The Whispering Palms by Annette Leigh

Title: The Whispering Palms

Author: Annette Leigh

Genre: Crime

Publisher: Annette Leigh

Published: 6^th February 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 354

Price: $37.99 (Readings Price)

Synopsis: Note from Readings Books: This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Twenty years after the mysterious death of her mother, ex-cop and true crime novelist Andie Yates, returns to a small Australian coastal town to search for missing teenage backpacker, Summer Daniels.

When she arrives in Bayswater, there is no welcoming committee, no brass band, no great-to-see-you-again smiles, just suspicion and mistrust.

Battling lies and deception, Andie joins forces with private investigator, Mac Turner, to uncover the town’s shocking secrets.

Andie’s fight for truth and justice turns into a fight for her life.

~*~

Twenty years ago, Andie’s mother died in an Australian Coastal town in 1994, and now, two decades later, another girl has gone missing. Summer Daniels disappeared two years ago. Andie, an ex-cop and podcaster has been following the story, and finds herself back in Bayswater in 2018, and is determined to find out what happened. Yet, Bayswater is full of secrets, and Andie is trying to remember things that happened over twenty years ago. Bayswater is not so welcoming though. Nobody is interested in helping Andie find out about Summer or her mother. Everyone is filled with suspicion, and nobody seems to trust Andie, or anyone else for that matter.

 It’s a fight for justice and truth, because nobody was ever caught for killing Andie’s mother. Now, the similarities between what happened then, and the other deaths and disappearances of the backpackers are all too familiar and suspicious. One would think a small town is friendly, and that they would want to ensure nothing scars or smears the reputation of their town. Even the people Andie thought she could trust are questionable.

When this novel got down to things, it managed to dangle things like the red herrings and clues effectively to draw the reader along, ensuring they go on the journey with Andie to find out what happened in 1994 and 2016. The different threads made the story work well, drawing out the characters and their motivations to ensure everything would eventually come together effectively.

Whilst the novel didn’t focus on any romance or romantic subplot, there were times I felt Jake was too much of a distraction, and my favourite relationship was the friendship between Andie and Mac. They were supportive of each other, which made the story work well. We were given time to get to know them. I also liked that Andie was an ex-cop podcaster rather than a grizzled detective or journalist, so she didn’t fall into a stereotype too much. It was very cool to see the main character in a non-conventional job, which could be very relatable for modern readers.  This made it compelling for me, because I liked seeing how Andie used her skills to get into things, to get information that other people may not be able to, and it also affected how she related to everyone, as did her upbringing after her mother died and she had to leave Bayswater.

It is a compelling mystery with a character that has a traumatic past looking for answers, which isn’t uncommon in crime fiction. The main investigator always, or often has some tragedy in their past that has shaped them. It’s always about how these characters and their backgrounds are tackled as well, because you can take a trope and make it unique. The search for justice is a timeless message, and is combined with issues around drugs and corruption, and what happens when people get involved with these things. There will always be consequences for crime, and the book also examines why people are drawn to reading and watching crime or true crime, and why so many people listen to true crime podcasts.

The navigation of victim blaming was also done well and came out as a theme that a lot of readers will understand. It’s a compelling and interesting story that comes to life through the characters and setting.