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?
Another two bodies are found, killed in a similar fashion. One murder, one suicide. 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…
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Chris McDonald's Whispers in the Dark! A huge thank you to Red Dog Press for inviting me to be part of the tour, and for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion... and my honest, unbiased opinion is that I loved every page.
Whispers in the Dark is a powerful and thrilling novel that packs a punch from page one. From the sinister prologue to the shocking ending (and everything in between) I was hooked, and madly swiping my Kindle until the early hours of the morning.
Erika Piper is a fantastic female protagonist who will stick with me for a very long time. She's totally kick-ass but there is also a sense of vulnerability about her, a softer side that makes her human, and so relatable.
Chris has crafted a tense, twisted and superbly-plotted thriller that is as terrifying as it is heartbreaking. I'm not ashamed to say I cried in parts - that is how powerful his writing is.
It's such an exciting read, with brilliant police and forensic detail woven in, giving it the authenticity that this type of book needs in order to be believable. If you love thrillers with the shock factor, this is for you.
Ready to meet the author? Chris joins me on the blog today to discuss his latest launch.
Welcome to the blog, Chris! I absolutely loved Whispers in the Dark, so I'm excited to be part of your blog tour. Can you tell me what sparked the idea for this deliciously dark story?
I've always enjoyed the idea of gangs - the fact that a group of people are so indoctrinated into caring about something so much because they happen to be born on one street and not the other really intrigued me. Creating these gang members was a lot of fun. I also liked the idea of two bodies at a crime scene with no apparent connection to each other - and the confusion that would cause. It was fun trying to piece it all together (I say that now, it wasn't at the time!).
I can imagine!
What was your favourite scene in the book to write?
My favourite scenes to write are always the crime scenes. Dropping in little clues for Erika to find is fun. I think also trying to get the right level of gruesome without going overboard is a nice challenge too.
On the flip side, what was the most difficult to write?
The prologue was difficult because of the content. Thankfully, everyone who has read it so far has said it has been written sensitively, which is good to hear. There's another scene that I cried at each time I had to edit, but I can't talk about it without spoiling it!
I think I know which scene you mean... 😢
OK, so onto the wonderful character of Erika Piper. Did she take you on an unexpected path or did she behave herself?
I never plan ahead so she always cuts her own path. I think if I knew exactly what was going to happen, it would make writing all the detail a bore for me. With this, I knew who the killer was before I started writing it, but with A Wash of Black, I kinda found out who the baddie was at the same time as Erika.
I'm a massive planner. This gives me heart palpitations! 😨
I wanted to ask about your gorgeous front cover design! What inspired it?
Sean, my publisher, is an incredibly versatile man. He's an amazing author, publisher, screenwriter amongst other things! He designed the A Wash of Black cover pretty quickly, but this one took a bit more back and forth. We knocked a few ideas around and nothing fitted the story. I mentioned day of the dead skulls (which had nothing to do with the story, either, but I always thought looked very cool!) and he texted me back saying 'Give me twenty minutes.' Twenty minutes later and the final cover landed in my inbox. I didn't think he could beat A Wash of Black but I think I actually prefer this one.
It's absolutely fantastic!
Can we have any sneaky details about the next book in the Erika Piper series?
It's called Roses For The Dead and it will be coming out in March. It's about a rock star called Johnny Mayhem who killed his wife seven years previously, who has been released from prison on a technicality. He goes to ground pretty quickly and then bodies of people involved in the original case start to turn up. It was a little bit more difficult to write because instead of a traditional whodunnit, it became a whereishe?
This sounds so great - I can't wait to get my hands on that!
Do you find inspiration in real-life events or news stories, or does it all come from your head?
I love true crime and I'm sure it plays some sort of space in my thinking, though I've never looked at a cold case and imagined how could something similar be solved... yet! I think real life cases are usually more 'out there' than most fictional cases. The lengths that humans will go to for revenge or to cover their own arses is terrifying!
You are so right!
2020 has been interesting, to say the least. Has the pandemic changed your approach to writing? Has it made it more difficult, or easier?
I think during the first lockdown, I had a bit of time off being in the school building, so I had a bit more time to write. Now, I'm back to an hour or two most nights once the kids are in bed. It's been an odd year, but it hasn't changed much for my writing!
While we're on the subject of your writing habits, what was the first thing you ever wrote? (I'm hoping it's something embarrassing from when you were a kid...)
I wrote some poetry at university for one of my modules but the first thing I ever tried writing properly was A Wash of Black, which went alright! Actually, now that I think about it, I remember writing a story at primary school where aliens fired a laser beam to Earth that caused a horse to be split in half and it's guts went everywhere. The teacher must've been wondering what I was watching at home (I think I caught an episode of X-Files once that scarred me!).
That's a mental image I won't be getting rid of for a while! 😂
What’s your favourite book launch of 2020? I know it’s hard to choose…
The book launch for A Wash Of Black is how I met Rob Parker and for that I will be eternally grateful. If it hadn't been for that book, the Blood Brothers podcast would never have happened and I probably wouldn't have met you, which would've been a huge shame!
That would have been a huge shame indeed, my friend! What about your favourite book releases?
If we're talking books of 2020, I'd say my two favourites have been We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker which was like nothing I've ever read before. The other is The Curator by MW Craven. He really is at the top of the crime writing game at the minute, and he keeps getting better. There are loads more books I could've waxed lyrical about, but those are the two that came to me off the bat.
Consider both of those added to my TBR! 📚
What's the best writing advice you ever received?
I think it was Michael Connelly who said 'write every day, even if it's only a paragraph, that way it keeps the momentum going.'
That's massive for me, especially on the days where you really can't be bothered. It means that I don't feel bad if I don't make a massive dent in the word count. He also said that you have to win the reader over from the first page, which I think is brilliant too. It makes me think really carefully about those opening chapters.
Thanks so much for joining me today, Chris! I can't wait to read more in this series.
Whispers in the Dark is available in paperback and ebook now.
Roxie
@RoxieAdelleKey
About 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 is 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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