Whispers

by

Billy McLaughlin

About the book:-

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.

My Review:-

What an amazingly twisty, murder mystery.  I know that rhymes but I cannot think of a better way to describe this plot based around a decrepit, should be haunted, manor house, brilliantly described and perfect for a Hitchcock horror film.  And the characters!!  Where to begin?  They all have their back stories and secrets, even Isla, who has never really recovered from being abandoned at an early age by her mother and left in the hands of her seemingly cold, unfeeling father, Daniel and his rather strange sister, Miranda.  Or was she?  Could the body in the culvert be her mother?  Whoever the body belongs to someone local has to be involved.  And so begins the unraveling of lives and their carefully kept secrets.  Billy McLaughlin does great character descriptions and his handling of mental illness and the affect this can have on a person and the way they are treated is genius. 

At no point is it obvious who the killer is and why, which is what kept me on the edge of my seat until the dramatic, tense and scary climax.

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 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.

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