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Whispering
It's 1921. Cleo Snow travels with her cousin, Neill Connolly, to Sago Island, Ga. to lessen the sadness of her fiance's death in The Great War (later called World War I). He'd been missing, presumed killed in France, and his body recently returned home.America's victory celebration is in full swing. The Flapper Era has begun. Cleo is poised between her Victorian raising and post-war liberal ideas. Women got the vote in 1920. They work – Cleo’s a nurse. Hemlines are rising. Jargon is spicier. Songs are racier. The fox trot is the cat’s meow. Everyone smokes coffin nails. The great experiment, Prohibition, has ushered in an era of fascinating gangsters and illegal speakeasies. Drinking and dancing go together like bathtub gin and painted dolls. On Sago Island Cleo meets fly-boy hero Graham Henry, the dazzling son of a steel magnate. They fall in love dancing to "Whispering", the rage song of the year. Complicating their love-at-first-sight is Shafer and Josie Drake. Shafer is Graham's cousin. He lost his liquor business and is about to lose his money-loving wife, Josie.The morning after the dance, Josie is missing. A note she purportedly wrote says she's leaving the island to get a divorce and marry Graham. Graham swears the note's a lie and that he and Josie were nothing more than friends.Where did Josie go and when? Did she return to New York where she danced in the Ziegfeld Follies? No one saw her leave the island. But Cleo knows Graham had nothing to do with her disappearance because Cleo was with him in the lighthouse the night she vanished, the night Cleo made love with Graham. Cleo vows she will never confess to making love with a man she's known only two days. But Will Graham compromise Cleo to clear himself?Island resident, the enigmatic Doc Holliday, who claims to be related to the infamous gunslinger, is a veterinarian and a falconer. His falcon, Billy, captures Cleo’s severely crushed heart. Cleo captures Doc’s heart, but she’s reeling over her gullibility and her body’s occasional betrayal of her resolve. Will he win her with his darkly sensuous charm? Everyone on Sago, it seems, has something to hide, even villagers who concoct their own hooch - and it all pivots around Josie and Graham. With her determination firmed by deceit, Cleo vows to uncover the truth.
242 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2011
About the author
Gerrie Ferris Finger
23 books98 followersFormer journalist and novelist, Gerrie, won the St. Martin's Minotaur award for the Best First Traditional Novel of 2009 THE END GAME.
THE GHOST SHIP and WHISPERING were released in late 2011.
MERCILESS, a novella, 2012.
HEARTLESS, a novella, 2012.
Read all three books in the Laura Kate Plantation Series: LOOK AWAY FROM EVIL, WHEN SERPENTS DIE, HONORED DAUGHTERS, WAGON DOGS.
THE LAST TEMPTATION sequel to THE END GAME released 2012
THE DEVIL LAUGHED, August 2013
A GLORIOUS CURSE, May 2013
MURMURS OF INSANITY 2014
RUNNING WITH WILD BLOOD 2015
AMERICAN NIGHTS 2016
WOLF'S CLOTHING 2018
COLORS OF BLOOD 2019
THE GHOST SHIP and WHISPERING were released in late 2011.
MERCILESS, a novella, 2012.
HEARTLESS, a novella, 2012.
Read all three books in the Laura Kate Plantation Series: LOOK AWAY FROM EVIL, WHEN SERPENTS DIE, HONORED DAUGHTERS, WAGON DOGS.
THE LAST TEMPTATION sequel to THE END GAME released 2012
THE DEVIL LAUGHED, August 2013
A GLORIOUS CURSE, May 2013
MURMURS OF INSANITY 2014
RUNNING WITH WILD BLOOD 2015
AMERICAN NIGHTS 2016
WOLF'S CLOTHING 2018
COLORS OF BLOOD 2019
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 3, 2012
Step back into 1921, that free-for all time of flappers and bobbed hair, shortened hemlines, this romantic historical mystery gives one a glimpse into the lives of the privileged in a melee of fortunes won and lost all in the span of a few years.
Cleo, who has lost her fiancé in the Great War, take a vacation with her wealthy cousin, Neill, south to Sago Island, Georgia, where they will vacation with his best friend and war buddy, Graham Henry, the son of a steel tycoon and his family.
Cleo is soon swept up in the beauty of this southernmost island and the indolent lifestyle with servants and dinner parties, and in a very short time, she’s also falling in love with the handsome, Graham.
But, when the young and unhappy wife of a family member goes missing, and her note indicates that she’s leaving the husband for Cleo’s new love, she’s confused and hurt, and now sure that she’s been made a fool of, she’s anxious to run away from her indiscretion and Graham’s awkward attempts to make amends. She soon realizes that she needs to stay and resolve the mystery of Josie’s disappearance, if only to prove either Graham’s culpability or his innocence.
Drug running, fortunes won and lost, a mysterious man, who may or may not be the subject of a man hunt by the Pinkertons, a couple of East European refugee servants whose backgrounds make them suspect in Cleo’s sleuthing for the truth in Josie’s death. The mystery is solid and Cleo has reason enough to want to find out what happens, but I also enjoyed stepping back in time into this bucolic setting where big houses and bigger fortunes were reveled in before the crash of 1929 destroyed it all.
This was a very enjoyable read and this author really makes American history come alive! And, because I'm a sailor, I really liked Ghost Ship for its historical mystery, sailing and the southern settings in Georgia.
RP Dahlke
A DANGEROUS HARBOR
Cleo, who has lost her fiancé in the Great War, take a vacation with her wealthy cousin, Neill, south to Sago Island, Georgia, where they will vacation with his best friend and war buddy, Graham Henry, the son of a steel tycoon and his family.
Cleo is soon swept up in the beauty of this southernmost island and the indolent lifestyle with servants and dinner parties, and in a very short time, she’s also falling in love with the handsome, Graham.
But, when the young and unhappy wife of a family member goes missing, and her note indicates that she’s leaving the husband for Cleo’s new love, she’s confused and hurt, and now sure that she’s been made a fool of, she’s anxious to run away from her indiscretion and Graham’s awkward attempts to make amends. She soon realizes that she needs to stay and resolve the mystery of Josie’s disappearance, if only to prove either Graham’s culpability or his innocence.
Drug running, fortunes won and lost, a mysterious man, who may or may not be the subject of a man hunt by the Pinkertons, a couple of East European refugee servants whose backgrounds make them suspect in Cleo’s sleuthing for the truth in Josie’s death. The mystery is solid and Cleo has reason enough to want to find out what happens, but I also enjoyed stepping back in time into this bucolic setting where big houses and bigger fortunes were reveled in before the crash of 1929 destroyed it all.
This was a very enjoyable read and this author really makes American history come alive! And, because I'm a sailor, I really liked Ghost Ship for its historical mystery, sailing and the southern settings in Georgia.
RP Dahlke
A DANGEROUS HARBOR
February 14, 2014
The most incredible ingredient in this period tale is the accuracy of both the environment and the language. Ms Finger takes the reader on a time travel for sure even though the story itself isn't about such fantasy. As a reader, I could hear the buzz of insects, the cry of birds and the very smell of the dense humidity that is prevasive on the Carolina barrier islands. My only complaint is that in far too many instances, there was a plethora cases where a character's name followed by "said" started the dialog. Upward of a dozen times on a page in some instances. As the story developed though the number of repetitions did decline.
May 10, 2012
Gothic style romance set in the 1920s. The book was enjoyable but not outstanding. The characters were predictable and the plot typical for gothic/mystery romances but it served its purpose.
March 8, 2012
I received WHISPERING, by Gerrie Ferris Finger, as a review copy submitted to “Red Adept Reviews” by the author.
Overall: 3 Stars
Plot/Storyline: 4 Stars
History meets mystery, with a romantic coming-of-age theme, in Whispering. The novel is steeped in the culture of the 1920’s and resonates with the delightfully isolated feel of island life. Its honeyed Southern pace flows easily but unhurriedly to its conclusion.
Much of the uncertainty in Cleo’s solving the mystery of Josie’s disappearance stems from social gaps, an interesting alternative to hard and fast clues and quick-thinking liars. Cleo’s a newcomer to Sago Island, and the local Hardy family is frightfully rich compared to the descendants of freed slaves that populate the rest of the island. Everyone protects their own. This rule is broken in the end to reveal the final clue, but the motive for doing so felt a little out of character for the speaker.
The subplot involving Doc and the Pinkerton’s detective didn’t seem necessary to the story, but overall the story’s tone was rich and pleasant, matching the island well.
Character Development: 2 Stars
Cleo seems to embody the complex, half-formed feminism of the 1920’s. She has a job, she hooks up with a guy she barely knows, she’s permitted—and accepts—the opportunity to wander the island unsupervised, she shows initiative in exploring the mystery of Josie’s disappearance, and she has no trouble talking to big, strapping guys all by herself. On the other hand, she’s mortified by her hookup and refuses to tell anyone, and she doesn’t do an organized job of looking for Josie, locating approximately zero clues by herself. Though she wasn’t a very efficient sleuth, she seemed to be a genuine one.
Graham Hardy began as a flyboy, then morphed into a playboy. Though I knew where the author was trying to take his character, Graham’s mysteriousness never felt fully-formed to me, which didn’t do many wonders for the love-interest plot line.
Josie, the victim, and her husband Shafer remained vague in my mind until well past Josie’s disappearance. That made it hard for me to care if she was found dead or alive. When I did learn more about them, they were fascinating characters, especially Josie. I wish their characterization had been fleshed out much earlier.
Doc was disappointing; he seemed a thin mortar, designed to hold disparate plot lines together, but ultimately he proved unsuccessful. He had a foot in a couple different ladies’ love lives, did a bit of clandestine sleuthing for Cleo, even had his own mysterious subplot…sort of. Yet, none of these felt real, tense, dangerous, or interesting. He wasn’t much of a suspect nor much of a lover, didn’t cause much tension with other characters due to limited interaction, and provided little information that wasn’t hawk-related.
Neill was a surprise for me, ending up as far more than merely the vehicle by which Cleo and Graham meet. Fredik, one of the Hardys’ servants, seemed a missed opportunity; he was menacing, but never got a chance to really show it off. Teddy, Graham’s mother, was a hoot, but her rigorous, progressive lifestyle didn’t seem to blend with the island’s laid-back pace. The minor characters were interesting; I enjoyed Ruth and Nora, Barnabas and Eurella, even Lester, proprietor of the King’s Inn.
Writing Style: 3 Stars
The book is jam-packed with 1920’s terminology, with few repetitions. I waffled between loving it and wondering whether some of it couldn’t have been left out or repeated more often so it would sound familiar. It read like a glossary list sometimes, and didn’t always blend into the story well. On the other hand, I don’t have a good idea how much of my own speech is period-specific idiom.
The island felt very real, thanks to great description, and the period details for clothing, houses, cars, etc., were excellent. All the settings popped right off the page for me.
It was hard to put my finger on what exactly bothered me about this novel. It wasn’t the pacing, that slow stir of ice cubes in the glass pitcher of tea, glinting with winks and flashes of brilliance. No, it was the dilution. Elvis said it best with his line, “A little less conversation, a little more action, please.” On a handful of occasions, usually involving hawking or sailing, the dialogue-based info dumping overwhelmed me, and I stopped caring about the plot and skimmed. Aboard ship, dozens of terms, objects, and tasks were described in detail to Cleo, the newbie sailor, by the other characters. Only one of them was ever related to the plot (and its story was also shared via dialogue). These scenes and others could have been tightened and made more memorable with more showing and less literal telling.
Editing: No Rating
(No rating for this section, as it would raise the overall score of the book.)
A collection of punctuation errors, mostly involving commas and apostrophes, could have been eliminated by a thorough proofread. Several dialogue questions were missing question marks; other sentences lacked final punctuation. Valid-word typos showed up as well; Spell Check is not as useful as it seems.
I did notice that the author once used coup d’etat when she meant coup de grace, resulting in the illegal government takeover of a pigeon by a hawk.
Overall: 3 Stars
Plot/Storyline: 4 Stars
History meets mystery, with a romantic coming-of-age theme, in Whispering. The novel is steeped in the culture of the 1920’s and resonates with the delightfully isolated feel of island life. Its honeyed Southern pace flows easily but unhurriedly to its conclusion.
Much of the uncertainty in Cleo’s solving the mystery of Josie’s disappearance stems from social gaps, an interesting alternative to hard and fast clues and quick-thinking liars. Cleo’s a newcomer to Sago Island, and the local Hardy family is frightfully rich compared to the descendants of freed slaves that populate the rest of the island. Everyone protects their own. This rule is broken in the end to reveal the final clue, but the motive for doing so felt a little out of character for the speaker.
The subplot involving Doc and the Pinkerton’s detective didn’t seem necessary to the story, but overall the story’s tone was rich and pleasant, matching the island well.
Character Development: 2 Stars
Cleo seems to embody the complex, half-formed feminism of the 1920’s. She has a job, she hooks up with a guy she barely knows, she’s permitted—and accepts—the opportunity to wander the island unsupervised, she shows initiative in exploring the mystery of Josie’s disappearance, and she has no trouble talking to big, strapping guys all by herself. On the other hand, she’s mortified by her hookup and refuses to tell anyone, and she doesn’t do an organized job of looking for Josie, locating approximately zero clues by herself. Though she wasn’t a very efficient sleuth, she seemed to be a genuine one.
Graham Hardy began as a flyboy, then morphed into a playboy. Though I knew where the author was trying to take his character, Graham’s mysteriousness never felt fully-formed to me, which didn’t do many wonders for the love-interest plot line.
Josie, the victim, and her husband Shafer remained vague in my mind until well past Josie’s disappearance. That made it hard for me to care if she was found dead or alive. When I did learn more about them, they were fascinating characters, especially Josie. I wish their characterization had been fleshed out much earlier.
Doc was disappointing; he seemed a thin mortar, designed to hold disparate plot lines together, but ultimately he proved unsuccessful. He had a foot in a couple different ladies’ love lives, did a bit of clandestine sleuthing for Cleo, even had his own mysterious subplot…sort of. Yet, none of these felt real, tense, dangerous, or interesting. He wasn’t much of a suspect nor much of a lover, didn’t cause much tension with other characters due to limited interaction, and provided little information that wasn’t hawk-related.
Neill was a surprise for me, ending up as far more than merely the vehicle by which Cleo and Graham meet. Fredik, one of the Hardys’ servants, seemed a missed opportunity; he was menacing, but never got a chance to really show it off. Teddy, Graham’s mother, was a hoot, but her rigorous, progressive lifestyle didn’t seem to blend with the island’s laid-back pace. The minor characters were interesting; I enjoyed Ruth and Nora, Barnabas and Eurella, even Lester, proprietor of the King’s Inn.
Writing Style: 3 Stars
The book is jam-packed with 1920’s terminology, with few repetitions. I waffled between loving it and wondering whether some of it couldn’t have been left out or repeated more often so it would sound familiar. It read like a glossary list sometimes, and didn’t always blend into the story well. On the other hand, I don’t have a good idea how much of my own speech is period-specific idiom.
The island felt very real, thanks to great description, and the period details for clothing, houses, cars, etc., were excellent. All the settings popped right off the page for me.
It was hard to put my finger on what exactly bothered me about this novel. It wasn’t the pacing, that slow stir of ice cubes in the glass pitcher of tea, glinting with winks and flashes of brilliance. No, it was the dilution. Elvis said it best with his line, “A little less conversation, a little more action, please.” On a handful of occasions, usually involving hawking or sailing, the dialogue-based info dumping overwhelmed me, and I stopped caring about the plot and skimmed. Aboard ship, dozens of terms, objects, and tasks were described in detail to Cleo, the newbie sailor, by the other characters. Only one of them was ever related to the plot (and its story was also shared via dialogue). These scenes and others could have been tightened and made more memorable with more showing and less literal telling.
Editing: No Rating
(No rating for this section, as it would raise the overall score of the book.)
A collection of punctuation errors, mostly involving commas and apostrophes, could have been eliminated by a thorough proofread. Several dialogue questions were missing question marks; other sentences lacked final punctuation. Valid-word typos showed up as well; Spell Check is not as useful as it seems.
I did notice that the author once used coup d’etat when she meant coup de grace, resulting in the illegal government takeover of a pigeon by a hawk.
June 21, 2019
Great Gatsby characters only down south during the prohibition.
May 2, 2026
Didn't do it for me, I just couldn't finish it, whilst I was interested in finding out what happened, the characters and writing style were just too poor
June 21, 2013
I enjoyed this book because it kept me guessing until the very end. This is not your typical romance and I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed it.
Cleo and her war hero cousin Neill are visiting friends on an island. Graham has had a crush on Cleo since her cousin Niell showed him a picture and cannot wait to have her join him. As the sparks fly and the story plays out we see that not everything is it seems.
While the prohibition and the war are going on we see these 2 flyboys trying to fit in and just enjoy life. I see alot of this story from Cleo's point of view and it is just a little conservative especially considering this was based on the 20's.
Graham is considered a playboy and Cleo doesn't know anything about it until her cousin Niell tells her about Josie's disappearance. I however was a little skeptical but kept on believing what the author wanted us to believe very clever.
The other characters within the story are clever and arrogant and very much interesting especially Doc. I really did want to know what happened to him but it never panned out in the end.
Overall I was entranced with the story and characters and needed to find out what happened. I am glad Cleo got the ending she did because dealing with the rich arrogant asshats was interesting to say the least.
Cleo and her war hero cousin Neill are visiting friends on an island. Graham has had a crush on Cleo since her cousin Niell showed him a picture and cannot wait to have her join him. As the sparks fly and the story plays out we see that not everything is it seems.
While the prohibition and the war are going on we see these 2 flyboys trying to fit in and just enjoy life. I see alot of this story from Cleo's point of view and it is just a little conservative especially considering this was based on the 20's.
Graham is considered a playboy and Cleo doesn't know anything about it until her cousin Niell tells her about Josie's disappearance. I however was a little skeptical but kept on believing what the author wanted us to believe very clever.
The other characters within the story are clever and arrogant and very much interesting especially Doc. I really did want to know what happened to him but it never panned out in the end.
Overall I was entranced with the story and characters and needed to find out what happened. I am glad Cleo got the ending she did because dealing with the rich arrogant asshats was interesting to say the least.
April 13, 2012
Nicely put together mystery. I really like the female protagonist, (sigh), not so much the males except for one character named Billy (you'll have to read the book, sorry).
I enjoyed the time period, prohibition, and the peek into the lifestyle of the money crowd also known as the very rich.
This seems to have been a fairly well researched time period and the then current fashion figures into the descriptions very nicely.
I enjoyed this book and I do recommend it as a more or less traditional type mystery.
I enjoyed the time period, prohibition, and the peek into the lifestyle of the money crowd also known as the very rich.
This seems to have been a fairly well researched time period and the then current fashion figures into the descriptions very nicely.
I enjoyed this book and I do recommend it as a more or less traditional type mystery.
May 28, 2012
Started this tonight. Could not continue. Could not stand the cutesy writing style. Read like a very poor book version of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" without any of that film's redeeming qualities!
July 23, 2012
Enjoyable read and kept me interested.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews