Whispering Shadows

Money, the need of an estranged parent, paedophiles or trafficking, these are the usual motives for kidnappers. If their plans fail, fear and panic may end in murder.

It is June 1995 in Sydney, Australia. Detective Chief Inspector Martin Janson is investigating a heinous crime: a small boy is missing. It appears random, and motiveless. Janson is frustrated, there are no witnesses and few clues.

A troubled Irishman who is said to have a ‘mysterious gift’ which he uses in the TV show ‘Spirits and Mind-blowing Magic’. His manager, a flamboyant, loud showman; a known paedophile, a children’s entertainer and a Scotsman, are all suspects.

The Irishman, Kieran Madigan, may be a phony, and his ‘mysterious gift’ a nonsense, thought up for the TV show. Barchester, his manager, is a liar and a fraud, but does that make him guilty?

In Melbourne, where two women are found dead, a Scotsman is a major suspect. A Scot was seen near the scene of the crime in Sydney; is there a connection?

Detective Chief Inspector Janson and his team race the clock to solve the mystery and find the murderers before it is too late to save the child.

Val McMurray was born in England. As a child, she loved to read and write stories. Since 1965, she has lived in Sydney, Australia. She worked as a trained nurse until retirement. Her husband passed away after a long illness and writing became her solace. She lives alone, but her children and their families live close by. She is a member of a writers group and a book club. Friends encouraged her and several short stories and articles were published. Whispering Shadows is her second book; the first, Halloween Fires, did not sell very well but those who did read it, enjoyed it.