Mystery Scene Review

The Price of Silence by Camilla Trinchieri
Soho, June, 2007

Emma Perotti, the main character in The Price of Silence, is a college teacher in her 50s, accused of a particularly gruesome murder. The story is told from her point of view, alternating with third person records of her trial, and first-person passages from her husband Tom and son Josh. The only significant character in the book who does not have a direct voice is the victim, a young Asian woman whose name was--or perhaps was not--An-ling. She left emails, most of them enigmatic.

Emma teaches ESL (English as a second language) courses, part-time. She is a damaged woman, due to the tragic loss of her daughter 2-year-old in an accident for which Emma blames herself. An-ling, who seems to Emma particularly needy, but whom the reader suspects early on to be calculating, becomes a grown-up substitute for the lost daughter.

This is a gripping, tension-filled novel about the consequences of loss, particularly loss that occurs within a family. Not an easy read, but skillfully written and moving, a novel that will stay with you whether you want it to or not.

- Dianne Day

This review appeared in the Summer 2007 issue (#100) of the magazine