A Whisper Came — Keith Yocum

A strange death sets a tourist town on edge in this taut thriller -- Kirkus ReviewsA charter captain and his customer discover a body floating near Chatham, Massachusetts. What captures the medical examiner's attention is the dead woman's old-fashioned clothing. Thanks to a Boston Globe editor's affinity for Cape Cod articles, reporter Stacie Davis gets assigned the story. She grudgingly heads to Chatham only to discover that authorities have little new information. So she spends her time writing several features about the Cape. One is about a supposedly haunted lighthouse near where the body was found. Trying to avoid a needy ex-boyfriend and to get another story, Stacie meets with handsome Capt. Carl Lane. The reporter convinces him to take her to the lighthouse at night. After a bizarre evening, the captain goes back to the lighthouse to attempt a phone call and is attacked. In a series of implausible events, he develops amnesia following the attack and can't back up Stacie's version of what happened, so the authorities view Stacie as a suspect--an overeager reporter attempting to fabricate an exciting story. She must unearth the connection, if there is one, between the Jane Doe case and the attack on Carl before she gets charged for the attack herself. In his latest thriller, Yocum has created a spirited protagonist for a potential new series. She is too curious for her own good and knows how to manipulate people to get results. Yocum, who himself worked at the Boston Globe, uses that experience to bring the newspaper industry to life for the reader. Yocum is also a Chatham resident and turns that seafaring town into a character as well, with its history and citizens front and center. The novel effectively juggles various perspectives--those of the lead, the locals, and law enforcement--giving the reader different takes on the mystery.An incisive, suspenseful series launch with a promising sleuth.