#BlogTour The Whispers by Heidi Perks

'The Whispers is Heidi’s fourth brilliantly fast-paced thriller, which sees seemingly perfect wife and mother Anna Robinson go mysteriously missing after a night out with her fellow Mummy friends. Anna’s oldest friend Grace is beside herself with worry – desperately searching for answers and certain that someone is hiding the truth. But everyone has a theory of what happened to Anna, and as gossip at the school gates begins to turn to violent, time is running out to fine Anna alive…'

About the Author

Heidi Perks is a Sunday Times bestselling author of Now You See Her, Come Back For Me and Three Perfect Liars. Elements of The Whispers are drawn from Heidi’s own personal experience of making friends at the school gates and the intrigues and dramas of motherly friendships. Heidi Perks’ debut novel Now You See Her twice reached the Sunday Times bestseller list, first in hardback in July 2018 at No.9 and again at No.6 in paperback in March 2019 where it was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick for Spring 2019.

Now You See Her has sold over 300,000 copies across formats to date and has received over a staggering 1000 five start reviews on Amazon from readers, with more than 400,000 copies of Heidi’s books sold in the UK alone. Now You See Her has also been optioned for TV from the production company behind BBC One’s ‘The Miniaturist’ and Channel 4’s ‘National Treasure’. Heidi Perks lives with her family in Bournemouth, and sets all over books on the South Coast of England.

She is a graduate of the inaugural Curtis Brown Creative Online Novel Writing Course (the only creative writing school run by a literary agency). Follow Heidi on Twitter @HeidiPerksBooks and join in the conversation with #THEWHISPERS

Follow Heidi on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit heidiperksauthor.co.uk, Buy The Whispers

About the book

A missing wife. Four friends. Who is telling the truth? Anna Robinson hasn’t been seen since she went on a night out with her four closest friends.

She has a loving husband, a son she adores, a perfect life… surely she wouldn’t abandon them. And if not, then something terrible must have happened. It’s not long before the rumours start at the school gates where this group of friends all met. What exactly happened on that mum’s night out?

Anna’s oldest friend Grace is beside herself with worry – desperately searching for answers and certain that someone is hiding the truth. With each day that passes, Anna’s life is under increasing threat. And as the pressure mounts, it won’t be long before something cracks…

A scintillating thriller exploring female friendships and the secrets we keep from those who think they know us best.

Review

Two friends reconnecting after many years apart. Sharing the joys of motherhood and their childhood memories. Sounds like such a calm and happy story, right? Err, wrong.

What emerges is an adult playground bullying scenario. A group of friends isolating a newcomer, except the newcomer is an old friend of one of the group. It makes it difficult for both Grace and her young daughter. If you don't connect with the parent then there is little hope for a connection between the children.

Grace is trying to rekindle the tight sisterly bond she used to have with Anna, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears and some of her new friends are quite antagonistic towards her. Grace feels as if something is simmering just below the surface, a feeling that Anna is in danger somehow. When her friend goes missing after a night out those suspicions appear to be confirmed.

The author knows how to take the most normal of scenarios and extract the paranoia, suspicion and malcontent from them. The darkness that lurks just below the surface, just waiting to pop out when you least expect it. This dark domestic psychological thriller plays on the themes of sisterhood, friendships and what happens when they cross the boundaries into uncomfortable.

Keeping the reader on their toes as they try to discern who is really the bad apple in this scenario, because there are so many areas between good and bad - nothing is ever clear cut.

Buy The Whispers at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Century;  Ebook release - 18th March 2021 - Hardback release - 15th April 2021 - Hardback, £12.99. Buy at Waterstones.

#BlogTour Three Perfect Liars by Heidi Perks

Today it's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Three Perfect Liars by Heidi Perks.

About the Author
Heidi Perks is a Sunday Times bestselling author of Now You See Her and Come Back For Me. Elements of Three Perfect Liars are drawn from Heidi’s own personal experience of being sidelined at work when returning from maternity leave in her previous life as a marketing director for a financial company.

Heidi Perks’ debut novel Now You See Her twice reached the Sunday Times bestseller list, first in hardback in July 2018 at No.9 and again at No.6 in paperback in March 2019 where it was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick for Spring 2019. Now You See Her has sold over 120,000 copies across formats to date and has received a staggering 200 five start reviews on Amazon from readers. It has also been optioned for TV from the production company behind BBC One’s ‘The Miniaturist’ and Channel 4’s ‘National Treasure’. Her follow up novel Come Back For Me sold over 30,000 eBooks in the first month of publication. She sets all over books on the South Coast of England where she lives with her family.

She is a graduate of the inaugural Curtis Brown Creative Online Novel Writing Course (the only creative writing school run by a literary agency). Follow Heidi on Twitter @HeidiPerksBooks and join in the conversation with #ThreePerfectLiars

Follow @HeidiPerksBooks on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit heidiperksauthor.co.uk, Buy Three Perfect Liars

About the book
You think you know them. You think you know the truth. You are lethally wrong…

When the harbour side offices of a prestigious advertising agency burn down overnight, the lives of three women suspected of the crime are changed for ever.

Laura Denning has returned to work following the birth of her first child, only to find that her maternity cover has been made permanent. She and her boss, Harry Wood, have always been close, but Laura can't help feeling side-lined or that the new girl is out to get her…

Mia Anderson was brought in as temporary cover for Laura's position and has quickly become indispensable. But if people knew the truth about why she was really so desperate to stay, they might not welcome her with such open arms...

Janie Wood has given up everything to support her husband Harry and his business. She’ll do anything to keep him and her family safe, but does that include attempted murder…? Who started the fire? And what is the terrible secret that connects the three women?

Review
To her colleagues Laura is the workaholic, the not interested in social interactions and very competitive co-worker. They don't see the woman who is torn between the baby she wants to nurture and the career she loves. When she walks back into her job after a short maternity leave she doesn't expect to find the temp running her accounts and more or less in charge.

Mia is perceived as the interloper by Laura, but to everyone else she is the competent worker and to her family she is the rock that holds them together. Is Laura right, is there something more nefarious behind the way Mia has wormed her way into a job that doesn't belong to her?

Then there is Janie, the woman who has left a successful career to support a husband, who is distracted and holds a torch for another woman. A man who has disdain for the serious complaints his female colleagues and women in general have about his workers and associates.

What do they all have in common? They are women living in a world governed by men, a patriarchal society that ignores the abuse, the assaults and sub-human treatment due to their gender. The only thing worse than a man supporting other men doing all of the aforementioned are women who support the misogyny and cheer the perpetrators on from the sidelines. Is one of our characters guilty of doing exactly that?

It's a psychological thriller - the kind of story that teeters on the boundaries of morally right or wrong. For me one of the main points is how we as women are often our own worst enemies, whether it be in the workplace, educational environment and most definitely in the home environment. The stay-at-home mom vs the working mother debate has got to be one of the most vicious in regards to women hurting and insulting other women. Oh and bottle vs breast, and ect. Yeh, instead of sisterhood there always seems to be something that divides us to the point of becoming enemies.

Perks always delivers a great read by combining crime, suspense and that question that sits on your shoulder - right or wrong?

Buy Three Perfect Liars at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Cornerstone Digital; eBook pub date 12th March | Hardback - Publisher: Century pub date - 30th April 2020 - £12.99. Buy at Amazon com

Read my review of Now You See Her by Heidi Perks.

Now You See Her by Heidi Perks

The only thing worse than losing someone else's child is losing your own child.

You already have the burden of responsibility of your own child, but having the extra pressure of keeping someone else's child safe is a whole different level of responsibility.

Charlotte is Harriet's only friend, she is isolated and reclusive. She has also never left her daughter Alice alone with anyone before, which makes it even more tragic when Alice vanishes into thin air at a school fete.

Charlotte is faced with the negative opinions of her circle of friends and strangers. She was distracted, she wasn't paying attention and Alice did disappear on her watch. So the blame is being placed firmly on her shoulders. Now her so-called friends don't want to entrust their children to her care in case something happens, again.

Perks takes an awful scenario and turns it into something more insidious. Can one justify doing the worst possible thing to try and protect a loved one? All whilst dragging someone else under the mud and watching them suffocate, as you try and achieve your own goal.

Now You See Her might make you question your sympathy for the main characters, which is the essence of this premise. Perks asks her readers to think about crossing lines and being ruthless. When is it too much and when is an attempt to save your child unforgivable? You might be surprised by this premise and the conclusion you come to. Personally I'm not sure I would have been so forgiving.

Buy/Preorder Now You See Her at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Pub Date 18th July 2018 Kindle
Pub Date 26 July 2018 Hardcover
Publisher Random House Uk, Cornerstone
Follow @HeidiPerksBooks @arrowpublishing @PenguinRHUK