Inspired by the McMartin preschool trials and the satanic panic of the Eighties, Clay McLeod Chapman’s Whisper Down The Lane is out today and to celebrate we’re giving away TWO copies!
Here is a synopsis of the novel…
Richard doesn’t have a past. For him, there is only the present: a new marriage to Tamara, a first chance at fatherhood to her son Elijah, and a quiet but pleasant life as an art teacher at Elijah’s elementary school in Danvers, Virginia. Then the body of a rabbit, ritualistically murdered, appears on the school grounds with a birthday card for Richard tucked beneath it. Richard doesn’t have a birthday… but Sean does.
Sean is a five-year-old boy who has just moved to Greenfield, Virginia, with his mother. Like most mothers of the 1980s, she’s worried about bills, childcare, putting food on the table . . . and an encroaching threat to American life that can take the face of anyone: a politician, a friendly neighbour, or even a teacher. When Sean’s school sends a letter to the parents revealing that Sean’s favourite teacher is under investigation, a white lie from Sean lights a fire that engulfs the entire nation.
Now, 30 years later, someone is here to remind Richard that they remember what Sean did. And though Sean doesn’t exist anymore, someone needs to pay the price for his lies…
Want to discover the mystery behind Whisper Down The Lane? Answer the very simple question below to be in with a chance to win a copy of your very own. The competition closes on 21 April so enter now!
Whisper Down The Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman is out now from Quirk Books. Order your copy here.