The Bone Keeper

December 1, 2018
Veste's moody procedural tells the story of a pair of Liverpool detectives tracking a killer influenced by local mythology.Louise Henderson, the investigator at the heart of this novel, is a detective with secrets. She keeps some from her partner, DS Shipley; when the book opens, she's also grappling with moments of sudden and inexplicable terror that leave her unsure of their origin and unsettled by their impact on her. Soon, the detectives take up the case of a woman who escaped a deadly attack--and who believes it was the work of the title character, a local legend who may be a murderer, a supernatural creature, or something else entirely. Not long after that, a dead body shows up, which suggests a connection to an earlier death, but a host of loose ends hang for the detectives to piece together--and there's also the matter of a series of flashbacks set years earlier, when a teenager vanished. How these seemingly disparate elements connect--sometimes linearly, sometimes via well-made twists--leads the novel to its conclusion. Veste's slow-burning approach works well, sustaining the sense of general wrongness that gives the narrative so much atmosphere. There are a few heavy-handed moments here and there. "They thought they knew evil. They had no idea" is perhaps the most flagrant example; as this book is either about a serial killer or an urban legend come to life, that sense of menace is already built in to the narrative well enough. But the conclusion is largely satisfying, playing well off the dynamics Veste established over the course of the story.A solid sense of place, a looming sense of menace: a frequently gripping read.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2018
Caroline Rickards stumbles down a Liverpool street, bleeding profusely and chanting an eerie phrase that has terrified local children for decades: The Bone Keeper's coming. The Bone Keeper's real. In the hospital, Caroline recalls snatches of her assault, adamant that she was attacked by the Bone Keeper, an animalistic killer immortalized in local lore who prowls Liverpool's forests. Lead detectives Louise Henderson and Paul Shipley are on the verge of dismissing Caroline's claims when forensic techs processing the woods where she was assaulted find a man's body bearing the Bone Keeper's trademark wounds. Louise and Paul connect the latest victim to Rhys Durham, a local man reportedly obsessed with the Bone Keeper, only to have their case snatched away by Major Crimes. Relegated to handling Major Crimes' scut work, they continue chasing their copycat theory, even as Louise realizes the investigation is drawing her toward horrors she's buried in her past. A well-crafted, deliciously unsettling blend of police procedural and horror folklore that shares appeal with John Connolly's and Lauren Beukes' thrillers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)