The Silent Ones

'All you have to do is find out why Harry is prepared to blame an innocent man. That's the thread. Follow it. You'll reach the Silent Ones. This is your way - our way - of making a difference.'

With this challenge from Father Edmund Littlemore, Anselm returns to the Old Bailey to fight the most difficult and troubling case of his life. The man in the dock is Littlemore himself. He is charged with grave offences against Harry Brandwell who, it seems, is both a victim and a liar. But he's the only link to these others who've chosen silence over their right to justice.

Unknown to Anselm, Robert Saunders, a journalist, has been investigating Littlemore's background. And he's a man with a troubled past, always on the move, from Boston in the USA to Freetown in Sierra Leone, finally running from a London police station rather than explain himself. More disturbingly, Robert uncovers details of a carefully planned scheme to entice Anselm back into court, exploiting his reputation for honesty to secure a shock acquittal.

Meanwhile Harry Brandwell - abused, abandoned and betrayed - has decided to take matters into his own hands.

THE SILENT ONES examines the one crime that Church, State and Family thought they could hide in their own best interests; Anselm's return is a compelling novel about the anatomy of silence, the courage of victims and the redemptive power of public justice.

“Another masterpiece”

The Silent Ones, a superior work with interlocking elements of courtroom drama, psychological study and corruption exposé, might best be called a moral thriller. Mr. Brodrick...tells his complex story from several characters' points of view. Deeds, motives, sins and crimes are all up for analysis from various angles. The result is an unpredictable work, by turns shocking, poignant, enlightening and inspired Wall Street Journal
The Lady
Secrets and lies by omission play out amid expertly executed plot lines and deeply thought-provoking situations . . . Sophisticated prose elevates this timely, painful tale Publishers Weekly

William Brodrick was born in Bolton, Lancashire in 1960. Aged ten the family moved first to Australia and then Canada. He studied philosophy, theology and law, worked with homeless people in London, and then became a barrister, joining a set of chambers in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

He is the author of six Father Anselm novels. The Sixth Lamentation, was a Richard and Judy Book Club Selection, A Whispered Name won the CWA Gold Dagger for 2009 and The Day of the Lie received the Granice Crime Fiction Award at the Krakow Book Fair in 2012. Forced Confessions, the third book in the Benson and de Vere series, was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger in 2021. He is married with three children. The family live in Normandy, France.

Find out why Harry is prepared to blame an innocent man. That's the thread. Follow it. You'll reach the Silent Ones. Eleven-year-old Harry Brandwell, obviously in great distress, refuses to talk. What, or who, is holding him back? When a homeless man arrives unexpectedly at Larkwood Priory, the community welcomes him with open arms. But he isn't what he seems: he knows why Harry won't speak. Father Anselm finds himself on the trail of an impostor, unaware that he is being drawn into the shadows of a mysterious conspiracy, his reputation for integrity exploited by those closest to him. With his attempts to pursue justice thwarted at every turn, it is clear that there are those who eagerly await his downfall. As he is lured into the courtroom to defend a man he believes to be innocent, Anselm begins to doubt his own judgment. Meanwhile Harry Brandwell, abandoned and betrayed, has decided to take matters into his own hands. But Anselm is completely unsuspecting. He's in the dark, seeking the Silent Ones . . .

'All you have to do is find out why Harry is prepared to blame an innocent man. That's the thread. Follow it. You'll reach the Silent Ones. This is your way - our way - of making a difference.'With this challenge from Father Edmund Littlemore, Anselm returns to the Old Bailey to fight the most difficult and troubling case of his life. The man in the dock is Littlemore himself. He is charged with grave offences against Harry Brandwell who, it seems, is both a victim and a liar. But he's the only link to these others who've chosen silence over their right to justice.Unknown to Anselm, Robert Saunders, a journalist, has been investigating Littlemore's background. And he's a man with a troubled past, always on the move, from Boston in the USA to Freetown in Sierra Leone, finally running from a London police station rather than explain himself. More disturbingly, Robert uncovers details of a carefully planned scheme to entice Anselm back into court, exploiting his reputation for honesty to secure a shock acquittal.Meanwhile Harry Brandwell - abused, abandoned and betrayed - has decided to take matters into his own hands. THE SILENT ONES examines the one crime that Church, State and Family thought they could hide in their own best interests; Anselm's return is a compelling novel about the anatomy of silence, the courage of victims and the redemptive power of public justice.

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