Good morning all and happy Saturday! Excited to be on my first blog tour for Red Dog Press with the fab Whispers in the Dark by Chris McDonald. Huge thanks to the lovely Meggy at Red Dog for inviting me and for my review copy.
Who will heed the call when Death comes whispering?
Small time drug dealer, Marcus Stone and DCI Clive Burston had never met until one night in August. By the end of that night, both had been shot dead in a small bedroom in the heart of gang territory. DI Erika Piper is called to the scene but is at a loss to explain what's happened. How did these two even meet, let alone end up dead in what appears to be a strange murder-suicide?
As Erika leads the investigation, another two bodies are found, killed in a similar fashion. One murder, one suicide. But who is controlling this macabre puppet show? As Erika delves deeper into the lives of the dead, the pieces begin to fit together and a number of nefarious characters crawl out of the woodwork - one of whom is almost certainly pulling the strings.
A catastrophic event and a personal miracle threaten to derail the investigation. Erika must find the strength to continue, before the whispers catch up with her too...
Whispers in the Dark was published by Red Dog Press and is available to purchase from Red Dog or Amazon.
My Review:
In preparation for today's tour stop I also read the first DI Erika Piper novel, A Wash of Black, to get to know the main characters etc. I really enjoyed it and my review will be up on Amazon and Goodreads shortly. You don't need to have read that before coming to Whispers in the Dark, which works perfectly as a standalone, but you may have a richer reading experience if you do.
Erika's home life is settling down with Tom, a security guard, but her work life is as busy as ever. She is baffled by a strange double death which looks very much like a murder-suicide, except that it involves two people who shouldn't be anywhere near each other in a million years. Whilst she and the team try to get to grips with the mystery, another odd-matched pair of bodies turn up and things take a turn which is both confusing and sinister....
Erika is a cracking character. She's been through a couple of fairly traumatic events in the past but remains a very dedicated police officer. She works long hours and never really switches off. But she is ably supported by the men in her life - boyfriend Tom, boss Bob, partner Liam and new team member Andy. I got to know her a bit in a Wash of Black but this further cemented her in my mind - she's someone I'd like to share a bottle of wine with! McDonald writes very descriptively so the reader is given a good idea of what every character looks like but it is never cumbersome. Likewise the scene setting is also very vivid. Again McDonald's descriptions are perfect and he manages to convey the whole scene in a few short sentences, sometimes just a few words, so it never knocks the story off kilter, never interferes with the flow. Sorry, I'm not doing a very good job at explaining what I mean! Basically, Chris writes well, and I loved meeting the wide variety of characters from police officers to grieving family members, from vicars to gang members - all have an air of authenticity which I appreciated.
The story itself is original. And dark. I hate to imagine where the idea sprang up from! The author deals with a difficult, perhaps controversial, idea, as he himself notes in the acknowledgements, but I feel he handles it well and from a fresh angle. He seems to have done his research, notably in respect to the dark web, which enriches the story. It moves along at a good pace and there are some very tense moments, including the denouement. McDonald doesn't shy away from describing fear and violence. There are some happier moments although even these are tinged with sadness. I might have had a tear in my eye at the very end...
Whispers in the Dark is a robust, original and well written police procedural with an engaging protagonist, a colourful cast off supporting characters and an unexpected antagonist. I really enjoyed McDonald's writing and look forward to seeing what he comes up with next. It's hard to know whether that will be more Erika, but I'd love to see more of her. A quick and very entertaining read.
The Author:
Originally hailing from the north coast of Northern Ireland and now residing in South Manchester, Chris McDonald has always been a reader. At primary school, The Hardy Boys inspired his love of adventure before his reading world was opened up by Chuck Palahniuk and the gritty world of crime. A Wash of Black was his first attempt at writing a book. He came up with the initial idea whilst feeding his baby in the middle of the night, which may not be the best thing to admit, considering the content. He is a fan of 5-a-side football, heavy metal and dogs. Whispers in the Dark is the second installment in the DI Erika Piper series, and Chris is currently working on his latest series, The Stonebridge Mysteries, to be published by Red Dog Press in 2021.
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