Review ~ The Bones of You by Debbie Howells

Macmillan
July 2015

Everyone has secrets but some are more dangerous than others.

Eighteen year old Rosie Anderson has disappeared, and in the pretty village where she lives, alarm bells start to ring, as Rosie is so quiet and inoffensive that no-one can quite believe she would act so out of character. And yet for her family, and the village at large, the nightmare is only just beginning.

The Bones of You takes a family tragedy of epic proportions and cleverly weaves a tense psychological thriller which is a cut above the average whodunit. It is beautifully written, with a real sense of both mystery and suspense that you can't help but be drawn into the story, as right from the very start, we know that something dreadful has happened. As the story unfolds we are allowed a glimpse into the very heart and soul of a family who are completely at odds with themselves.

What then follows is a cleverly plotted and suspenseful family drama which looks at the concealment of secrets and of the overwhelming deceit of lives in turmoil. I think that there was just the right amount of suspense and whilst the book doesn’t focus on police procedure there is a very clear sense that this is a complex criminal case which has very human emotions at its heart.

Reminiscent, perhaps, of The Lovely Bones, but no less important because of that comparison, I think that to say more about book’s content would be to give far too much away, and that would be so unfair. However, what I will acknowledge is that this is a very clever debut novel, by a talented author who I am sure will go on to give us more heart stopping moments. I can't wait to see what she does next.

About the Author

Debbie Howells is a florist and lives with her family in Sussex. Her agent discovered The Bones of You on the slush pile and immediately spotted it as a future best seller.

Find Debbie on her website

Follow her on Twitter @debbie_howells

Amazon UK

My thanks to Lauren at Macmillan and Bookridgr for my copy of The Bones of You

Published 16 July and available from all good book shops. 

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