A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot

October 24th, 2018 Kimberly Review 26 Comments

24th Oct
A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot
A Merciful Silence
by Kendra Elliot
Series: Mercy Kilpatrick #4
Genres: Mystery
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

In the fourth book of the Wall Street Journal bestselling series, FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick must unlock the mystery of a mass murder, and the secrets of its silent witness…

For Mercy Kilpatrick, returning to rural Oregon has meant coming to terms with her roots. Raised as a prepper, Mercy is now relying on her survivalist instincts to defend her town from the people the law can’t reach. But this time, an investigation calling up a dark past for her and police chief Truman Daly may be hitting too close to home.

A rainstorm has uncovered the remains of five people—a reprise of the distinctive slaughter of two families twenty years ago. Except the convicted killer is in prison. Is this the case of a sick copycat, or is the wrong man behind bars? One person might have the answer. The lone survivor of the decades-old crimes has returned to town still claiming that she can’t remember a thing about the night she was left for dead. As the search for the truth becomes more dangerous, Mercy fears that the traumatized woman may not have buried her memories at all. She might be keeping them a secret. And there’s a price to be paid for revealing them.

MURDERMYSTERY SUSPENSE Law well written

A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot is the fourth novel in the Mercy Kilpatrick series and the darkest and strongest novel in the series to date. When the bones of a family are discovered after flooding, Mercy is reminded of a similar murder that happened over twenty years ago, but that killer is in jail. Mercy will be tested as loved ones are placed in danger and the body count continues.

A little time has passed since the previous novel, and Mercy is still recovering from her gunshot wound. The area surrounding Eagle’s Nest has had heavy rains, and a routine check of a local road by the police department discovers part of the mountainside and highway have washed away, revealing the bones of a family, two of them belonging to children. They call a forensic odontologist and Mercy, FBI Agent to the scene. When Mercy sees that the skulls show signs of being bludgeoned to death and their teeth broken she recognizes this serial killer’s signature… only he’s been in jail for twenty years.

The case in A Merciful Silence is a tough one as it involves young children. Now Mercy must look to the past to help identify the family and catch a killer. But the killers not done yet. I enjoyed the geekier aspects of the story as we studied the bones. At the end of the book, I discovered there is a character link to the author’s Bone Secrets series which has me wanting to begin the series.

As Mercy connects with the lone survivor of the first murders, Truman is dealing with his own bizarre case which will cause a major change in his life. Both soon find themselves in danger as Elliot provides twists, startling discoveries and unearths truths.

Elliot mentions in the back of the book that this book just flowed from her and you can feel it in the writing. She intimately knows her characters. Regardless of the situations they are in, the characters remain true to themselves. We see progress between Mercy and Truman. Get updates on Rose, and the community. We also get to see how appreciated Truman is in Eagle’s Nest. He really has become a member of this quirky town.

A couple of chapters are dedicated to the killer‘s POV. At first I wasn’t sure whose childhood memories we were being given, but wow. The way Elliot brought everything together and revealed the motive was impressive. Dark but impressive.

Fans of romantic suspense, thrillers, and crime cases set in rural America will enjoy this series and its characters. The romantic thread is served as a side dish to the cases, but I’ve enjoyed watching Mercy open-up, trust, and find purpose outside of surviving.

Thanks to the three-month Kindle Unlimited deal I am all caught up with the current releases in this series. There are two more books slated for release, A Merciful Fate and A Merciful Promise are scheduled to release in 2019. All the books are available in KU (which includes free Audible), eBook, Audio, and paperback.

A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot offered a suspenseful murder-mystery that ties the past to the present. #mystery Share on X
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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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26 Responses to “A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot”

  1. Northwoman

    Yes, I’ve really enjoyed this series and agree this is the most complex and best in the series so far. I am happy to know there will be a couple more. Great review as usual. Anne – Books of My Heart

    • Kimberly

      I have been enjoying this author. You’ll note I reviewed Close to the Bone, the novella series earlier this week, by the same author.

  8. Sophia Rose

    Now, see, I was recently telling someone that I found plenty on KU to enjoy and wasn’t likely to run out of good prospects any time soon. This sounds like another series that I could binge through if I kept up the service.
    You convinced me! 😉

  10. Lisa

    A strongest novel is the best suspense, surprise, and the darkest are the best books ever. I wish they would put books like this out.