Hear No Evil: Shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger 2023

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As Robert treads a fine line between interpreter and investigator, he becomes absolutely determined to clear her name before it is too late. Soon after her arrest, the Glasgow police discovered their prisoner was deaf, could not speak and thus could not tell her side of the story. Then again, the author of this book is a hearing woman and I probably would have disliked it a lot she had written a book focussing solely on a d/Deaf perspective. As a reader, one starts to realise the sheer attentiveness involved in following sign language, and even then it can still seem puzzling.

This was an interesting read, however it unfortunately failed to consistently hold my attention, the pacing was just a little too slow and seemed at odds with the urgency of the matter at hand. As for the character we primarily follow through the narrative-Robert Kinniburgh-I struggled to get a firm grasp on his character, he was regularly outshone by the supporting cast of characters. The details of her existence is brought vividly to life and Smith shows us that she was strong and full of dignity despite being so disenfranchised. As he goes about trying to establish what really happened to Campbell in Glasgow, Smith seems to be painting him more and more as a person completely rooted in his times.Based on a case from Scottish legal history, Smith's novel skilfully combines crime fiction with a woman's struggle to speak the truth. Alongside that, there are wonderful sensory descriptions of life at that time in urban Scotland - I can still smell the streets!

Kinniburgh has the difficult task of unravelling Jean's story, immersing himself in the legal machinery of the Edinburgh court, and retracing Jean’s life up till that moment on the bridge. Add the alleged crime of child murder and the fact the suspect is deaf, and you have a great and complex subject to reveal.But as the novel shows, the appearance of respectability is not the same as its reality, and it is often the most vulnerable, like Jean Campbell, who are the victims of upper-class venality. Jean Campbell, a young deaf woman, was brought to the Edinburgh court for throwing her baby into the river - a number of witnesses were sure they saw just that. Thank goodness there were enlightened people like Robert Kinniburgh who were determined that people who were deaf should be fully included in society. The book really shines a light on the difficulties of communication for the deaf community before there was a formalised sign language.