NHFT Virtual book club meeting #42 – The Chemistry of Death

Following our visit to the remote mountainous range, the Appalachians where a father and daughter lived with no electricity, no family or connection to the outside world whilst reckoning with ghosts of their past in These Silent Woods

by Kimi Cunningham Grant; we move on to our next read - 'the skin crawlingly frightening David Hunter thriller' The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett. 

Dr David Hunter hoped he might at last have put the past behind him. But then they found what was left of Sally Palmer . . . 

It isn't just that she was a friend that disturbs him. Once he'd been a high-profile forensic anthropologist and all too familiar with the many faces of death, before tragedy made him abandon this previous life. 

Now the police want his help. 

But to become involved will stir up memories he's long tried to forget. Then a second woman disappears, plunging the close-knit community into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia. And no one, not even Hunter, is exempt from suspicion. 

Gruesome and gripping, this startling new British crime thriller has an unnerving and original twist. 

"A classy debut." The Times 

"Best thriller I've read all year." Tess Gerritsen 

We’ll be meeting on Thursday 9 January 2025 via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the events calendar on the Staff Room. 

We look forward to seeing you…

NHFT virtual book club meeting #41 – These Silent Woods

 

After our Halloween spooky read of the most chilling and compelling ghost story of the year, Thin Air by Michelle Paver we are heading to another mountainous range, the remote Appalachians where a father and daughter live and must reckon with ghosts of their past in These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant.

No electricity, no family, no connection to the outside world.

For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. And that's exactly the way Cooper wants it, because he's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin's shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness. But she's starting to push back against the sheltered life Cooper has created for her-and he's still haunted by the painful truth of what it took to get them there.

The only people who know they exist are a mysterious local hermit named Scotland, and Cooper's old friend, Jake, who visits each winter to bring them food and supplies. But this year, Jake doesn't show up, setting off an irreversible chain of events that reveals just how precarious their situation really is. Suddenly, the boundaries of their safe haven have blurred-and when a stranger wanders into their woods, Finch's growing obsession with her could put them all in danger. After a shocking disappearance threatens to upend the only life Finch has ever known, Cooper is forced to decide whether to keep hiding-or finally face the sins of his past.

Vividly atmospheric and masterfully tense, These Silent Woods is a poignant story of survival, sacrifice, and how far a father will go when faced with losing it all.

 

"Your next must read". --Country Living

"Gorgeously written, taut and compelling". --John Hart, bestselling author of The Hush

 

We’ll be meeting on Thursday 28 November via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel.  You can find the link via the events calendar on the Staff Room.

 

We look forward to seeing you…