The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen

Every crime scene tells a story. Some keep you awake at night. Others haunt your dreams. The grisly display homicide cop Jane Rizzoli finds in Boston’s Chinatown will do both.

In the murky shadows of an alley lies a female’s severed hand. On the tenement rooftop above is the corpse belonging to that hand, a red-haired woman dressed all in black, her head nearly severed. Two strands of silver hair—not human—cling to her body. They are Rizzoli’s only clues, but they’re enough for her and medical examiner Maura Isles to make the startling discovery: that this violent death had a chilling prequel.Nineteen years earlier, a horrifying murder-suicide in a Chinatown restaurant left five people dead. But one woman connected to that massacre is still alive: a mysterious martial arts master who knows a secret she dares not tell, a secret that lives and breathes in the shadows of Chinatown. A secret that may not even be human. Now she’s the target of someone, or something, deeply and relentlessly evil.Cracking a crime resonating with bone-chilling echoes of an ancient Chinese legend, Rizzoli and Isles must outwit an unseen enemy with centuries of cunning—and a swift, avenging blade.GOODREADS

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Series: Rizzoli & Isles #9

In comparison to the last Rizzoli and Isles novel, Ice Cold, this one wasn't as chilling or frightening. However in it's own right it's as mysterious and interesting and surprising as any of the books in this series.

It starts with Maura on the witness stand against a cop. This raises an interesting topic about  cop killings. The cop on the stand is on trial because he beat up and killed a cop killer. So here we have Maura testifying against the cop (explaining her findings in the autopsy) this doesn't sit well with the Boston PD , who have never really liked her. They now see her as a traitor and treat her coldly. This is interesting because it reflects on Jane and Maura's differences. I won't try and explain Jane because she's just too much work , Maura on the other hand is all about the facts. She even says in the book that she's there to speak for the dead. This is also why the book is called The Silent Girl:
-  There was an incident where a man( the cook) allegedly  went postal and killed several people in  the restaurant he was working in then killed himself. This incident happened in Chinatown and is called the Red Phoenix case. Maura follows up on some leads and finds some new evidence that shows that there was another person in the kitchen. A little girl, the cook's daughter, who heard everything and knew what really happened, The Silent Girl.

Another reason  I enjoyed this book was getting to reacquaint myself with my favorite characters again. Gabriel (Rizzoli's husband) shows up after Jane gets shot and he's worried about her and wants her off the case. Although this is a thriller there's always an underlying romantic feel to these books (my opinion) which I like.

Rat , the boy who had saved Maura in Ice Cold, also returns in this book . He's visiting Maura from school. He points out the inconsistencies in the Red Phoenix case which lead to finding the Silent Girl.

Then there's Barry Frost, Rizzoli's partner. He's wife has recently left him and he's like a lost puppy.He's a good guy, charming and gentlemen like. He has a charming way with old ladies aswell (especially in this book). This character will charm you as a reader aswell. Although I did find it annoying because .I kept thinking Bary was Mrs Fang's reincarnated husband.(or maybe I was wishing it).

I loved how the story of the Monkey King was incorporated into this book and used as an instrument for justice. It was also surprising to find out who the actual Monkey King was, it was not a person but 3 people in turns. Mrs fang , Bella. and they aren't the ones that caught me of guard. Johnny Tam is the third person. In the beginning it's said that Wu Weimin (the cook) had a son by another woman. I completely forgot this and was so surprised that agent Tam was in on it. Tam is also a detective and had joined Jane's team from the beginning and new what was happening every step. Tam's character is new and will be joining Jane's team . Tam is dark and mysterious and has awesome eyes (although this is a book and I have never seen his eyes).

 I kept picturing Tam as agent Cho from The Mentalist for some reason( no, it's probably because of that episode where he went undercover as a casanova).












With that being said I'm really looking forward to reading more about Tam in future books.

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