Drowned Voices - Book Club Questions

Warning! These questions contain spoilers!

1. What does the term police corruption mean to you?

2. How might the characters’ lives progress from the end of this story?

3. Discuss the mother and son dynamic that exists between Janet and Will.

4. Could the situation have played out any differently if Eva had given in to Will’s demands for a second child?

5. Explore Will’s fantasy of having a son.

6. Discuss Pat Ingham’s imprisonment. To what extent do you agree with her being punished, twenty years on?

7. Talk about the reasons why Will walked away from Pat Ingham’s accusations and was originally cleared of all wrongdoing?

8. Discuss the factors that conspired to bring him to justice.

9. What involvement could Daniel Hamer and Suzannah Peterson have had in the deaths of the mother and daughter whilst Will was on holiday, if any?

10. Discuss the websites Will had been visiting in the time leading up to him going on the run.

11. In what ways did Will’s attentions towards Suzannah Peterson differ from his general opinion of women?

12. Discuss each character as to whether you see them as a victim.

13. Why might families of perpetrators be targeted by the public for their crimes?

14. What role did alcohol play in this story?

15. Discuss the relationship between Mark and Sara and why others might have been against it.

16. Talk about the possible effects of this story on the two young girls involved, Alysha and Heidi. How might the damage to them be minimalised?