The Whispering

The whispering wild will take your child if you dare to look away ...

The stunning Aussie crime debut from the winner of the 2021 Banjo Prize for Fiction.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Courier-Mail People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award.

Callum Haffenden swore he'd never return to Granite Creek. But, thirty years after a life-shattering accident, he's thrust back into the clutches of Far North Queensland and a local legend he worked hard to forget.

When a man goes missing in the rainforest, the past begins to resurface, breathing new life into memories of previous tragedies - two girls lost, seventeen years apart. In a town where it's easiest to turn a blind eye, the guilt runs deep and everyone in Granite Creek has something to hide.

In his search for answers, Callum fights to keep his feet firmly on the trail as he battles the deafening call of the rainforest burrowing into his ears. After all, everyone knows that the worst things in the rainforest are those unseen.

'The Whispering has everything we've come to expect from Australian rural noir in the way of climate and landscape, characters, hidden truths, and unpredictable plotting. Lando has cleverly woven an intricate and multi-layered story into a gripping mystery told with skill - and a good dose of obligatory treachery! I devoured it.' Lyn Yeowart, author of The Silent Listener

'Small town secrets and decades-old animosities weave together in this atmospheric, eerie mystery set in the dense tropical north, where everyone has something to hide and the dank wet rainforest can lure away the unwary. A dark, absorbing, tangled mystery that had me second-guessing right to the end.' Dinuka McKenzie, author of The Torrent