June 13, 2015 / Leslie

The Bones of You – A Suspenseful Psychological Thriller

Review, Giveaway, and Author Q&A

“The Bones of You revolves around a young girl’s murder and one woman’s obsession with uncovering the secrets in an idyllic English village.”

About the Book

The Bones of You

by Debbie Howells
Publisher: Kensington Books
Publication Date: June 30, 2015
Format: Hardcover | 320 pages

When Kate receives a phone call with news that Rosie Anderson is missing, she’s stunned and disturbed. Rosie is eighteen, the same age as Kate’s daughter, and a beautiful, quiet, and kind young woman. Though the locals are optimistic—girls like Rosie don’t get into real trouble—Kate’s sense of foreboding is confirmed when Rosie is found fatally beaten and stabbed.

Who would kill the perfect daughter, from the perfect family? Yet the more Kate entwines herself with the Andersons—graceful mother Jo, renowned journalist father Neal, watchful younger sister Delphine—the more she is convinced that not everything is as it seems.

My Thoughts

The Bones of You is a suspenseful mystery told from alternating perspectives: Kate, who has a daughter the same age as Rosie and feels compelled to find out what happened, and Rosie, who tells her story from beyond the grave.

As Kate spends more time with Rosie’s family, she realizes that things aren’t as they seem on the surface. Why is Kate so interested in solving this mystery? She is only casual friends with Rosie’s mom, and while Rosie would stop by the stables to visit Kate’s horses, she was not good friends with Kate’s daughter, Grace.

Perhaps this quote from Kate gives us a clue…

I have a gardener’s inherent belief in the natural order of things. Soft‑petalled flowers that go to seed. The resolute passage of the seasons. Swallows that fly thousands of miles to follow the eternal summer. Children who don’t die before their parents.

Rosie’s point of view is in contrast to Kate’s. She is, in a way, a ghost and sees what other characters cannot. In flashbacks she reveals bits and pieces of her life and secrets about her family. While they appear to be happy to the outside world, theirs is a dysfunctional home that goes back several generations.

Answers are revealed slowly and as secrets are brought to light, the pieces fall into place. This is not a fast-paced thriller; the story has a slow, subtle, suspenseful build, but once I became engaged in the story, it was difficult to put this book down.

While some seasoned mystery readers will have the murderer figured out before the reveal, there are enough angles in the story to keep most of us guessing. And while I was pretty sure I knew who did it, I didn’t figure out ‘why’ until the end.

Author Q&A- Debbie Howells

When did you start writing?
I began writing in earnest about five years ago, women’s fiction which was what I liked to read. But I also wanted to write books that addressed more serious real-life issues as well. I think with Wildflowers I achieved that. It’s had some wonderful reviews on Amazon, but though 6 agents asked to read the full manuscript, no-one actually took me on.

The Bones of You is a change of genre. How did you come to write it?
I’d put everything I had into Wildflowers and it came so close, but not close enough. I knew then I had to write something different. Everyone says, write about what you know about. I think that’s true, but I think also, you have to appeal to the market. That said, I don’t think it’s possible to write without your heart one hundred per cent in it.

Were you surprised with the reaction you got from agents and publishers?
Completely blown away! It was beyond my wildest dreams. There are phone calls and emails from that time that I will never, ever forget. When you’ve worked so hard for so long, battled rejection but kept going anyway, to reach the point where I’m being published is something I’m so excited about – and enormously grateful for.

What advice do you have for other writers?
There are so many brilliant, unpublished writers out there. Finding an agent and a publisher mean you have to write a good book, but it takes luck, too – in spadefuls – to hit the right person with the right idea when the market’s right… It’s also a massively subjective industry. What one person loves, another wouldn’t give the time of day to. And no-one can predict tomorrow’s bestsellers.
If you can’t find an agent to take you on, consider self-publishing. A number of authors have had huge success this way and in any case, you learn from it. Then keep writing – the next book, the one after. If you don’t, you’ll never know…

Have you written your next book?
I finished it just before Christmas. It’s another psychological thriller about not just what we hide from other people, but from ourselves, too. It’s about a washed-up lawyer and a woman he used to love, who’s suspected of a murder. He’s determined to prove her innocence but an overdose has left her in a coma.
As well as a thriller, it’s also a love story.