The Whispering

By Veronica Lando

The whispering wild will take your child if you dare to look away …

The stunning Aussie crime debut from the winner of the 2021 Banjo Prize for Fiction.


Callum Haffenden swore he’d never return to Granite Creek. But, thirty years after a life-shattering accident, he’s thrust back into the clutches of Far North Queensland and a local legend he worked hard to forget.

When a man goes missing in the rainforest, the past begins to resurface, breathing new life into memories of previous tragedies – two girls lost, seventeen years apart. In a town where it’s easiest to turn a blind eye, the guilt runs deep and everyone in Granite Creek has something to hide.

In his search for answers, Callum fights to keep his feet firmly on the trail as he battles the deafening call of the rainforest burrowing into his ears. After all, everyone knows that the worst things in the rainforest are those unseen.

‘The Whispering has everything we’ve come to expect from Australian rural noir in the way of climate and landscape, characters, hidden truths, and unpredictable plotting. Lando has cleverly woven an intricate and multi-layered story into a gripping mystery told with skill – and a good dose of obligatory treachery! I devoured it.’ Lyn Yeowart, author of The Silent Listener

‘Small town secrets and decades-old animosities weave together in this atmospheric, eerie mystery set in the dense tropical north, where everyone has something to hide and the dank wet rainforest can lure away the unwary. A dark, absorbing, tangled mystery that had me second-guessing right to the end.’ Dinuka McKenzie, author of The Torrent

About the author:

Veronica Lando is an Australian crime author who won the 2021 Banjo Prize for her then-unpublished manuscript The Whispering. As a child, she grew up above her parents’ Melbourne bookstore, surrounded by other people’s stories. Now, as an adult, she lives in Queensland and enjoys using the uniquely wild and sometimes dangerous landscapes of the far north to shape her writing. In 2020, she placed in the Scarlet Stiletto awards and has since had short stories published in anthologies with both Sisters in Crime Australia and the Queensland Writers’ Centre. Veronica currently lives in Townsville with her husband and three children.

ISBN: 9781460762158

Publisher: Harper Collins

Credit: https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460762158/the-whispering/