Little Whispers by K.L. Slater
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Suspense
Read: 20th November 2020
Published: 21st May 2020
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
You shared a secret with the wrong person.
Janey Markham is thrilled to be moving with her family to Buckingham Crescent, the smartest address in a desirable suburban town.
Worried she’ll be excluded by the glossy local mothers, Janey is thrilled when she meets Tanya, the kind of woman she has always looked up to. Tanya takes Janey under her wing, and her teenage daughter Angel is amazing with Janey’s little boy. As Janey and Tanya grow closer, Janey feels she can finally leave her troubled past behind.
But then everything changes…
In a weak moment over a bottle of wine, Janey finds herself telling Tanya her most shocking secret. Why wouldn’t she trust her new friend?
The following day, Janey sees Angel, with a man old enough to be her father, pushing someone into a car. The next day a body is found and police appeal for witnesses – and share a picture of the same car…
When Janey tells Tanya she is going to the police, Tanya turns threatening. She’ll stop at nothing to defend Angel, even if her daughter is guilty. If Janey says anything, Tanya will make sure that her dark secret gets out.
Janey faces an impossible choice. Stay quiet about what she saw that terrible day. Or speak up, and destroy the family she has worked so hard to protect…
From million-copy bestseller K.L. Slater comes this twisty and absolutely unputdownable roller-coaster ride of a read. Fans of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl will be totally hooked on Little Whispers.
MY REVIEW:
As a massive fan of Kim Slater's I am always excited to read a new thriller and LITTLE WHISPERS did not disappoint. She is one of my "go-to" authors where I don't hesitate to grab the book and delve into it without even reading the premise. There's not many authors I do that with but with Kim I know I am always going to get a twist-filled thrill ride from start to finish.
LITTLE WHISPERS is a mix of domestic drama and thriller where no one is quite who they appear to be...with secrets and lies that have far reaching consequences.
When Janey Markham's mother gifts her with a terrible family secret on her death bed, her whole world falls apart. Along with the secret her mother also gave her a box, telling her that the contents would explain everything. But four months on, Janey still hasn't felt strong enough to open it.
Then Janey's husband Isaac secures a new job with double the salary, allowing them to pay off their credit cards and mortgage. Along with the job comes a move to the affluent Buckingham Crescent in West Bridgford, Nottingham. The house is detached with a backyard more than twice the size of the Victorian semi in which they currently live. It's certainly a step up offering good prospects and the promise of Isaac working from home. Janey couldn't be more happy since his hours have been long and stressful. What with Isaac's long hours and the death of her mother, Janey feels this could be a fresh start for them all.
Upon moving into Buckingham Crescent, Janey's 8 year old son Rowan is enrolled in the local school but is nervous about being the new kid as his uniform has not yet arrived. Janey herself is worried that she won't fit in with the school gate mums who seem to watch her with a mixture of disdain and interest.
And then Janey meets Tanya.
Tanya also lives on Buckingham Crescent in a house that is possibly twice the size of their's. Almost at once, Tanya's son Dexter befriends Rowan and Janey is relieved to see her son enjoying school and some new friendships. As for Janey, her budding friendship with Tanya grows from strength to strength as Tanya helps her settle into life as "Buckingham mum". The women enjoy coffee mornings, shopping trips, swimming clubs along with other mums on the Crescent Edie and Kyoko. Whilst Edie is open and warm from the outset, Ky is not. She appears to regard Janey as some kind of threat, making barbed comments and attempts to exclude her. Janey has no idea what she has done to upset her but refuses to let her bitchiness ruin her new-found friendships.
And then when Janey receives an attempt to warn her about the "Buckingham mums" from neighbour Polly, her new friends dismiss Polly as being a "sad case" with no friends or family who just likes to stir up trouble. Tanya informs her that Polly has repeatedly accused her of destroying the flowers in her garden and is often seen lurking between the hedges separating her's and Tanya's backyards. Janey had initially thought Polly a lonely old woman but harmless enough but after her friends' warnings decided to give Polly a wide berth.
Meanwhile, Isaac's promises of shorter hours and spending more time together as a family seem to be just empty words as he continues to work late every night, even later than in his previous job. While he tells Janey that their family is his priority, Janey sees nothing to back that up as cracks start to appear in their marriage. However, Janey knows Isaac well enough to know that something is bothering her husband. He has systematically told her from the beginning not to get too close to the neighbours or to tell them anything about his work. Why? What is he hiding?
But a dinner party at Edie's which promised to be a fun affair ends up in disaster when Janey catches Isaac upstairs with Ky in what appears to be an embrace. Is he having an affair? Is that why he doesn't want her to get close to her new friends?
Regardless of his reservations, Janey and Tanya's friendship grows and in a moment of alcoholic haze Janey decides that she can trust Tanya with her deepest darkest secret. The one her mother revealed on her deathbed. She was not prepared for Tanya's reaction however her friend assured her that her secret was safe with her. But when Janey tells Isaac she shared "the secret" with Tanya, her husband is apoplectic. Why would she do that? And despite Tanya's assurances that she won't say a word, Janey immediately regrets her moment of alcoholic weakness.
But when Janey sees Tanya's teenage daughter Angel in town with an older man, bundling a younger man into the back of a car, Janey knows something is amiss. Angel is supposed to be at school. But confronting Tanya is not easy as when she does, showing her the photos as proof, her new friend threatens to reveal Janey's secret should she go to the police.
Janey then realises that she's not the only one on Buckingham Crescent keeping secrets. Everyone, it seems, has a skeleton or two. The question is, what are THEY hiding?
Soon everyone will know Janey's secret, ostracising her from the school in which she works as a teaching assistant and her friends. Their fresh start becomes her worst nightmare when all is revealed.
Fast paced and compelling from the start, LITTLE WHISPERS is a slow burning psychological and domestic thriller that I finished in one day. As everything comes together for Janey (and us, the readers), the twist is quite ingenious and not one I saw coming.
Told through Janey's first person narrative, we are also given the in alternating chapters of someone named Susan who has been abducted and being held in a basement. We have no idea how this even relates to the main plot and Kim cleverly keeps it from us until the very end...when all is revealed. All throughout I was burning to know "the secret" which Janey's mother bestowed upon her and felt rather put out that first Tanya, the head teacher and the school all found out long before we, the readers, did! How could Kim tantalise us like that? But she did it with pure skill that made us want to keep reading.
I am not a fan of slow burns but this one was different. Not just because it was a K.L. Slater thriller...but I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe it is Kim's clever plotting and storytelling that made it a captivating read despite the slow burn. Either way, LITTLE WHISPERS engages the reader from the start and doesn't let up till the end.
As always, Kim does it again and I look forward to the next thrill ride she is sure to take us on!
I would like to thank #KLSlater, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #LittleWhispers in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
After years of trying to get published and never getting further than the slush pile, Kim went back to university at the age of 40 where she gained a first-class honours degree in English & Creative Writing and an MA in Creative Writing with distinction.
Kim's first adult psychological thriller for Bookouture, ‘Safe with Me’, actually started life as a dissertation on her English & Creative Writing degree in 2010. She says" he creepy voice of Anna came to me strong and insistent . . . she wanted to be written, she wouldn’t go away. I’m so glad I listened!"
Kim first became published writing Young Adult fiction for Macmillan Children’s Books under the name Kim Slater. Her award-winning YA debut, SMART, started life as a short story for her MA in Creative Writing in 2012.
Kim is now a full-time writer. She has a daughter and two stepsons and live with her husband Mac in Nottingham and Yorkshire.
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