The Whispers: The new impossible-to-put-down thriller from the bestselling author

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THE GRIPPING NEW THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NOW YOU SEE HER*** 'Razor-sharp and impossible to put down' DAILY MAIL _________________________ A MISSING WIFE. FOUR FRIENDS. WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH? ABOUT 'THE WHISPERS': Anna Robinson hasn't been seen since she went on a night out with her four closest friends. Em has no idea who Laila is, or that she has been watching her and her teenage sons and husband so intently. Heidi Perks' new novel takes 'sinisterness at the school gates' to a scary new level. You'll be watching your step' JANE CORRY As Grace searches desperately for answers, everyone seems to have a different version of the truth.

Grace has had enough of all the women and especially Anna for treating her so poorly until the next morning when she drops her daughter off at school and hears that Anna never made it home the night before and when she questions the other women they all seem to have different stories about the end of the night and facts are not lining up properly. Why? Why wouldn't the women be truthful, what would make them lie? As the day progresses and Anna still has not surfaced, Grace feels lost and thinks something very bad has happened to Anna and someone in that group knows what really happened late, last night. What happened to Anna? Heidi Perks is an incredible writer. It took no time at all and I was gladly ripping my own heart out of my chest, take it, I no longer have a need of it…dramatic but that’s how she made me feel. The book seems to have the secret formula to dissecting relationships. Perk’s narrative leaves you searching for the missing pieces of your heart for the entirety of the novel. Misdirection at every turn, whispers is a novel that leave a shadow upon the soul. Anna’s mother left when she was five, leaving her disengaged father to bring her up. When Anna and Grace became friends at school, Anna started spending a lot of time at Grace’s house with her family, the two of them becoming as close as sisters. However, now that Grace has returned to Clearwater, she discovers Anna has moved on and has her own tightly knit group of close friends. While Anna is happy to see Grace again, she is not looking to rekindle the close friendship they once had or to talk about the events that happened in their past. But then Anna goes missing after a night out with friends and Grace feels like she is the only one concerned about her.

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By then I was already deep in the throes of Now You See Her. I met the amazing Nelle Andrew from PFD who offered me representation and after a year we had two incredible pre-empts for the book from Emily Griffin at Century and Marla Daniels at Simon and Schuster in the US. I really loved it. The Whispers is a big-hearted psychological thriller about the dark corners that lurk in even the closest of friendships. Heidi Perks reads like Liane Moriarty at her Big Little Lies best as she brilliantly mines the jealously, spite and rage that lurk behind the polite smiles at every school gates. Highly recommend' TONY PARSONS

The story is a slow burner which could have had a bit more suspense early on but this does allow for the tension to build slowly and then ramp up once we start to hear more of Anna’s voice later in the novel. It’s more of a psychological suspense than a mystery with the need to delve into the thoughts and motives of both Anna and Grace. The prologue ensures that there is always a feeling of foreboding, as we know a body will be found at the end – but just whose body will it be? 3.5★ The writing in this novel starts out strong, but midway goes into subplots that do not add much to the story. The plot has high school "tit for tat" type jealousy between the characters which becomes the central focus for a considerable amount of time. There are enjoyable high points in the writing such as Grace's mom making warm childhood memories for the girls. I look forward to reading more books from the very talented Heidi Perks.

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Death, trauma, toxic relationships, secrets, and all the years in between – The Whispers has all the ingredients of a great thriller and is served with a beautiful prose, subtle at times, threatening at others, always addictive. I’ve always loved reading and writing and for as long as I can remember I’ve been making up stories, poems and even magazines that I’d sell to unsuspecting family members for 20p. I fell in love with Enid Blyton and books like The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, and somehow managed to get through GCSE’s and A-levels while spending most of the lessons staring out of the window and creating other worlds in my head. I liked this book. The relationships are broken and everyone is hiding something. You have no clue who to trust and that was part of the fun.