Reviewed by Keith Mbuya for Readers' Favorite

When her ninety-eight-year-old aunt Gretchen “Gret” Prescot dies of an overdose of her medication, sixty-five-year-old Lyric Adler believes Gret was murdered. Her three cousins, on the other hand, seem to believe the old woman may have mistakenly overdosed herself. Lyric hires her friend Vett Brayborn, a private detective, to investigate her aunt’s demise. A lot of details about the case leave Vett with raised eyebrows. Before her demise, Aunt Gret had changed her will, making Lyric the biggest benefactor of her multi-million-dollar estate, and her cousins the recipients of a small fraction of the estate. Lyric’s cousins did not hide their displeasure. Lyric also claims she is ready to share heavy secrets she has been keeping about her aunt. As Vett picks up and follows clues, she finds herself digging through thick layers of lies and secrets in the family, while brushing with a string of murders as she races to nab and reveal Aunt Gret’s murderer. Find out more in Dr. Sandra Tanner’s Silenced by the Promise: A Vett Brayborn Murder Mystery.

With vivid depictions, Tanner dropped me right into the middle of the affairs of a family entrenched neck-deep in dark secrets, unforgivable lies, sibling rivalry, domestic violence, generational trauma, and trapped in the shadows of murder, blackmail, and betrayal. The suspense had me turning from page to page for answers. Every time I thought I had solved a part of the mystery, I would be treated to plot twists, some of which I never saw coming, which left me with more questions than answers. Tanner brings out the cast’s emotions, anchors the grip on reality, and allows me to connect with the cast. Vett is a savvy, persistent, intuitive detective who will go out of her way and even put her life on the line just to get her facts right and solve mysteries. Lovers of slow-burn murder mystery novels will find Dr. Sandra Tanner’s Silenced by the Promise an enthralling read.