When Silence Speaks

Joan Cugell is a deaf woman who has hired Spenser.

She has been in correspondence with a man called Tyrone who has gone missing.

It seems that Tyrone was involved in embezzlement at an applied technology company that he worked for. That could be a set up.

Tyrone had discovered a way to produce counterfeit plates with lasers. The crooks realised the value of such a discovery and that placed Tyrone in danger.

It also turns out that Cugell is an agony uncle for the local newspaper. She is Uncle Frank and had fallen for Tyrone over their correspondence about a disastrous romance.

The same newspaper has also placed Spenser in danger over a diamond heist that he investigated.

There is also another woman who claims to be Tyrone's fiance, Laura Louise. The engagement that Tyrone had ended.

This one was less hard boiled and had more detective work from Spenser. This included Spenser getting some information from a mailbox company by posing as a disgruntled customer.

There is some nice acting from both Phyllis Frelich as Cugell and Caitlin O'Heaney as Laura Louise.