Isla Frost returns to her childhood home when she hears that her father is dying. She has never forgiven him for her mother leaving and now the past is catching up with them both. A body is found on the estate, discovered by a schizophrenic villager. What other secrets will be revealed…?
Whispers is a wonderful mixture of spooky tale and police murder mystery.
Isla’s childhood memories are tainted by the night her mother disappeared, possibly running away with a man from the village. Now she has returned to find her dad just as harsh and emotionally distant as before. Her aunt is desperate to protect them both but acts as abrasively as her brother. The repressed emotion vibrates from their interactions and I waited with tredipation for an explosive revelation.
There are secrets galore amongst the villagers and I loved the interconnected stories. The past haunts most of the characters and there is also a significantly spooky feel to the book. The police element of the book is also strong, with interrogation and procedural features.
I found myself swept up in the story, wanting to find out the various truths that are being hidden and uncover the facts about the murder. In my opinion, the whispers in the title refer to the whispers of the past: half remembered things in Isla’s case and people’s voices in her dreams and the thoughts of her schizophrenic neighbour. Ghosts speaking metaphorically or literally…?
Whispers is a very enjoyable book that skilfully combines a haunted atmosphere with a police investigation.
Whispers book blurb
Ten years have passed since Isla Frost left the family manor. The past; a hidden memory comes to her in jolts. She blames one man for all that has happened. Her father, a cold brittle man who is now facing his mortality. Isla has returned to care for him. However, things are about to take a dark sinister turn.
A body has been found. Deep beneath the rocks of a cut off underpass. The rotten corpse of a long forgotten victim. So begins a quest for truth that will have Isla questioning everybody and everything she knows.
Old friendships are tested, family ties unbound, and Isla finds herself in the mouth of danger. What happened to her mother? Is her father a killer? How many other people need to die to protect a killer?
A tense stand-alone novel that lurks on the periphery of the haunted house genre, ‘Whispers,’ will delve into the secrets of the past to unveil a murderous conspiracy.
Billy McLaughlin is a Scottish born writer with 8 books currently under his belt. Four of the books, including 2019’s serial killer thriller, ‘Four,’ are part of the DI Phil Morris Mysteries. His first full length novel, ‘Lost Girl,’ arrived in May 2016 and has gone on to achieve more than 15,000 downloads. The follow up, ‘In the Wake of Death,’ has received rave reviews for it’s dark tone and psychological elements.
His most downloaded book came in the form of 2017’s, ‘The Dead of Winter,’ a novella that focuses as much on the broken relationships of a small community as it does the crime itself. One reader described it as being like ‘a full series of Broadchurch.’ Once again, praise was leveled at the atmospheric tone with another reader suggesting that the material would work well as a movie.
Billy is passionate about reading but recognises the need for bite-sized thrillers for people who enjoy reading but simply don’t have the time. As he begins works on his ninth book, he finds himself even more excited about the writing process. ‘The Blood Runs Darker,’ arrived in December 2020. A new collection of short stories arrived in December 2021 and his 11th publication, ‘Whispers,’ came along on Christmas Day 2021.
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