Small-town cozy mysteries with a bit of an edge and a hint of magic. You’ll love this series.Welcome to Whispering Pines, Wisconsin. A place for those who don’t belong.Sixteen years after a family feud drove her from the cozy Northwoods village of Whispering Pines, Wisconsin, former detective Jayne O’Shea returns to prepare her grandparents’ lake house for sale. Once there, not only does she find … only does she find that the house has been trashed, her dog discovers a dead body in the backyard.
Jayne intends to stay out of it, but when it becomes obvious the sheriff isn’t interested in investigating the death, Jayne can’t stop herself. Her list of suspects grows faster than the plants in the commons’ pentacle garden. Could it be the local Wiccan green witch with her stash of deadly plants? The shopkeeper who slips into trances and foretells death? The visitor determined to practice black magic?
What Jayne knows for sure is that the closer she gets to solving this crime, the more the sheriff wants her to back off. And when a local fortune teller provides a crucial clue, Jayne knows it’s up to her to solve this murder.
The Whispering Pines Mystery Series
Family Secrets: A Whispering Pines Mystery
Kept Secrets: A Whispering Pines Mystery, Book Two
Original Secrets: A Whispering Pines Mystery, Book Three
Hidden Secrets: A Whispering Pines Mystery, Book Four
Rival Secrets: A Whispering Pines Mystery, Book Five
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Jayne, a former police detective has come to Whispering Pines, WI to clean out and put up for sale her grandmother’s home. Although it has been years since she was last there, she does have fond memories and a few unusual hazy ones. Jayne expects that it may take her two weeks to wrap things up, but what she doesn’t expect is to find a dead body on the property and the home severely vandalized. Several suspects, no known motive, a witches coven, and a police department not really interested in solving the crime all heighten Jayne’s interest. Whispering pines is a tourist attraction and seems to be a beautiful, pleasant town, but not everyone is welcome to stay.
I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author. I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.
Jayne went to Whispering Pines with one fairly simple task in mind and found mystery, suspense and more questions than answers. You’ll have to read to find out how much trouble she ends up in it how things work out for her This one was a real page turned and while it’s not a cliffhanger ending it still leaves you wanting the story to go pn
An introduction to Whispering Pines that keeps you wanting more
First time in reading this author that lured me in with the blurb. Been more and more moving to stories with less focus on taking forever to play out a scene in the lovemaking area and more to getting back to the story itself. Do love a good mystery also so I was thrilled to get into this one. Jayne takes you on her adventure when she thinks she is wrapping up so family stuff. I love her dog great character too. Anyways this was good place to start a mystery that reeled you in and snared you when not looking. You get to wrapped up in this after body is found you also know this is gonna be a nugget of wonderful reading. The characters are part of the charm with you going back and forth with wondering whom you get whammied with some answers. Now that I have discovered a writer whom gives a solid story gonna look for more.
An interesting mystery full of sub-plots and intriguing relationships. I had a hard time putting this book down. The author creates a level of suspense at many levels, leading the reader deeper into the mysteries, making us a part of the story through Jayne’s (MC) thoughts. The story is complex but never confusing as the clues and solutions lead us into more questions. In addition, the town of Whispering Pines has a supernatural component in that many of the the townsfolk, supposedly, have special talents. These talents are always acknowledged but never seen by our main characters, adding another layer of suspense to the mysteries. Whispering Pines definitely has a darkness hidden amongst its people. The book has a good ending but the story doesn’t end in that many of the secrets and mysteries continue. I had to buy the next book as soon as I finished this one.
I love this series! Look forward to each installment!
I loved reading Family Secrets, couldn’t put it down. Luckily my husband was away on a business trip so he couldn’t told me to 🙂
It’s a fresh story, with one action following another, with a lot of interacting between people, talking and reading body language. Without constantly shooting, fighting or cursing (a lot of people forget you can do a whole lot of talking without cursing or ‘fucking’). But there’s also room for times of rest, followed by a sense of peace. I liked that.
Through it all there’s Meeka (I love dogs and like it when they really have their own part in a story), some humor and a little, little touch of romance.
I bought all three books and have completed two of them and can not wait to start the last book.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Shawn McGuire created great characters and a really interesting story line. The location is so idyllic I’d love to live there myself. Can’t wait to read the sequel, Kept Secrets. Enjoy!
This is one of those books that you race thru because you NEED to see what happens next but then are crushed when you’ve finished it because you don’t want it to end. I was thrilled to find out it’s to be a series because I don’t want to let go of these characters. The author does an excellent job of humanizing them, the ones you love and the ones you hate. I felt like a few of them could be my friends by the end of the book. It’s set in a quaint village nestled by an idyllic lake where all the residents have a few quirks. It was built as a haven for Wiccans and the author did an excellent job explaining the religion, I was very impressed by that.
The protagonist, ex-cop Jayne, is extremely likeable and her little sidekick, Meeka, is adorable. Jayne arrives in Whispering Pines to sell her grandparents’ house and return home. However, her plans change with Meeka’s discovery of a dead body on the property and the revelation that someone has trashed her grandparent’s home. Jayne can’t resist the need to investigate.
The story is very engaging and pulls you in quickly. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the mystery intriguing. I was never bored with the story and thoroughly enjoyed the read. The book was well written and the plot was very believable. The characters were woven into the setting so well that I almost believe I could visit them. The secrets were well thought out and not easy to guess. I highly recommend this book to mystery lovers, I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do.
I enjoyed this book had me always wanting more the characters were wrote brilliant, I felt like I knew them. The book was easy to read and flowed really well it didn’t haveme trying hard to remember what had being going on.
Family Secrets (A Whispering Pines Mystery) by Shawn McGuire. This book was amazing! I loved every word of it. Its the story of Jayne who has returned to her hometown of Whispering Pines to her Grandparents house. She is in charge of cleaning out her grandparents house and selling everything. In the midst of doing that she uncovers all kinds of mysterious things and then a dead body is found in the back yard. When the cops show up they don’t seem that interested in doing a proper investigation so Jayne decides to do one on her own. While investigating Jayne discovers all kinds of things about her Grandmother including the fact she seems to have been a Wiccan. The whole town has a lot of Wiccan in it so its not totally surprising but still its her Grandmother. The dead woman has a tattoo that Wiccan’s have so more there is more to the mystery. Magic, wiccan’s and death can Jayne figure out the mystery before someone else dies?
Since Jayne recently quit her job with the Madison Police Department and broke up with her fiance, her mother and sister decide that she will be the one to clean out her grandparents’ lake house in Whispering Pines. Jayne has fond memories of visiting them until a family feud 16 years ago stopped the visits. As soon as she arrives things go wrong. The house has been vandalized and Jayne’s dog Meeka discovers a body near the lake. With no phone reception and the phone lines cut, Jayne yells to a man paddling on the lake to get help. Since it looks like it will take much longer than the week Jayne planned to spend cleaning out the house, she accepts the sheriff’s offer to be a patrol deputy in town during the upcoming tourist season. Once a detective, always a detective, Jayne can’t help but look into the murder of Yasmine. I really liked the characters in this book, and I consider the town of Whispering Pines itself to be a character. Jayne experienced a sense of serenity as soon as she arrived, and I could feel the serenity myself. The huge house by the lake, the tall pines, the quaint little town in the middle of nowhere. It sounds so peaceful. Until it isn’t. Jayne is a great heroine, strong but unsure of herself after the events of her recent past. Meeka, a 10 year old West Highland Terrier, is not generally one’s image of a police dog and cadaver dog. She is Jayne’s partner and goes everywhere with her, often warning her of danger. Tripp, the man who went for help, is a nice guy who offered to help her clean. Morgan, the “green witch” was another strong character but at first I wasn’t sure of her motives. Some people may be put off by a central component of this book. Whispering Pines was settled by members of the Wiccan religion so there is witchcraft involved. My daughter was interested in this as a teenager so I learned about it then. It doesn’t offend me like it may others; if you take the time to learn about it you will see it is not evil. In this book the evil is not the Wiccans themselves but the nature of man (or woman). The description of things Wiccan was interesting and well explained. This book is part of a series and as such is a bit of a cliffhanger. The main mystery of this book was essentially solved but there is definitely more to come. I am interested in getting to know Jayne, see if her relationship with Tripp will go anywhere, and to soak in more of the serenity of Whispering Pines.
Family Secrets, Whispering Pines #1 – An intriguing story. After finishing Stick and Stones, I dove into Family Secrets, my second book by this new-to-me author. These two books are nothing alike on storylines, except fantasy. I was drawn into this well written novel with an interesting plot and realistic characters, including the lovable dog. I couldn’t put Family Secrets down until it was finished. There’s an overview letting the reader know what the book is about, which I appreciate. This author is definitely someone whose work I want to keep reading. Two books, two winners!
Kept Secrets, Whispering Pines #2 – Another intriguing story by a very good author. Now we’re being to know our main characters as they grow in this book, while remaining believable and realistic. The well written, fast paced plot keeps the reader interested, making it hard to put the book down. The author’s descriptions leave the reader with clear pictures about the town, townspeople and property. I contacted the author to review her books since she writes such substantial stories that leaves a reader satisfied.
Original Secrets, Whispering Pines #3 – This is the best of the series. So intriguing that the reader can’t put the book down. A well written, suspense filled book with two deaths forty years apart that may be connected. The characters are steadily growing, even the hated ones are interesting. Their dialog is realistic and non of The Stupid Formula for these characters. Her descriptions are clear and you’re there in Whispering Pines. I’m looking forward to the next book. I contacted the author to review her books; her stories are substantial and the reader is satisfied when finished reading one of her books.
Hidden Secrets, Whispering Pines #4 – Another hard to put down story. Well written, suspense filled and full of intrigue, still with an interesting group of characters with new ones added to boot. This substantial story has several stories going at once, including the past and the future and the worries that stem from them. I’ve never been disappointed by any book written by Ms. McGuire and I look forward to more of her work. I contacted the author to review her books.
Missing & Gone – An interesting novella. This well written story introduces the main and some of the secondary characters of the book Family Secrets. It’s a quickly read suspense story, which I read after Family Secrets; I didn’t miss not having read M&G before FS. A conflict: Jayne knows her grandmother is a Wiccan, but she forgot it in FS? Minor detail, both are must reads, actually any of the author’s books are must reads.
Sticks and Stones – A surprising, intense novel. Not knowing what to expect from this new-to-me author, I started reading a book that turned out to be mesmerizing. I couldn’t stop reading this well written, thought out book with its interesting characters and storyline full of twists, even thought the age group doesn’t interest me. I’ve had this book a while and am glad I finally got around to reading it. My next read is Family Secrets.
I received a copy of this book for an honest review. LOVED this story! I avoid most fantasy, witchcraft, paranormal, etc., but this is written more for understanding than for a thrill of the occult and witchy things! It’s not ‘over the top’ witchcraft, but looking at Wiccan as a religious belief. I fell in love with McGuire’s writing through her novellas in the Lei Crime Series KW, and she’s brilliantly captured the ‘feel’ of the northern part of Wisconson. Having spent a summer’s week just outside of Madison, her descriptions almost had me scratching the mosquito bites I remember. Awesome character development, excellent cultural and small-town depictions… Looking forward to another story about Jayne, Meeka and Whispering Pines. Highly recommend this one!
Omg loved it! Just,bought next one and can’t wait to start!
I really enjoyed this book. Easily read and engaging of the story. characters and town. The mystery and investigation are a bit scary but so is murder. Add some supernatural Wicca and “negative” magic details brings It all together for a smooth read with a finish to some parts but the villain remains at large. Thus, the next book. Hints of romance and hope for the heroine’s future.