued. Downside, found the Jimmy/ Dodie relationship very silly and unbelievable

[tinalouisereadsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Dodie Blackstock, only child of multi-millionaire Wolf Blackstock, is told that her mother's body has been found in a housing estate in Hackney, she is shocked. When she is told that her mother, Susan, has been dead for less than 48 hours, she is devastated. For Susan was kidnapped, apparently by a politically motivated group, when Dodie was nine. Susan was never found, and she was presumed dead. Traumatised by her lonely childhood, Dodie has been estranged from her dysfunctional and complicated family for years. She returns to Camoys Hall, the Blackstock's stately home, to talk to her step-mother Joan, who lives there by herself. But Dodie finds more than she bargained for - and then she starts to receive anonymous and threatening letters. Who it is who's waiting in the darkness outside Camoys Hall, watching her every move...?

My Thoughts:

Another great thriller from Laura Wilson. This time a young woman finds that her mother dead body is discovered but shw was always under the impression that her mother had been kidnapped and killed.

Laura Wilson is a brilliant writer and her thrillers always have that darker edge to them. There is always plenty of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end. I never guessed who in this case who the ‘baddie’ was. If the culprit was who I thought he was then this story would have had an even darker twist, but it turned out to be another character. Oh well !

[Lizzie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dodie, only daughter of multi-millionaire Wolf Blackstock, was only eight years old when her mother was kidnapped. Despite attempts by the family and police to get Susan back, no body was ever found. Since that time, Dodie has been estranged from her father, who has continued to live at the Blackstock's stately home Camoys Hall, with his second wife Joan.

Following the death of her father, whilst Dodie, now twenty-nine, is attempting to come to terms with the vast fortune left by him, she is called to identify her mother's body, which has just been found. Her mother has been dead less than forty eight hours!

Reeling from this shock, Dodie turns to Joan for answers, but cannot contact her. In desperation she telephones Des, a close friend of her father's, with whom she has also been estranged for some years, but to whom she now looks for answers.

This is Laura Wilson's second book, and it is terrific. After her first book A Little Death I couldn't imagine what she would come up with, but this is rich in subterfuge and to arrive at the truth Dodie must peel away layers of deceit.

There was a point at which I put the book down and thought 'Who do I trust? It must all be lies. This is a compelling read. Highly recommended.
------
Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

[Aliceinwonderlandbooksblog · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai bien apprécié ce roman, même si les rebondissements n'étaient pas incroyables. Cependant, je n'ai pas pu le lâcher tant que je n'étais pas arrivée à la fin. Les personnages sont bien dessinés et campés, l'héroïne attachante et réaliste. Je ne sais pas si l'oeuvre me restera longtemps en mémoire mais la lecture a été plaisante !

[Peggy Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this as a free book with my Sony Reader. The language is a bit British, but not still readable. This was an incredibly complicated mystery. I'm not sure things were really resolved at the end, since it seemed to me the heroine still had a huge pile of issues to work through. The characters were very well drawn, I will say, but the plot was incredibly convoluted. I don't think I'll be seeking out other works from this author.

[Peggy Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this as a free book with my Sony Reader. The language is a bit British, but not still readable. This was an incredibly complicated mystery. I'm not sure things were really resolved at the end, since it seemed to me the heroine still had a huge pile of issues to work through. The characters were very well drawn, I will say, but the plot was incredibly convoluted. I don't think I'll be seeking out other works from this author.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I think I liked this. I picked it up because I read a novel by this author last year and enjoyed her style. While her style is there it is obvious that this was a very early work.
I liked the story, but found it horribly confusing. I kept forgetting who the characters were. Also there were a lot of words for a fairly slender storyline.
It hasn't put me off, she writes really well, but her later stuff is definitely better. This was written by someone still honing their skills.

[Rachel Brand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Dodie Blackstock's mother was kidnapped when Dodie was eight but her mother's body was never found. Now, twenty-one years later the body has finally turned up - and her mother has only been dead for fourty-eight hours. A mixture between a mystery and a crime this is a really enthralling read, definitely recommended even if you don't usually read books from this genre. 9/10

[Gwendolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good. Complex and interesting.

[Johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot line had a lot of potential, but the character development is just too poor.

[Viktoriya · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a OK mystery. I said OK and not good because the whole conlusion and resolution felt weak. It was nicely written, I liked the characters, but I did expect a little more in the end.

[Adanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very slow... I was halfway through and still....nothing.

[J]

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