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Ireland #4
The Whisper
Archaeologist Sophie Malone is still haunted a year after she was left for dead inside a remote Irish cave. Now she's convinced that her night of terror is linked to recent violence in Boston. Did the killer under arrest steal the ancient Celtic treasure from the cave that night? Or is another killer out there, ready to strike again?
Boston detective "Scoop" Wisdom has recovered from his injuries and is after the bomber who nearly killed him. Tough and stubborn, he's the best at detecting lies…except maybe those of Sophie Malone. When an ex-cop becomes the victim of ritual sacrifice, it's clear nobody's safe, and everyone's a suspect.
378 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2010
219 people are currently reading
890 people want to read
About the author
Carla Neggers
143 books1,606 followersCarla Neggers is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sharpe & Donovan series featuring Boston-based FBI agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan, and the popular Swift River Valley series set in the small, fictional New England town of Knights Bridge. With many bestsellers to her credit, Carla loves to write now as much as she did when she climbed a tree at age eleven with a pad and pen and spun stories perched on her favorite branch.
A native New Englander, Carla and her husband divide their time between their hilltop home in Vermont, a sofa bed at their kids' places in Boston and various inns, hotels and hideaways on their travels, frequently to Ireland.
Find out more and sign up for Carla's newsletter at CarlaNeggers.com.
A native New Englander, Carla and her husband divide their time between their hilltop home in Vermont, a sofa bed at their kids' places in Boston and various inns, hotels and hideaways on their travels, frequently to Ireland.
Find out more and sign up for Carla's newsletter at CarlaNeggers.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
December 24, 2010
I received this book for review from the Vine program. Here's my take on it:
Briefly, it's a tale of a find by archeologist Sophie Malone and her encounter with Boston detective "Scoop" Wisdom who is convinced Sophie is not telling all she knows. As events begin to unfold, it becomes clearer that there might be a connection to Sophie's scare, some missing artifacts and a bomb plot that nearly cost Scoop his life. They must join sides to uncover the mystery.
As an Irish travel guide and one familiar with West Cork, Kerry and Kenmare, I was prepared to like the book based solely on the setting. That it was a romantic suspense penned by a well-known author in the genre was an added bonus, however, I found it tough reading for a number of reasons. First, I did not know this was a fourth book in a series, so the plethora of characters from previous books had my head spinning. Way too many characters who got in the way of Scoop's and Sophie's story and who seemed peripheral to the mystery of this book. The constant jumping between Kenmare, Boston and Dublin made it difficult to follow the story because it seemed like different sets of characters were all doing things that were only loosely related to the main plot. I never did learn what Will Davenport's, Simon's or Myles' roles were in relation to the main plot; in fact, I wondered what the main plot actually was. Was it what Sophie found on the island? What Keira saw? How did these incidents relate to Norman Estabrook, the man who died in prison or to Scoop's brush with death? And what was Lizzie's purpose to the plot? Why the references to Abigail Browning since she is never onstage? All these characters and all these questions. As for Kenmare, I would like to have read more detail so I actually felt the characters were in Kenmare. Ms. Neggers' description was pretty generic. I don't know of a pub that close to the Kenmare pier, and as for the pier, it's small, antiquated, and with maybe five or six boats moored at any given time.
The story is more mystery than romance, though Scoop and Sophie share a moment of intimacy, however, the mystery builds slowly up to the last quarter of the book. Why Sophie can't discuss what she saw on the island is a mystery to me; I kept waiting for something bigger to be happening. When finally it does, it came out of nowhere, because the reader had no lead-in. And the villain's modus operandi seemed contrived.
I wondered why many characters were described as having West Cork accents since they were in County Kerry.
To Ms. Neggers' credit, her (Sophie's) descriptions of early Celtic artifacts and customs was well done.
I feel I would have appreciated the book more if I had read the prequels and had an understanding of how each character was relevant to which portion of the plot. As it was, I found myself wanting to skip large chunks of the story.
Briefly, it's a tale of a find by archeologist Sophie Malone and her encounter with Boston detective "Scoop" Wisdom who is convinced Sophie is not telling all she knows. As events begin to unfold, it becomes clearer that there might be a connection to Sophie's scare, some missing artifacts and a bomb plot that nearly cost Scoop his life. They must join sides to uncover the mystery.
As an Irish travel guide and one familiar with West Cork, Kerry and Kenmare, I was prepared to like the book based solely on the setting. That it was a romantic suspense penned by a well-known author in the genre was an added bonus, however, I found it tough reading for a number of reasons. First, I did not know this was a fourth book in a series, so the plethora of characters from previous books had my head spinning. Way too many characters who got in the way of Scoop's and Sophie's story and who seemed peripheral to the mystery of this book. The constant jumping between Kenmare, Boston and Dublin made it difficult to follow the story because it seemed like different sets of characters were all doing things that were only loosely related to the main plot. I never did learn what Will Davenport's, Simon's or Myles' roles were in relation to the main plot; in fact, I wondered what the main plot actually was. Was it what Sophie found on the island? What Keira saw? How did these incidents relate to Norman Estabrook, the man who died in prison or to Scoop's brush with death? And what was Lizzie's purpose to the plot? Why the references to Abigail Browning since she is never onstage? All these characters and all these questions. As for Kenmare, I would like to have read more detail so I actually felt the characters were in Kenmare. Ms. Neggers' description was pretty generic. I don't know of a pub that close to the Kenmare pier, and as for the pier, it's small, antiquated, and with maybe five or six boats moored at any given time.
The story is more mystery than romance, though Scoop and Sophie share a moment of intimacy, however, the mystery builds slowly up to the last quarter of the book. Why Sophie can't discuss what she saw on the island is a mystery to me; I kept waiting for something bigger to be happening. When finally it does, it came out of nowhere, because the reader had no lead-in. And the villain's modus operandi seemed contrived.
I wondered why many characters were described as having West Cork accents since they were in County Kerry.
To Ms. Neggers' credit, her (Sophie's) descriptions of early Celtic artifacts and customs was well done.
I feel I would have appreciated the book more if I had read the prequels and had an understanding of how each character was relevant to which portion of the plot. As it was, I found myself wanting to skip large chunks of the story.
September 14, 2020
I really enjoyed this. I'm getting used to this author's writing style of going from Ireland to the U.S. in her books.
October 9, 2010
have read all of this series and the others. For some reason I was more distracted by prior characters in this one than the story. Not sure why.
August 14, 2018
Enjoyed the book although probably because i had not read the previous ones, i was pretty confused. The story jumps back and forth between usa and ireland and there were way too many people involved for me to keep up with who was who. Liked the author's writing style.
December 22, 2010
Most of Carla Neggers' novels are great stand-alones, even when they belong to a particular series. They can be read out of order and are just as enjoyable. Realizing this I didn't mind delving into The Whisper and within a few short pages began to regret that decision. If you haven't read earlier novels from the FBI/BPD series, in which this novel belongs to, much is given away. If you haven't read the previous novels, I would highly suggest doing so.
Although, discouraged I was still intent on enjoying the novel. As a mystery, the novel makes for superb reading, but as anything more, it was an okay read. Unlike her other novels, the romance was very limited and felt contrived. It wasn't so much that there was chemistry lacking between archaeologist Sophie Malone and Boston detective Scoop Wisdom, but that their relationship never fully developed. Rather, it was simply a prop. Even minus their "relationship", the mystery would have read just fine as two partners solving a mystery, than lovers in the making.
Another thing that was distracting was that the story itself felt like two separate stories, one based in the United States and another in Ireland. The two pieces never blended and came together. One redeeming quality is definitely the picturesque descriptions of Ireland. The beauty of the land and the richness of the culture and history really came through in the writing. I enjoyed learning and envisioning the country, even if the story wasn't quite as appealing.
That being said, and this being a novel by Carla Neggers it was still good but compared to her other works, it does leave me yearning for more.
Although, discouraged I was still intent on enjoying the novel. As a mystery, the novel makes for superb reading, but as anything more, it was an okay read. Unlike her other novels, the romance was very limited and felt contrived. It wasn't so much that there was chemistry lacking between archaeologist Sophie Malone and Boston detective Scoop Wisdom, but that their relationship never fully developed. Rather, it was simply a prop. Even minus their "relationship", the mystery would have read just fine as two partners solving a mystery, than lovers in the making.
Another thing that was distracting was that the story itself felt like two separate stories, one based in the United States and another in Ireland. The two pieces never blended and came together. One redeeming quality is definitely the picturesque descriptions of Ireland. The beauty of the land and the richness of the culture and history really came through in the writing. I enjoyed learning and envisioning the country, even if the story wasn't quite as appealing.
That being said, and this being a novel by Carla Neggers it was still good but compared to her other works, it does leave me yearning for more.
August 27, 2016
This was the last volume in the BPD/FBI series and was the worse. I was looking forward to Cyrus 'Scoop' Wisdom's story and Sophie Malone was a good match for him. Their interactions were good although there were not enough of them. They did not carry the action. Too many sub-characters took over and watered it down. The whole plot of this story seemed contrived. The motivations and connections between the various villains in each volume have been getting more farfetched as the series progressed and this was the most nebulous, where it should have been the Ah ha moment. All of the earlier matched couples appear in this volume, as well as the related secondary characters. It seemed like some convolutions in the plot happened only to give some characters a reason for being in this volume. I did not feel suspense. It was talked to death. This book missed the mark for me.
March 27, 2025
This was a re-read for me. I love this series and enjoyed revisiting old friends. I wish there was just one more book.
Read
January 10, 2022It wouldn't be fair to rate this book. I didn't finish it. I picked it up at a used book sale because it sounded good. I didn't realize it was part of a series. I've been trying to get around to reading 1-3 but too many books, too little time. I got about half way through and decided it just wasn't working. I felt like I was in a room full of people who were all good friends, had a past, a present, and a future together and I didn't know any of them. I couldn't figure out why Scoop felt it was important to investigate Sophie. I thought it was so improbable he showed up at her car the morning she was off to visit a retired cop per the retired cop's request. Will and Don wonder off together for unknown reasons. Their name should be Willanddon. They seem to be joined at the hip. Then there are Myers and Scoop who are even more loners than the Lone Ranger. At least he had Silver and Tonto. Anyway, too many questions, too confusing, too many books, too little time.
December 17, 2023
This is the 4th book in a 4 book series. I didn't know that when I started. It seemed familiar and upon doing some searching I discovered that I had read the 2nd book a number of years ago. However, this was just a whim purchase at a second-hand store and I didn't want to go back to find and read the entire series. So . . . without reading the prior books, I was a bit lost at times. Lots of characters that weren't central to the plot of this particular book, but which I'm sure we learned a lot about in previous books. I wouldn't recommend this as a standalone book like some books in a series can be. I feel like the ending wrapped up the currently book, but probably also wrapped up the entire series. However, I believe that had I chosen to read the entire series in order I would have enjoyed it quite a bit, with much of the setting being in Ireland and bits of Irish lore included.
June 17, 2024
The first 2 books in the series were good. The last book and this one are not. Over a 100 pages of the book was spent on recapping the previous 3 books. Very boring.
Why do new characters appear and seem to know who everyone is and what happened to everyone? Nothing is a secret. Sophie knew about everyone and what happened when questioned.
There are too many characters. I had read the previous books within the last 6 weeks, but still had problems with the characters. I had trouble trying to remember who the Carlisles were. They must have been barely mentioned in another book. I still did not figure out where they came into things. There should have been a section at the beginning of the book explaining who each of the characters were.
The females in books 2, 3, and 4 try to solve things on their own. They are not cops nor agents.
Frankly the book was confusing. I skipped a lot of chapters. Not a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Why do new characters appear and seem to know who everyone is and what happened to everyone? Nothing is a secret. Sophie knew about everyone and what happened when questioned.
There are too many characters. I had read the previous books within the last 6 weeks, but still had problems with the characters. I had trouble trying to remember who the Carlisles were. They must have been barely mentioned in another book. I still did not figure out where they came into things. There should have been a section at the beginning of the book explaining who each of the characters were.
The females in books 2, 3, and 4 try to solve things on their own. They are not cops nor agents.
Frankly the book was confusing. I skipped a lot of chapters. Not a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
November 26, 2024
I am baffled about this book. I honestly do not understand any of the writing choices.
For most of this book, nothing outside of conversations (repeating the same information over and over) happens. There’s no real mystery until over 100 pages in. They focus more on past books than coming up with a compelling plot for this one. I was not only bored, but desperate for it to just finish already.
The way characters act/react in these books never make any sense. I am often left ‘but why?’ A lot. It’s a lot of ‘they’re hiding something and must be involved’ but like…nothing has happened that would make you think that. There’s a lot of ‘because plot’ and it feels lazy.
What an awkward first meeting. It felt like they were robots that were there to do the ‘previous on’ info dump, not actual people. That said, it’s refreshing to see an Internal Affairs cop be the hero for once, instead of the villain and/or nuisance that stands in the way.
At least the history was really cool.
For most of this book, nothing outside of conversations (repeating the same information over and over) happens. There’s no real mystery until over 100 pages in. They focus more on past books than coming up with a compelling plot for this one. I was not only bored, but desperate for it to just finish already.
The way characters act/react in these books never make any sense. I am often left ‘but why?’ A lot. It’s a lot of ‘they’re hiding something and must be involved’ but like…nothing has happened that would make you think that. There’s a lot of ‘because plot’ and it feels lazy.
What an awkward first meeting. It felt like they were robots that were there to do the ‘previous on’ info dump, not actual people. That said, it’s refreshing to see an Internal Affairs cop be the hero for once, instead of the villain and/or nuisance that stands in the way.
At least the history was really cool.
June 30, 2019
i enjoyed the book but it had a very wobbly start. Since it was the 4th in a series, the author attempted to fill in the reader who hadn't read the first 3 in an unique way. But the update/catch up/put everyone on the same page, was so spread out, so disjointed that even by the middle of the book i was still not totally clear. It wasn't until I decided that it just didn't matter what happened before that the book became enjoyable. If asked, i would say "Start from book one"...i know i will be going back to the beginning - even if I already know how it all ends ...bet you thought I'd spill the beans :)
June 20, 2019
It was an interesting book, obviously part of a series and I didn't read any of the previous books written in the series. The author developed many characters in the twist and turns of the mystery. The reason I only gave it 3 stars was the author seemed to purposefully keep the book from expanding on the intimate details of the characters physical relationships, which I appreciated, until almost the end of the book ( Chapter 27). If I had read this type of content in the beginning of the book, I would not have continued to read it.
October 11, 2019
I enjoyed this story, especially spending time with Scoop, but everything from the introduction of Sophie to the culmination of the story felt abrupt. The book was published in 2010, but everything about it felt like we were gearing up for another suspense/ action, semi-romantic adventure. Huh. The Ireland series was fun, regardless.
November 17, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyed the Ireland series. Although the first 3 books in this series (The Widow, The Angel, The Mist) could be read as standalones, I very much recommend reading the series in order and certainly completing with The Whisper to enjoy the full effect of the storyline and series. Great read!
February 14, 2024
Not a stand alone book. Will need to read the previous books in order to follow this one. I was lost with all these characters as this was the first in this series for me. The relationship between Sophie and Scoop felt like we are the only two unattached people so I guess we are a couple. No romance just two confusing people.
December 2, 2024
I enjoyed the book but it was a little hard to follow at times. Too many characters and switching back from country to country. Loved the storyline though. Involves Sophie Malone, archeologist, and Boston Dectective "Scoop" Wisdom trying to solve a mystery that almost got both of them killed in separate instances.
August 16, 2017
This was a great ending to the Boston Police/FBI series. The book wraps almost everything up nicely. I did not like Sophie at first in this book but by the end I did like her. It was great to see all the familiar faces in this book again and to catch up with their lives.
June 6, 2018
The whispers are coming; 'Scoop' going to be the best 'lie detector' after his near-death experience except for Sophie.
Is Sophie leading danger to 'Scoop's' front door?
This is a must read in the Boston Police Department series.
Is Sophie leading danger to 'Scoop's' front door?
This is a must read in the Boston Police Department series.
July 24, 2018
Just gets better and better!!!
I love this series!! Actually ALL of Carla's books! I have most of them in hard copy. As with the rest, this story has it all. Action, love, family interaction. A great book!
I love this series!! Actually ALL of Carla's books! I have most of them in hard copy. As with the rest, this story has it all. Action, love, family interaction. A great book!
September 16, 2018
I enjoyed this book but the series is seeming a little formulaic. But knowing what’s coming doesn’t take away from the good characters
With plenty of depth. Plus, I enjoy that there are touches of follow-ups on characters and lives from previous stories.
With plenty of depth. Plus, I enjoy that there are touches of follow-ups on characters and lives from previous stories.
October 13, 2018
Great story
This is a really good series with awesome characters. I need to read more about Sophie and Scoop; I need to know what happens next. I would also like a book about her sister and Tim.
This is a really good series with awesome characters. I need to read more about Sophie and Scoop; I need to know what happens next. I would also like a book about her sister and Tim.
December 26, 2021
I read this to see who this author is. Gentle romantic suspense. Turns out this is the 4th in the series. It read fine for not knowing any of the characters. had a vibe of some older novelist - mary Stewart or Helen MacInnes
August 13, 2022
It was a good read. I loved all the Irish history aspects of the story; the folklore and legends too. Great characters and it kept me guessing till close to the final reveal. I like mysteries that keep me guessing and are not predictable.
March 15, 2024
The Whisper
I really liked this book. I think the plot was great. Hard at first to keep tract of all the characters, but I finally got them straight. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Irish folklore and suspense.
I really liked this book. I think the plot was great. Hard at first to keep tract of all the characters, but I finally got them straight. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Irish folklore and suspense.
May 21, 2025
fantastic I love the 4 book series. Abigail,Bob and Scoop. Each had their own problems but was there for each other. Even with new characters added to each story they were all tied together in one way or another.
May 31, 2017
Loved it
June 30, 2017
I gave up on this--I tried to like it but it was just too much of a struggle. Poor character development and just convoluted with no clue as to where the plot was headed.
August 2, 2017
meh more relationship based than suspense. bounced around a lot. No clear path.
June 11, 2018
Amazing wrap up to a great little series! Carla Neggers books always pull me in and make me what to stay up all night reading! Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews