Wednesday, December 13, 2023

#Bookreview of The Still Small Voice by Brenda Stanley


The Still Small Voice

By: Brenda Stanley
Publisher: Twisted Pen Publishing
Publication Date: October 2023
ASIN: B0CJ3VH28R
Reviewed by: Kathy Stickles
Review Date: December 12, 2023
The Still Small Voice is so much more than just a mystery - it pulls the reader in from the very first page. While a long-ago murder is the beginning, middle, and end of the story, the family secrets and incredible dysfunction adds so much more to the book and will hold the attention of the reader throughout.
Madison Moore has been separated from her family for a very long time due to their horrible treatment of her as well as their beliefs, which are things she could never accept. At the beginning of The Still Small Voice, Madison is stunned when her father, who is dying, asks her to return home because he must see her. Leaving her own partner, the one person who she knows loves her more than anything, Madison heads for home wondering why her father wants to see her and secretly hoping for an apology for the way her family has treated her. While her father is anxious to see her, the rest of her family does not offer a very warm reception as she walks through the door. Her mother is uncomfortable, and her siblings are adamant that she should not have come and will only bring up bad memories from the past.
As Madison tries to deal with the family dynamics and the pain she still feels at being forced out by them, she also now has to deal with a long-ago murder that her father witnessed and now wants his daughter’s help in solving. He tells Madison that he holds proof that the woman in prison for this murder is not guilty and he begs for her assistance in finding the real killer and freeing a total stranger who has confessed to the murder. As Madison attempts to deal with the heartbreak she still feels around her family as well as the rejection they pile on her, the journalist in her also wants to find out the truth and fulfill her father’s dying wish. As she begins to follow the clues left behind, Madison gets a lot more than she bargained for as she tries to save a woman she does not know, and deal with the tragedies in her own past.
In The Still Small Voice, author Brenda Stanley has given her readers an amazing mystery story along with a riveting family tale. The writing is first-rate and the plot of the story is filled with so much emotion and suspense that it's nearly impossible to stop reading. Each of the characters is well-written and the development of each, done in a slow and superb way, pulls the reader in from the very beginning as we learn more and more about each of them and their past. Between the Mormon customs, perfectly described location and culture, and the emotions of each character shown on the pages, you cannot help but be impressed with the author's writing style and ability to create the perfect tale. The reader will really feel as if they are there in the moment, and I have no higher compliment than that.
The Still Small Voice is a book that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good mystery or solid family story. Both of the topics are prevalent and combined so well that it honestly has something for everyone. This book should definitely be on everyone’s “do-not-miss-it” list.
Quill says: It is, to me, so easy to say that an author is beyond talented when they can combine tons of emotion, suspense, family dynamics, and mystery into one story. The Still Small Voice is a perfect example of this and will leave readers searching for their own sense of what is right and what is wrong as they turn the pages.
For more information on The Still Small Voice, please visit the author's website at: https://brendastanleybooks.net/

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