About the Book

When you’re dead, you’re dead. When you’re gone, you’re gone. Unless, of course, you’re not. And that’s where I come in.

The year is 1897, and Peggy Devona can speak with ghosts.

She hides her gift from those afraid of a girl with such powers, terrified of the secrets the dead could reveal through her. But when her best friend is accused of murdering her rich mistress, Peggy knows only she – a whisperling – can save her.

Peggy escapes to her uncle’s psychic emporium in the city, seeking out new ghosts to help her solve Sally’s case.

Yet time is running out, and each step towards uncovering the truth also brings Sally one step closer to the gallows. . .

About the Author

Long listed for the Bath Children’s Novel award, Hayley Hoskins writes in the space between family and work, with much support from her writing group.

Mum to a teenage boy, she spends a disproportionate amount of time hoping that her son’s life is far less complicated than those of the characters in her books, and trying to ensure he becomes a ‘good egg’.

 Originally from the Forest of Dean, Hayley lives with her family and hairy breezeblock of a dog in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/HayleyHoskins

What I Thought

Spooky season is upon us and The Whisperling is a great addition to a spooky TBR. Set in Bristol in the Victorian era we start with Peggy (Margaret Devon’s) and her best friend Sally having a disagreement and then Sally goes silent on her. But it’s not just a case of Peggy being sent to Coventry, instead Sally has been charged with murdering her mistress and is set to hang.

Peggy is a Whisperling and she can see and speak to ghosts and witness their burn (where they head to the next plane of existence) but although signs around town suggest that people are to accept any Whisperlings amongst them people still remember when witches roamed and dictating inclusion does not inclusion create. Especially not with judgemental clergy spouting about the devil.

For her own “safety” Peggy joins her estranged uncle in the city and is set to work at his Psychic Emporium with Oti and Cecily. The Victorian fascination with Spiritualism led to a lot of hokey seances but what happens when a real Whisperling is added to the mix?

The thread of mystery runs alongside with the urgency of solving the murder to clear Sally’s name before she hangs. There’s a Q&A with the author at the back of the book that talks about her inspirations and some of the real life cases of young girls receiving a death sentence. Add in the threat of ‘The Righteous’ – Whisperling Finders and there is plenty of peril for a middle grade tale.

The villain of the piece may be who you expect but there’s enough red herrings along the way to keep you guessing. In fact there’s a really early gasp inducing moment that gets twisted (although I think it would have also made an interesting story to go with what I thought had happened).

I really liked the family story alongside this too. With Peggy’s father not having trusted her with the family secrets, mysterious pictures of her uncle and mother and a generational line of whisperlings – not to mention the not quite spectre with raven hair.

This is like a middle grade Ghost Whisperer and it is left open for more stories of whisperlings past, present and future. I’ll definitely check them out when they appear.

A nod must also go to Kristina Kister for the stunning cover design which makes me hope to see this as an animated film.

A huge thanks to Blue at Kaleidoscopic Tours and the publisher Puffin for the gifted copy for the purposes of an honest review. Do check out the rest of the tour stops to see what everyone else thought or to read some extracts.