Hiding from the world in her little white cottage on the shores of a loch, Annie Jackson is fighting to come to terms with the world of the murmurs, a curse that has haunted female members of her family for centuries.

While she is within the ancient, heavy stone of the old dwelling, the voices merely buzz, but the moment she steps outside the door they clamour to torment her all over again, bringing with them shocking visions of imminent deaths.

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Into this oasis comes her adoptive mother, Mandy McEvoy, begging for Annie’s help. Mandy’s nephew Damien has gone missing, after dropping off his four-year old son at his mother’s home.

Unable to refuse, but terrified to leave her sanctuary, Annie, with the help of her brother Lewis, is drawn in to a secretive, seductive world that will have her question everything she holds dear, while Lewis’ life may be changed forever…

My Review

I read and reviewed The Murmurs, the first of the Annie Jackson Mysteries, this time last year. The Torments continues in the same vein, with Annie as the hero who can look at someone and know they are going to die imminently, and how. It’s very upsetting for her. Even more so because if she tries to warn them, they treat her like a nutter, but if she doesn’t, their family blame her for not warning them. She can’t win.

We are now a year later and Annie is living in a tiny cottage, away from everyone and the voices – the murmurs – are quiet here. She even has a job in a cafe. But she has just been the subject of abuse because she didn’t warn someone of a car accident. Her cottage is targeted, so her twin brother Lewis comes up to stay with her.

In what appears to be a totally unrelated story, Ben and Sylvia are pupils at a private school, where they fall under the influence of one of the teachers. Phineas Dance, who is involved with the Occult, persuades them to ‘join’ him. They don’t need much persuading.

But there’s more to come, because Annie and Lewis’s adoptive mum’s sister (phew!) asks for Annie’s help. Her son Damien has gone missing and while he has had a chequered past, including a spell in prison, he adores his young son Bodie and she is convinced he wouldn’t just walk away. Annie, however, isn’t the kind of medium who can find people if given something belonging to them. That’s not how it works.

We do move around through various timelines – Annie now, Ben and Sylvia at school, and we also follow Sylvia as she matures and becomes more and more obsessive.

This is a brilliant book, just as good as book one, though maybe a tiny bit more involved, but that may just be me forgetting the details of the original.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. His dark psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and is currently in production for the screen, and five powerful standalone thrillers followed suit. The Murmurs, first in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series, was published to critical acclaim in 2023. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as a hypnotherapist.

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.