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.

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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.

My Review

How would you feel if your mother had simply cleared off and left you when you were a small child? And then you never heard from her again. This is what happened to Isla 22 years ago but something doesn’t sit quite right. A vague memory comes to her from time to time, but so deeply buried that she can’t quite reach it.

Then a dead body is uncovered, buried by rocks where the old underpass used to be. But judging by the state of the corpse and the date the underpass was filled in, this is an old murder, if that’s what it is, perhaps from around the time that Isla’s mother Kathryn disappeared. Could it be her? And if so did Isla’s now terminally ill father Daniel kill her? He’s a cold, unemotional man, but would murder be a step too far?

The body was found by Louise Fisher, an elderly woman who came to the village of Bluebell to look after her ageing parents until they both died. Before that she was being cared for in a mental health facility – a sufferer from schizophrenia. Now she lives alone in her parents’ house with only her pet rats for company. I love pet rats – I don’t know why so many people don’t like them. They are friendly, intuitive and highly intelligent though they do wee a lot, often on your hand when you pick them up. Louise spent months removing the stones and dumping them in the loch, as if she knew there was a body underneath. There are secrets surrounding the body, secrets that Louise knows and will only reveal to Isla.

This is a book of secrets and lies. But who knows the truth and who is keeping things from Isla? And what is it that Isla can’t remember about the events of 22 years ago? Whispers will have you turning the pages again and again, discovering more truths and untruths, until all is finally revealed.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

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 its 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.

Follow him at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/billymclaughlinbooks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billy.mclaughlin/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bilbob20

Buy Links
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whispers-Billy-McLaughlin-ebook/dp/B09NF1CF81
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Billy-McLaughlin-ebook/dp/B09NF1CF81