Dawn Merriman’s Rylan Flynn series continues with The Whisper House, an eerie but enjoyable and fantastic story. This addictive and twisty paranormal mystery will captivate and thrill readers, making it a difficult book to put down.
In a haunted mansion, ghosts are not the only danger… I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
Title: The Whisper House
Author(s): Dawn Merriman
Series: Rylan Flynn #3
Also in this series: The Spirit Girls, The Shadow Girls , The Haunted Child, The River Ghost
Published by Hachette UK - Second Sky on February 13, 2024
Pages: 236
Genre(s): Cozy Mystery, paranormal cozy mystery
Source: Netgalley, Publisher
Format: eArc 
Purchase: Amazon|Audible
Series Rating: 
I’m Rylan Flynn. I hunt for ghosts and restless spirits, and solve the mysteries that make them haunt the living.
My ex-boyfriend Declan never believed in my abilities. Now he thinks his home is haunted and he’s pleading for my help. Declan lives in a huge mansion, full of history and secrets.
When I arrive at the house, I find a dying woman in the gardens. It seems like the spirit in Declan’s house may be the only witness to a murder.
For the first time, Detective Ford Pierce asks for my help. Inside the mansion, we find mysterious locked rooms and shattered windows, but the ghost stays hidden. Why won’t it speak to me?
I’m almost ready to give up when my best friend, Mickey, is snatched from her home in the middle of the night. The killer has her, and time is running out.
I’ll do anything to bring Mickey back. But will my desperate search for clues uncover the truth, or lead me right into the killer’s hands?
Once again, Rylan is called upon to use her unique gift. A gift that enables her to see and speak with ghosts. The job involves her ex-boyfriend and bestselling author, Declan Rathborne. Declan wants her to investigate the possibility of ghosts living in his new home. During the course of the investigation, Rylan and her best friend, Mickey, witness a wounded young woman taking her last breath. The big question on everyone’s mind was: who killed her and why?
While Rylan tries to find out more about the young woman’s death and the ghost residing in Declan’s house, events take an unexpected turn. Her best friend, Mickey, went missing. My thoughts were constantly racing over who took her, why, and how it connected to the young woman’s death.
This series piqued my interest because of my love for paranormal stories. The first two books, The Spirit Girls and The Shadow Girls, captivated me and made me fully invested in the series. The Whisper House has joined the ranks, making it a fantastic addition to the series. The story captivated me, and I couldn’t put it down as I needed answers to my questions. Merriman did an excellent job of incorporating paranormal and cozy mystery elements. The tension, along with the suspense and danger, made for an exciting read.
Rylan is a character who will appeal to most readers. Because of her abilities, people view her as a freak. There are few people in her corner. Her ability to speak to spirits came about as a result of a childhood trauma, and her life has never been the same. She lost her mother to a violent act of crime, a case that has yet to be solved.
A fascinating tale infused with family drama and a prospective romance. I wish Ford and Rylan would get over themselves and tell each other how they feel. The featured mystery wrapped up nicely; however, there were dangling plot threads that I hope the next book will address.
The Whisper House delivered a fun and light paranormal cozy that will appeal to fans of the genre.
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About Dawn Merriman
Dawn Merriman writes creepy small town murder mysteries from her small farm in northeast Indiana where she lives with her husband and teenage children. You can often find her with muck boots on her feet and a story in her head. She enjoys animals, auctions, snorkeling and archaeology. Dawn Merriman grew up a small town farm girl, on a small time pig farm in Indiana. She spent her young adulthood sitting on her bedroom floor scribbling stories in notebooks. She won the “Northeast Indiana Young Writers” award as a sophomore in high school. After battling severe depression, she wrote her debut novel “How Murder Saved My Life” as therapy, mixing her love of murder mysteries and farming with climbing out of the darkness of illness.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
I love paranormal mysteries with ghosts and haunted houses. This series sounds awesome. I’ll have to check it out. 😀
This sounds right up my alley. I love paranormal cozy mysteries.
I love how atmospheric the cover is
This looks good. For some reason, I thought it was YA,.
Oh this sounds good. It had quite a few things that I like.
Ohhh, this one sounds like up my alley. Definitely checking it out!
Looks great. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome. Thanks for stopping by.