Title: Whispering Woods
Author: L. C. Markland
Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
ASIN: B092QRGQXK
Pages: 110
Genre: Crime / Mystery
Reviewed by: Jake Bishop
Hollywood Book Reviews
Detective novels, as well as crime and mystery stories, come in all shapes and sizes. There’s often an enormous amount of sameness to their narratives. In truth, there are some similarities in this one as well. There are bodies found in the woods. There is the hunt for a serial killer. There are clues that pop up along the way and revelations that tend to change virtually everything. But there’s also a big difference in this murder mystery. The author doesn’t solve the crime for you. You, the reader, have to put things together for yourself and decide what the ending really means.
The major characters in this potboiler are Meghan Mitchell, a young, smart, female police officer just itching to help people and stop crimes before they happen. There’s her father, who also happens to be the police chief of the small town where all the action takes place, and therefore Meghan’s boss. There’s Scott Oliver, a well-regarded seasoned detective who’s studied such famous serial killers as Ted Bundy and the Son of Sam. Oliver is well-known for finding culprits and stopping them. A cadre of supporting players round out the cast, not the least of which is a young reporter who will engage with the principals in more ways than one.
As the story commences, a young boy has gone missing. Unfortunately, he’s found dead in a shallow grave within the woods that flank the town. While his death is being investigated, nineteen other corpses in various stages of decomposition turn up. As does a note delivered to the local newspaper taking credit for the bodies and challenging all to catch the killer if they can. Chief Mitchell has previously assigned Meghan to the case, but sensing this may be a lot bigger than anything she’s encountered before, he brings in Oliver to oversee things. Meghan and Oliver butt heads immediately, with each questioning each other’s motives as well as their personal capabilities. Before long, the press is accusing the police force of hiding information from the public and perhaps even incompetence. As you might expect, this does not go down well with the Chief, Oliver, or Meghan.
Everything in the previous paragraph has rather a large pall hanging over it. Twenty years previously, Meghan’s best friend was found raped and murdered. Circumstantial evidence led a jury to conclude that the friend’s father was the killer. He was set to be executed twenty years to the day of the current bodies being found. Coincidence? Few thinks so. Soon, Oliver believes he’s cracked the case. However, on his way to secure the evidence he needs, a number of characters collide and violence erupts – leaving the reader to decide for him or herself, just who has really done what to whom.
Author L. C. Markland paces his novel swiftly. His prose is easy to navigate and his dialogue often has the ring of real conversation. The novel itself is more novella in length, so one can move through it and reach that big question mark at the end relatively quickly. You’ll have to decide for yourself whether you enjoy an ending that’s left up to you. Though in reality you may not have to, as the author indicates there may indeed be more to come regarding Whispering Woods.