Young couple Stina and Nick head for a slice of rural peace and quiet when they swap the busy city of Birmingham for the Warwickshire countryside. Although their new cottage needs more than a bit of work, Stina hopes this will become a happy family home for them and the baby she is carrying, giving her the chance to put her own disturbed childhood well and truly behind her.

While Nick is out at work at the rural veterinary practice that has drawn them to this neck of the woods, journalist Stina passes the time with some freelance work for a local magazine, making friends in the village, preparing for the birth of their baby, and getting to know their next door neighbour elderly Mrs Barley - whose house and garden are practically picture perfect.

Although Mrs Barley seems a little odd at times, Stina finds it difficult to reconcile the picture of this little old lady with the one she starts to hear from the other villagers. No one seems to have a good word to say about her, which seems strange given the kindness she has shown to her and Nick. What lies behind these whispers about a woman who seems perfectly harmless, if eccentric? But when Stina starts to see a strange man hanging around Mrs Barley's garden - one it seems no one else has seen - and she hears strange noises and chanting coming from next door, she begins to wonder exactly what this old lady is hiding, and whether there might be any truth in the belief of the villagers that her intentions are evil. Have they made a mistake letting this woman into their lives?

Whisper Cottage is a great mix of domestic noir and mystery tale, with some lovely spooky undertones that draw heavily on themes of witchcraft and otherness. Anne Wyn Clark plays up the notion of outsiders in a close rural community beautifully throughout the story, examining how behaviour viewed as out of the ordinary can be woven into village gossip as tales ripe with suspicion and rumours of the supernatural.

This is a book that finds you second guessing yourself almost as much as Stina does, as she tries to come to terms with the whispers she nears about Mrs Barley and the woman she gets to know. As the strange happenings play out in the present, intertwined with the details of Stina's youth, the history of her relationship with Nick, the clues she puts together about Mrs Barley's past, and the worries Stina has about her own mental stability, the story becomes completely engrossing - and it takes you places you do not see coming, with a few poignant, and sometimes chilling, surprises to finish off everything nicely.

I read this book in a single entertaining sitting and thoroughly enjoyed the way Wyn Clark wove themes of folklore, paganism, forbidden love, trust, loneliness, mental health and motherhood into a slow burn tale that keeps you on your toes! Highly recommended in the run up to spooky season!

So first thing that hooked me and drew me into this book was the first line of the blurb...How well do you know the woman next door? ... well that had me sold on the book and knew I had to read it!

In the book we meet Stina and Jack , they have moved into a old cottage in a little village .... now this is definitely the typical little British village you would imagine and conjure up in your mind and yes their place is called Wisteria Cottage ! Now they think they have moved into their perfect family house in a nice quiet village... or have they? Just who is the lady who lives next door...and who is the man that no one else but Stina can see???

Absolutely brilliantly written , I definitely see big things happening for this book , it grips you and has you reading into the early hours , making excuses to read it... but oh it is worth it! Have a read of it you won't regret it !

Cover: Ominous. It’s eye-catching and intriguing, making you focus first on the woman and the child (the main splash of color of the cover) and then on the house.

In Whisper Cottage we follow Stina and Jack, a married couple who decide to ditch their big city life and move to the countryside, hoping for a fresh, bucolic start. They’re expecting a kid; the small village of Avoncote is as charming as the cottage they bought, and the widow who lives next door looks so nice – right?

Right. ‘Nothing is as it seems’ might sound like a cliche, but in Whisper Cottage it happens to be true. Everybody has a dirty secret, past wrongdoings that unravel while the story progresses. Sometimes you have to wonder about the narrator’s reliability; sometimes the reliability is as plain as the day.

Full of twists and turns, and written in third limited—yay!—Whisper Cottage is a slow-paced novel, where flashbacks about Stina’s life are scattered across the main timeline.

Character-wise, I appreciated Mrs. Barley above everyone else. All her idiosyncrasies, her odd behavior – they paint a contradictory and complex character. Is she a witch or is she just eccentric? Is she a malevolent woman, or have people accused her under false pretenses? Stina and Jack, as well as the rest of the supportive cast, tend to be eclipsed by Mrs. Barley. She’s the genuine soul of the book.

Stina, I won’t deny I had troubles understanding her: her choices and emotions puzzled me more often than not, but I still couldn’t stop reading until the last page. As I said more than once, keeping a reader glued to a book regardless of their personal feelings about a character is the marker of a talented writer.

The only flaw that prevents me from giving Whisper Cottage a full five stars has to do with a couple of strings left untied. However, the plot itself is solid and the twists are satisfying – I didn’t see the last one coming, kudos for that!

This is definitely a book of two half's.

The first 50% I loved. I thought it was really creepy and eerie.

I love the old haunted cottage/house trope, it's one of my faves and I loved all the spooky witchcraft elements too.

I was really gripped and hooked into where the story was going and I was constantly guessing what was going to happen next.

However, after about 50% of the way through, the book really slowed down.

I found there was not much happening and very few spooky or creepy things happening. I started to get a little bored.

It also became very obvious to me who the mystery man was. Although, I did not see the big twist at the end coming, which I did enjoy.

The writing was good but it definitely lost momentum as it went along.

Overall, this was an atmospheric and creepy psychological thriller but definitely could have been improved.

TW: suicide, domestic violence, murder, infanticide, abortion, mental illness and insest

My thanks to Avon Books U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Whisper Cottage’ by Anne Wyn Clark in exchange for an honest review.

This proved an intriguing and atmospheric domestic noir/mystery that held my attention throughout.

In 2012 Stina and Jack are hoping for a fresh start away from the stresses of urban life and move into Wisteria Cottage in the Warwickshire village of Avoncote. They are quickly befriended by their elderly neighbour Mrs Barley, whose cottage adjoins theirs.
 
When Stina spots a mysterious figure in the widow’s garden and hears strange noises, these incidents increasingly play on her mind. Then there are the villagers who whisper about Mrs Barley. Her insular lifestyle and interest in folklore, herbs, charms, and the like has people murmuring that she is a witch. Yet Stina doesn’t consider herself the superstitious type despite the bumps in the night and Mrs Barley’s eccentricity.

Stina’s pregnancy and then being befriended by the widow next door did evoke fleeting memories of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ for me. It added to the suspense.

‘Whisper Cottage’ proved a slow burn with the author building up the day-to-day lives of her characters as well as life in the village over a period of time. I especially liked the way that despite the suspicions of the villagers, Mrs Barley’s beliefs were not sensationalised. With Warwickshire having a rural tradition of folk magic and witchcraft, it seemed a fitting setting.

Overall, I found ‘Whisper Cottage’ an engaging mystery with good characterisations and genuinely interesting twists and turns. I felt that it was an assured debut and look forward to her future projects.

I think it's a matter of expectations: I was expecting a thriller with some folk horror elements (based on the plot).
I got a slow burning mystery featuring a MC I didn't like.
The start is exciting and creepy but I wasn't on the edge for most part of the books and felt that the final part was rushed.
Stina grated on my nerves, i liked Mrs Barley
There's a lot of potential but it didn't work for me.
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This story really gave me an eerie feeling. Almost as if I were waiting for something awful to happen! Who was the ghostly apparition in the summerhouse? Was there something evil about the old lady in the village? So atmospheric and not just a little creepy. Think that’s why I loved it. Didn’t want to put it down.
I certainly didn’t expect what came at the ending. That was a real surprise and not what I’d imagined to be the truth at all!
Absolutely fabulous read. I even learned how to pronounce the word Samhain. Definitely one to take down on a dark eerie night, with something warm to drink and by a hot fire - just lock the doors….

OK, I'll be honest. What initially drew me to this book was the character's name - Stina. It is a shortened version of my name that was given to me by a child who couldn't pronounce all three syllables of my name some thirty odd years ago. However, this woman was christened the name which was said to be Swedish. Had it not been for that little tidbit I probably would have passed this book and never read it. The premise wasn't overly intriguing though it did have promise. So I held on to that in the hope it offered up something exciting.

The story opens with a puzzling prologue that drew me in immediately. It's 1964 and a young baby screaming as its mother failing to soothe it in the presence of its somewhat grumpy father who silently swears he will teach that child a lesson or two the next time it dares to scream.

Fast forward some five decades later to 2012 and we meet Jack and Stina, a young couple who have just moved into the picturesque Wisteria Cottage in Avoncote, a chocolate box village just out of Stratford-upon-Avon. Recently married and expecting their first child, Jack and Stina are excited at the prospect of putting down roots in the delightful thatched cottage in the quaint village they now call home. They become quick friends with their neighbour in Rose Cottage, adjoining their own cottage, Mrs Barley a widow who lost her husband Frank forty years before. Although the woman is a little odd with a few eccentricities, the couple are shocked to learn that the community do not hold Mrs Barley in the same esteem. In fact, some villagers would go as far to say that the old woman is a witch and they would do well to steer clear of her. But how could this kindly friendly and helpful old lady be capable of such atrocities for which she's been accused?

Jack is a veterinarian working long hours leaving Stina home alone to befriend the kindly neighbour. But the longer she spends in the old woman's presence, the more Stina gets to know her...and she finds herself beginning to question just how well they really do know their neighbour? Then there are the noises in the night, the sounds coming from the attic, the strange chanting on the other side of the wall...but when Stina confronts Mrs Barley about it the following day, the woman knows nothing about it. Had Stina just imagined the sounds? Particularly when there is no evidence that anything had been moved about in the loft.

When Stina sees a strange man in Mrs Barley's back garden, Jack dismisses it as hormones and sleep deprivation since the birth of their baby daughter Elodie. But Stina knows what she saw. And she had seen him on numerous occasions before their daughter's birth too. And yet still she was the only one to attest to the sighting with no one else having seen the elusive man. Given her mother's own illness, Stina begins to worry that maybe she has a propensity toward mental illness as well. Did she really hear those sounds in the night? Did she really see that strange man who bore a striking resemblance to Mrs Barley's long dead husband Frank? Or is she delusional and suffering both auditory and occipital hallucinations?

But then a dark secret that has long been buried is about to be uncovered, shedding a whole new light on their neighbour....giving them cause to question themselves just how well do they know her?

There are whispers all throughout this book, least of all in the small minds of villagers whose gossip ends up being a form of Chinese whispers where what begins as one thing ends up something completely different! So the whispers of the past and the whispers of the villagers become the whispers in her own mind. And as Stina begins to question her own sanity she also starts to wonder just who her neighbour really is.

I liked both Stina and Jack, and I even liked the kindly old Mrs Barley. I didn't like Stina's bestie Reggie much but on the whole the characters were pretty likeable.

I'm not sure how to categorise WHISPER COTTAGE. It's not really a thriller but then what else could it be? There are whispers of the supernatural, of witches, hexes and curses which is just a little too strange for my liking but is that all there is to the story? Or is there something deeper going on?

I loved the Prologue and enjoyed the ending...but it's the in-between that I found slow and wondered the direction it was taking. I knew there was a story building but I questioned as to how long it was going to take to get there...and whether it would be worth it in the end. Well, be patient because the end will shock you. It was something I never saw coming, that's for sure. But...and this is a big BUT...where on earth does the prologue fit in with the rest of the story? I'm sorry but I saw nothing that linked them and I am at a loss as to who those people were and what it actually meant.

Overall, WHISPER COTTAGE is a fairly enjoyable book despite lacking the addictive thrills and the steady pace. It was atmospheric but not in an eerie gothic way. It held my interest enough to finish it to see how it played out but that's about it.

I would like to thank #AnnWynClark, #Netgalley, #AvonBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #WhisperCottage in exchange for an honest review.

Whisper Cottage by Anne Wyn Clark was a creepy and dark read. Jack and Stina move to a small village In the middle of nowhere to get a fresh start and raise their child. The little cottage they move into shares a wall with Mrs. Barley, an old lady. It looks like nobody in the village likes Mrs. Barley and a lot of people think she’s a witch. Weird things start happening at the house that they share and it makes Stina wonder if the villagers are correct. I don’t want to go to much more into the plot but this was such a weird and creepy little story. I really enjoyed the characters and how not everyone is as innocent as they seem. Definitely check this book out if you like mysteries in small villages and that have a dark feel to them. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions on my own.

I’m not quite sure what to say about this book. I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. It was interesting enough for me to want to keep reading, but it fell a little flat for me. The premise is certainly good - young couple moves out to the country and is quickly befriended by an elderly eccentric neighbor who has what seems to be a dark last and some questionable hobbies. Just when it started to get all dark and twisty (which I love), it derailed a bit. I feel like there were quite a few things left unresolved in the end.

2.5 stars, rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Whispher Cottage by Anne Wyn Clark, was a some what enjoyable yet eerie novel.
I was completely drawn into this story and flew through the pages reluctant to put it down until the end.
Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this review copy.

This book grabs you right at the beginning and doesn't let go. Strange and creepy it keeps you guessing right to the end. I loved. Looking forward to more by this author.

A very creepy story set in 2012 in a small village of Avoncote. Jack and Stina move into a small cottage in Avoncote. Jack has a job as a vet and Stina is pregnant. The cottage they live in is Wisteria Cottage. Another cottage attached to theirs is Rose Cottage.
Mrs Barley lives in Rose Cottage. Everything at Rose Cottage was perfect, a well kept garden and a lovely summer house. Mrs Barley is very friendly (sometimes too friendly) and always helpful.
One day Stina sees a man walking through the garden at Mrs Barley’s. Jack and Mrs Barley did not see him and suggested that Stina might have thought she saw someone. At night when Jack is sleeping Stina hears a man talking to Mrs Barley through the wall, another night Stina hears someone moving things around in the shared attic. Stina is starting to think she is losing her mind.
As time goes on Stina hears whispers from other people in the village that Mrs Barley is dangerous and has strange ways and likes to dabble in strange customs.
This was a very creepy story. Jack has secrets, Stina has secrets and Mrs Barley has secrets. It was about families, village life and secrets.

Stina and Jack are soon to be parents move into an old Wisteria cottage in the village of Avoncote. Stina's neighbour Mrs Barley, an old woman living on her own. Stina finds her a very friendly and kind woman who enjoys baking and often brings her some. Mrs Barley talks about her late husband, Mr Frank Barley, who she adores so much. However, Stina thinks Mrs Barley is such a nice old lady and doesn't understand why the villagers seem to hate her. Stina then begins to pay more attention to Mrs Barley and finds her a little odd at times.

On several occasions, Stina sees a strange man who looks like Mr Frank Barley at the cottage. Stina wants to believe everything Mrs Barley said to her, if Mr Frank Barley is already dead, who's the odd guy who looks like Mrs Barley's late husband? How much does Stina know about her neighbour Mrs Barley?

This is a little hard for me to review, I am not sure how I feel about it. I do enjoyed it but this is definitely not what I expect by judging the cover. This may be a little slow burn for me but the revelation at the end was quite good.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Soon to be parents Stina and Jack moved house looking to settle down in Avoncote village. They moved into an old semi detached house with an elderly neighbour living next door. Mrs. Barley is very pleasant and does everything she can to help her new neighbours. But as the story moves along, Mrs. Barley shows some odd behavior and soon Stina notices a stranger lurking around the house. No one else seems to believe that she has seen this stranger on multiple occasions. It is soon revealed that Mrs. Barley isn't well liked in the village and some believe her to be some sort of witch!

Noises from next door keep Stina awake at night time and she soon questions everything she knows about Mrs. Barley. What secrets could an old neighbour be hiding, and what secrets are Jack and Stina hiding?

This book was a very enjoyable read. I flew through it in a siting or two! This book is filled with suspense throughout. It's not quite edge of your seat nerve tingling suspense but definitely enough to keep the pages turning. I never really feared that something bad was going to happen to Stina and Jack.

Overall an enjoyable read that I would recommend! I gave this book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Did you #HearTheWhispers?

How well do you know the woman next door?

Whisper Cottage is this author’s first attempt to delve into the murky waters of psychological suspense, and she succeeded in creating a novel that is mysterious, intriguing, and engrossing!

I was captivated by the old lady who lived next door. I couldn’t quite figure out what her story was or what her significance and place was in this novel, but I loved reading about her and her quirky behavior while trying to figure it all out. I found myself making guesses and presumptions throughout the entire book that were shot down and dismissed repeatedly. I was pleasantly surprised at how everything ended, the author cleverly tied everything together and added even more surprises that I did not see coming.

Haunting, eerie, and delightful. This would make an excellent movie that I would love to watch!

Oh how I love a good psychological thriller! This is one of those books that stayed with me when I wasn’t reading it, trying to solve mysteries in my head. The twists and turns were a fun addition to a solid read!

I love this kind of psychological thriller. One that gets under your skin. 

Stina and Jack are soon to be parents and are excited to be escaping the trappings of the city for the rural village of Avoncote. They soon become friends with their elderly neighbour, Mrs Barley. 

Then Stina sees a mysterious man in their neighbours garden, she begins to hear noises at night and finds out that other people in the village don't trust Mrs Barley. Is their new friend what she seems? 

From the beginning of this book, you're drawn into something sinister and this feeling bubbles throughout the novel. The suspense is built up so well that I couldn't really get a grip on how the story was going to play out. 

The characters are well developed and I did find Mrs Barley unsettling. I also didn't quite know what to make of Jack. Anne Wynn Clark does a good job at driving doubt into the reader, making them feel unsure of all the characters. 


I really didn't want to put this novel down, wanting to know what was going on. Who was the mysterious man? Was Mrs Barley like the village portrayed her to be? So many questions that I NEEDED the answer to and a few twists and turns that I didn't see coming. 

As well as the thriller aspect, there is a lot of emotion and themes of loss in this novel and I feel it was tackled well. 

There is not a lot more I can say without giving it away and I really hope it's a book you'll discover for yourself. It's a great thriller with a very unexpected ending. 

(Thank you to Anne, Avon Books and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.)

I really enjoyed this book.
Stina and Jack move out to the country as they’re expecting a baby and want a quieter life.
They meet their neighbour who is an elderly woman and settle in well at first.
Then Stina starts to hear noises at night but her husband is sound asleep. She then sees a man sneaking around at the back of her property and feels a little uneasy.
She asks her neighbour if she knows the man but she tells Stina she has no idea who it could be.
With the birth of the baby, Stina is getting less sleep and when she sees the man again, she asks her husband to install CCTV.
The locals seem to dislike their neighbour, Mrs Barley, but she has always been kind to Stina and Jack.
Events come to a conclusion and some secrets are revealed which completely turn everything upside down for Stina and Jack.
This is an enjoyable read.
Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

<b>How well do you know the woman next door? </b>

Looking for a fresh new start, Stina and Jack move into a rural cottage. It looks like the perfect spot to raise a family. They even have a friendly new neighbor, Mrs. Barley. They live in a quaint English village and hope to become welcomed members of the community. They become quick friends with their odd yet friendly neighbor and are shocked to learn that the town does not hold Mrs. Barley in the same esteem. Soon Stina learns that members of the community believe Mrs. Barley is a witch who has hexed several of them. If one of them falls ill - blame falls on Mrs. Barley. But is she a witch or just a lonely old woman who has fallen victim to gossip and group fear?

Stina and Jack are warned to stay away from Mrs. Barley. Told to not get on her bad side or something terrible would befall them. Both wonder what is the meaning of this "witch hunt"? How could a helpful, gardening, friendly neighbor be capable of the deeds she is accused of?

Jack, a veterinarian, works long hours and doesn't get to know Mrs. Barley as well as Stina does. He doesn't see or hear the things that Stina does. He doubts his wife and chalks up what she sees and hears to hormones from her pregnancy and later lack of sleep after giving birth to their daughter. Stina is torn, her neighbor is nice, helpful, and kind, yet things are strange, and she begins to have doubts....

The prologue to this book sucked me in right away. It's ominous and riveting. I rubbed my hands together and chuckled with glee knowing this was going to be gripping book. Then the book slows down as Jack and Stina move into the cottage in Avoncote near Stratford on Avon. For most of the book, things occur at a leisurely pace. as we get to know Mrs. Barley, Jack and Stina. We also get to know some of the people in their lives as well. As the story mounts, there is a sense of unease as Stina is seeing a mysterious man that neither her husband nor neighbor have seen.

The whispers in this book everywhere. There are whispers of the past, whispers of the villagers, and whispers in her marriage. Toward the end, things really pick up as Stina begins to question not only her sanity but the motivations of her neighbor. Along the way she also learns something disturbing that affects her personally.

I was a little all over the place with the rating of this book. I loved the prologue and enjoyed the ending of the book. The beginning and middle were slow but enjoyable. The entire time I knew that the author was building the story, to be patient and wait. There is a very nice payoff at the end.

Anne Wyn Clark's writing really shined with the unease and sense of doubt she created throughout the book. I wondered as well, was Mrs. Barley a lonely outcast who lived on the fringes of society for too long? Was she misunderstood and eccentric? Or was there something more sinister going on. I loved the dubious assumptions made in this book.

Overall, an enjoyable book that I wished had more oomph in the middle. But it did entertain and had me guessing. I love trying to figure a book out and had a few guesses about how things would turn out. I was wrong and was pleasantly surprised at how tings unfolded at the end.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.