Whispers of the Dead
Will reveal the truth
The book opens with two short scenes. The first features a woman looking out of the window into a snowy night. She sees a young girl dressed like a highland dancer. The child looks over at her. The woman thinks it might be her daughter Tizzy. Is she still alive?
In the second scene a naked man is tied to a chair, his eyes and mouth sewn shut. The chair is being pushed towards a broken window from which he eventually falls to the snowy ground below. Why has he been tortured then thrown from the window of a derelict building?
My inspiration for all of the Rhona MacLeod novels comes initially from such scenes in my head. They are very visual, but I have no idea why the scene or scenes happen and what will happen next.
I discover this by writing the story.
In the chapter that follows we meet three twelve year old boys playing in what is Elder Park in Govan, Glasgow . The derelict farmhouse exists as do the surroundings described.
Our first flat was in Clachan Drive close to the park just at the exit from the Clyde Tunnel, which fascinated me back then and still does. I used to visit the wonderful Elder Park library just as the three boys do in the story.
When they discover the body in the grounds of the old farmhouse (which they regard as their den) they find themselves at the centre of the story. The trio of Ally, Dreep and Kevin were inspired by the children I met during my many years as a teacher. Bright, resilient and brave in sometimes terrifying circumstances, they find themselves in the sights of the killer.
Having been a scriptwriter, and having watched Glasgow become a key player in American movie making, I realised that one particular script I’d written but never had filmed, played into the story. Especially when the Scottish/American movie star goes missing.
Writers will often say that when you reach the point in the story where the characters take over, you’re on the right road. I have to agree.
Rhona, as always, is pivotal to the tale. When we first meet her she is with a group of female prisoners due soon to be released from ‘the concrete mother’. Marnie, the woman in the first scene, is among them and her story is woven intricately with Rhona’s search for the truth.
My editor on reading the initial chapters wondered how those two opening scenes would eventually collide.
If you want to find out, you’ll need to read the book.
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