River Whispers

by Kathi Oram Peterson

Regi Bernard's small hometown on the Snake River is good for some things (like fishing) but bad for others (like avoiding old flames). On one unlucky day, Regi runs in to the two men she least wants to Samuel Tanner, her first love, whose sudden rejection still stings decades later; and Ranger Curtis Romney, the man who trampled her daughter's heart and reputation. But the next day, Regi's luck is even worse. While trespassing on Samuel's land to fish, she discovers a dead body in the willows. And when Regi reports the murder, she becomes the prime suspect. Of course Regi knows she's innocent. What she doesn t know is why the murder leads keep pointing to her, and she's not going to sit around waiting while others find out. Unraveling a murder case in a small town where everyone and everything is interconnected is a tangled task at best. As Regi takes matters into her own hands, she finds the evidence points to multiple townspeople as the possible killer, including Regi's own sister. With so many possibilities, Regi can't get the job done without getting close to one particular suspect, Samuel, the man she'd hoped to avoid forever. The two of them will need more than luck if they're going to clear their names and their past. And as Regi races to discover the truth about the murder, she may very well face her own.

Genres: Mystery, Lds Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Audiobook, Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2011

About the author

Kathi Oram Peterson is the Whitney Award winning author of TREACHEROUS LEGACY (2021 )A STRANGER WATCHES (2019), and A FAMILIAR FEAR (2018).

Kathi's heart-pounding suspense novels make readers double check door locks and sleep with a flashlight. Her YA Time Travels bring readers to historical events as if they are there. Her novels have richly-drawn characters and plots that hook readers and make setting the book down nearly impossible.

Keep connected with Kathi--and stay informed about special deals, new released, and other reader perks--by signing up for her newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cE52Y1

Visit Kathi at:
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Romantic Suspense:

Shifting Sands (2023)
Danger Unknown (2022)
Treacherous Legacy (2021)
A Stranger Watches (2020) Whitney winner
Bloodline (2019)
A Familiar Fear (2018) Whitney Winner
Breach of Trust (2017)
Star Struck (2016)
Deceived (2014)
Wanted (2013)
Cold Justice (2012)
River Whispers (2011)

Novella: An Angel on Main Street (2009).

YA Time Travel Novels:

Reluctant Warrior (2017)-Previously published as The Forgotten Warrior (2009)
Stripling Warrior (2017)
Guardian of the Stone (2017) Previously published asThe Stone Traveler (2010)
Chasing the Star (2017)

Stories included in other books:

A Christmas to Remember (2011)
Life Lessons from Mothers of Faith (2013)
Remembering the Joy of Christmas (2015)

Concept and Biography Books for Children:

I Want to Be a Mathematician Like Archimedes
I Want to Be a Scientist Like Thomas Edison
I Want to Be a Scientist Like Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek
I Want to Be a Scientist Like Alexander Von Humboldt
Tyrannosaurus X 1
How Did the Chicken Cross the Road
Yangshi’s Perimeter
Lightning Bells
The Beginning of Numbers

Reviews

[Donna Weaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Regi Bernard’s small hometown on the Snake River is good for some things (like fishing) but bad for others (like avoiding old flames). On one unlucky day, Regi runs in to the two men she least wants to see: Samuel Tanner, her first love, whose sudden rejection still stings decades later; and Ranger Curtis Romney, the man who trampled her daughter’s heart and reputation. But the next day, Regi’s luck is even worse. While trespassing on Samuel’s land to fish, she discovers a dead body in the willows. And when Regi reports the murder, she becomes the prime suspect.

Of course Regi knows she’s innocent. What she doesn’t know is why the murder leads keep pointing to her, and she’s not going to sit around waiting while others find out. Unraveling a murder case in a small town where everyone and everything is interconnected is a tangled task at best. As Regi takes matters into her own hands, she finds the evidence points to multiple townspeople as the possible killer, including Regi’s own sister. With so many possibilities, Regi can’t get the job done without getting close to one particular suspect—Samuel, the man she’d hoped to avoid forever. The two of them will need more than luck if they’re going to clear their names and their past. And as Regi races to discover the truth about the murder, she may very well face her own.

MY TAKE
A fun mystery with lots of twists and turns--once you get past Regi! My heck, but that girls has so much anger festering inside her. Sometimes I wondered what Sam saw in her. Not that he was a saint, especially the way he handled things with her all those years ago (by not handling things). And it doesn't help that he's still not being honest with her about the choices he made back then and his reasons for doing it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a typical small town love story when you find a murdered body at your favorite fishing spot. The location in Idaho was heart warming--been there many times growing up. The characters were good friends until they begin suspecting each other. Mysterious to the end.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed.

[Brittany Ostler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Kept me hooked.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had so many twists and turns as to who the murderer was that it was a great mystery to read. The ending was a happily ever after one and who doesn't like a story to end like that :)

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good mystery. It kept you wondering all the way to the end. Not the suspect I expected.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

RIVER WHISPERS

by

Kathi Oram Peterson


It’s a wonderful thing to find a book you can become so immersed in that laying it aside is a burden. Kathi Oram Peterson has written such a book. ”River Whispers” is one of my favorite reads this year, and if I could give Peterson a 4.5, I would. Let me tell you why.

The storyline is engaging, the list of suspects is endless, and Peterson's setting in small town Trailhead, Idaho’s Snake River country provides a complicated web of tangled lives and plot lines, but it’s Peterson’s writing style that captivated me. She writes like a painter—creating perfect moments and clear images that drew me in and made me love her characters.

Trailhead is far too small a town to bottle up Regi Bernard’s mistrust of two men. Samuel Tanner abruptly ended their romance when he abandoned both Regi and Trailhead without a word of explanation. Worse yet, when he returned years later, he seemed bent on making her and her husband miserable at every opportunity, clear up until Earl’s death. Curtis Romney, a local park ranger, abandoned her daughter after dragging her reputation through the mud. It’s no secret how Regi feels about either man.

On a particularly unpleasant trip into town, Regi has run-ins with each of these irritants, and her temper lets loose. In a moment of frustration, Regi issues a scalding warning to Curtis, and when she stumbles upon his corpse a day later, she becomes the prime suspect.

Peterson does a splendid job casting doubt on everyone’s innocence, which casts a pall of suspicion over those Regi loves most, leaving her mistrustful of their assistance until she believes only she can prove her innocence.

The tangle of lives is tight and convenient at times, but Peterson’s deft writing style fleshes out the situations nicely. Her characters are rich and complex, and she releases tidbits about them like a cracker trail through the woods readers will be delighted to follow.

Clearly, Peterson knows her setting well. Raised in southeastern Idaho, Kathi Oram Peterson developed a love for the Snake River region early on, while her research on fly fishing, Indian culture, and ranching enriches the story and draws the reader in.

Still, what makes Kathi Oram Peterson one of my favorite authors is her unique descriptive passages. She works hard for her readers, bypassing trite descriptions in favor of rich, colorful, original thoughts that satisfy.

The book is written in third person, but the reader is constantly in the characters’ minds, as they ruminate over, and rehash, the same questions over and over. These passages slow the read a bit in places, but Peterson’s efforts to insert the reader into the characters’ thoughts adds urgency early on.

The mystery is well-formed and keeps you turning pages as does the romantic tension between Regi and Samuel. While these two are clearly drawn to one another, they also suspect one another, and with good cause. Peterson doesn’t tip her hand about their innocence or guilt to the very end. Nicely done.

I’m nominating River Whispers for a Whitney Award. The e-book version is available at Amazon. Readers can pick up copies at Deseret Books or at your local LDS bookstores, where you can also purchase Kathi Oram Peterson's other fine books.

Readers can contact Kathi through her website, www.kathiorampeterson.com, and her blog, www.kathiswritingnook.com.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun murder mystery that brings suspicion on many people in the small town in Idaho. Everyone seems to have a connection with the deceased. Long lost love is tested and found true even after time, distance, and trust is restored.

Regi has lost her husband and raised her twins alone except for the help of her widowed sister, Claudia. They open a bed and breakfast to support themselves. Regi has sold off her land and her prized horse to keep them afloat and send the twins to college. The buyer is none other than her long lost love, Samuel Tanner. Tanner ran off when they were teens to Alaska to escape his abusive father. He tried to write, but never did and this devastated Regi and all their plans for the future. She marries and moves on, but when Tanner comes back he wants Regi back and isn't too happy that Regi has moved on with her life. He has a grudge and won't sell back the land as promised. After her husband's death, Tannner tries to express his true feelings, but regi isn't making it easy for him. When they are both suspects in a murder of a ranger...they let go of the past and help prove their innocence. Tanner proves he loves Regi still and will protect her.

Entanglement and blackmail bring Claudia's politician husband's death into focus because of the land deal that he tried to ban and the ranger's part in this.

The murder weapon is one that both tanner and Regi have...a knife. But who used it is the clincher.
Ultimately it is Tanner's brother that has killed the ranger for greed of wanting land that his father gave to Tanner and not to him for sticking around. then the Aunt whose mind is gone with thinking that her brother, Isaiah is still living that are the bad guys.

[Elizabeth Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathi's River Whispers had me turning its pages!


Regina Bernard struggles from the death of her husband and blames many of her problems on her old flame, Samuel Tanner. The sudden murder of Ranger Curtis Romney is pinned on poor Regina, and while she fights to clear her name, Samuel thinks of ways to rekindle their passion.


I enjoyed the intricate thought patterns as Regi reasoned how every person around her could've murdered the poor Ranger. Her stubbornness, I have to admit, made me want to beat her over the head with a pillow.

Kathi is masterful at creating her story. I enjoyed the page-turning experience, and was pleasantly shocked at the many twists at the end of the book.

When I was done reading, my teen daughter snatched the book up and finished it in under 24 hours! That says a whole lot if you ask me.

[Linda Trionfo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot and the characters were great,My first book by this author and I hope to read more. I liked the goofy small town people and the locals. The dialouge was believeable and smooth and the love story was realalistic. I gave it 4 stars because I really could not put it down, it was funny and the plot thickened at the right points in the book for me. However a few things were a little distracting. The religious aspect was a little off for me, could have been great with out it and I felt it was not needed, I did not connect how it had anything to do with the story. The baggage that she had from the past and dealing with her husbands death seemed to be dealt with too easily, with that sort of past her new realationship shoud have happened slower. But over all it was a fun book and I would recommend it, Thanks Nikki!

[LAWonder10 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This exciting novel mixes the mysticism of Indian lore with modern day mystery. In her River Whispers’ novel, Kathi has brought in a socially unaccepted woman who is strange and holds to the traditions learned as she lived among the American Indians. She also brings into the suspenseful plot, old loves of times past. Capturing an element of romance, intrigue, murder, mystery/suspense, and real life situations, Traci has developed a well-written, captivating clean, mystery/suspense novel.

The Title is a perfect “fit”. The book cover is well done and portrays the story and title well, but is too dark. It fails to effectively attract the “browsers” attention.

The variety of the small town characters are described in a way they seem real. The background scenes are equally effective in visualization.

The Book on CD is read very well by Luone Ingram.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book although it was kind of unbelievable, and the main character, a mother of grown children, acted like a teenager most of the time. Also, her sister's terrible secret about her husband turns out not to be so terrible.

Regi finds a body in the river, and she is the prime suspect since the knife he was stabbed with is found in her Jeep. So she tries to find the murderer on her own. At the same time, her old boyfriend, who deserted her many years ago, is still in love with her, but she won't have anything to do with him, and even wonders if he is a murderer.

There were a lot of suspects and I didn't figure out who was the real murderer until the last pages. It's a clean, LDS novel.

[Jill Kemerer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading River Whispers. Kathi has a knack for writing small town characters and gripping suspense. The heroine Regi has plenty of conflict in her life--including a dead body, an annoying, yet hunky, ex-boyfriend, a business to run, oh, and that pesky little problem of being a murder suspect. Her tenacity and faith work together to convince her to trust the ones who can help her. While Regi's faith rests on the Book of Mormon and mine rests on the Bible, I found the religious journey of the characters uplifting. Most of all, it was heart-warming to watch Regi open her heart to her true love.

[Andrea Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the flow of Kathi Oram Peterson's writing. It just seems smooth and flawless to me. I really liked the small town,cowboy and ranch setting with the river. I enjoyed the characters and thought that the author did a great job of throwing around blame. I suspected everyone in town. This was an LDS Romance/Suspense. I almost would have preferred it without the LDS part. Though,I did like the references to prayer during the climax of the story. It wasn't too preachy but the Epilouge felt like a happy "tie everything together" ending and very contrived to me. It didn't feel natural. I thought the novel could have ended strongly without it.

[Hilary Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever given a book one star before. I'll admit I read the first third waiting for the book to get captivating, but it never did. I completely skipped the middle third and very briefly skimmed the last third. I realized I would have been just fine not knowing "who did it." The problem with this book is that it is so predictable and set up. The characters are really annoying because their relationships with each other get really old -- I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over and over and over. This seems like the writing of a first-time writer. If anyone likes any of her other books, let me know; otherwise, I think I will move on from Kathi Oram Peterson...

[Sheila (sheilasbookreviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

River Whispers is a novel very different from anything that Kathi Oram Peterson has ever written. She has written two young adult time travel books, The Forgotten Warrior and The Stone Traveler, and a best selling Christmas book, An Angel On Main Street. Now with River Whispers, she has written her first romantic suspense.

To read more about this book and my full review, please go to my blog where you can also enter to win some fun prizes. You can only do this May 23-27th 2011. http://whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot....

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Regi, a widow with grown children, in my opinion, acts like a teenager most of the time in this book. While fishing she finds a dead body in the willows and runs through most of the town as suspects and takes off on tangents. She refuses to accept that some aren't likely just because she is carrying a chip against them. Romance, though I don't see why he keeps trying, rounds off the story. Wow, in reading this over it doesn't sound like I enjoyed it much. It was a little better than that but not much.

[Tamera Westhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it! It wasn't a favorite, but it was a great read! I love how Regi (Regina) has a temper, yet everyone knows she would never hurt anyone. There were a ton of people who were happy that Curtis died, so it wasn't much of a surprise that there were a lot of suspects! There was so many different people and situations in this book, that it wasn't easy to keep on the same track and it made it harder to guess at who did it! Great for the mystery, the little romance, and not preachy! It was clean through and through!

[Charlene Raddon · Rating 5 out of 5]

That Kathi Oram Peterson knows her subject is evident in the details of her book River Whispers. She's familiar with the setting obviously knows fishing. I enjoyed this read very much. Kathi's words flow as smoothly as the river she writes about, making her story an easy and pleasant read. I loved the rural setting and the characters were great fun. Who couldn't love Wakanda? Or Regi, with her fiery temperament? Personally I can't wait to see what Peterson comes up with next.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The good: It was a nice clean read with a little romance. I was surprised by the "who done it".

The not so good: It was sooo repetitive (reminded me of another popular LDS writer that I have given up reading for that reason).

I guess if you are planning on just reading a few pages at a time over a month or two then repetition is good so you can recall the storyline, but for someone who likes to read through a book in a couple of days, it is REALLY annoying.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing mystery that I couldn't figure out "who-dun-it" until almost the very end. Author Kathi Oram Peterson does a great job at characterization and crafting a compelling read. I loved how she incorporated the setting into being an important part of developing the storyline: thus, the title, River Whispers.

[Shauna]

I was excited to be able to review this book! I love the suspense and romance in it. I found it very touching and liked the characters. Regi's strong faith and trust in prayer was amazing! I really enjoyed reading this book. Thank you Kathi Oram Peterson for sharing your talented writing! Shauna from http://bookgiveaways.blogspot.com/

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was an LDS suspense book with a bit of romance. Even though I didn't really connect with the main characters, I thought it was a good, fast paced read. I did like that the main characters were more my age (ahem). I mean, it's nice to read about new, young love. It really is. But I liked this more mature approach to love and life probably because that's where I am.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the tension between the two main characters. The author did a good job throwing blame at several people so I couldn't figure out the murderer. The romance part was a little too predictable. It would seem more natural without the religion added in. Still I liked the book and would recommend it.

[H.B. Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing mystery that I couldn't figure out "who-dun-it" until almost the very end. Author Kathi Oram Peterson does a great job at characterization and crafting a compelling read. I loved how she incorporated the setting into being an important part of developing the storyline: thus, the title, River Whispers.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's great to read a book--especially a mystery--that has a twist at the end of every chapter. The main character is quirky and strong and I cared about the romance (always important!). I know Kathi Peterson's working on a sequel and I'm excited to read it.

[Kari Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was home sick with a cold and read this book in one day. It has the feel of a great Perry Mason episode. It had lots of twists and turns. Just when I thought I had it figured out, something else happened to change the outcome. It was a great book!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn't. There wasn't anything wrong with it, other than I disliked a couple of the characters I gather you were supposed to like, causing me to root for a more twisted ending.

[Shauna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has so many twist and turns you don't know "who did it" until the very end...
A small town with a mystery and the one being framed must help clear her name.
A little romance along the way makes it all the better.

[Cheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

A suspense/murder mystery with choppy writing and plot. I didn't like the story right from the start.