Bones & Drones

A Pine Grove Mystery, Book 1

De: K.A. Goodsell

Narrado por: Carrie Coello

Hanging out in a cemetery isn’t every girl’s idea of a good time, but for Paislee Grimes, the dead can be the best company.

Raised in the sleepy Connecticut town of Pine Grove by an undertaker and a coroner, Paislee has seen more than her fair share of death, and she’s right at home amid the morbid and macabre.

She’s happy enough to spend her last months before college cobbling together a history of the place she loves most and studying the lives of the people buried in her backyard, but when the body of a classmate turns up face down in the lake, it’s Paislee’s time to shine.

Armed with a fierce drive and a gift for forensic anthropology, Paislee dives headfirst into the biggest shock Pine Grove has ever seen.

Suddenly, everyone is a suspect - friends, love interests, and even the mayor. And in a community as tight-knit as hers, no one wants to believe the killer could be one of their own.

But where there’s a murder, there’s a murderer, and with more questions than answers, it’s beginning to look like Paislee is the only one who can connect the dots.

©2019 Katie Goodsell (P)2019 Katie Goodsell

Recommended clean mystery

Actually...this is quite a good who dun it, l was interested thru the first half and totally committed thru the remainder. It was cleverly done and l didn't guess the culprits identity.
Nicely narrated. loved the cemetery.

A Great Listen

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left this review. In a few months Paislee will be going off to college so she's just relaxing, waiting for her acceptance letter and solving a murder of a fellow classmate. Of course that's after she proves she isn't a suspect. For Paislee being around death is not all that strange, her mother is an undertaker and her father is a coroner, but it is very different when you know the person. A highly entertaining mystery with quirky characters and an interesting plot with lots of twists to keep you guessing until the very end. The perfect listen for a road trip.

Teen Sleuths Uncover Dark Secrets in Small Town

A body at the lake turns young Paislee’s thoughts from college admission to investigation in a heartbeat. Reared by an undertaker and a coroner, Paislee is comfortable with the dead and her favorite place to hang out is the local cemetery visiting with the graves of those long since passed. She also enjoys helping her father work on cold cases using her historical and cemetery research hobbies to solve the cases. But now, the mayor is in an election year and wants the cased solved swiftly so he brings together Paislee with a surprising partner who uses tech to work on a case that is definitely not cold.

Bones and Drones was an engaging surprise. I liked the idea of a teen who is not typical by any stretch working to solve a murder. Well, she is typical in some ways since she thinks and acts her age, but has a unique skill set and interests which her supportive parents encourage. This was right up my alley because I grew up with similar interests- at least in cemeteries and town histories.

The story is a mystery at the core, but the mystery is only one of the elements. This is also a teenager’s life story, too. Paislee in transition to college, figuring out relationships with guys, navigating home life, prepping for her career, and learning to be part of a team.

At first, I was enjoying the story, but felt it was only moderately engaging. For me, the entrance of her partner-competition in solving the case, Gage, was the element needed to make the story have some sparkle. Paislee seemed to have things her own way because she is unique, but now she is forced to learn that another person has connected interests and can contribute strongly. It was fun seeing Gage confuse and amuse her out of her Lone Ranger attitude that included a sense of superiority.

The mystery itself stayed background to the set up of the story for the longest time, but it all built to those riveting moments near the end. I had no idea who or why and could only follow along. Things are left dangling, but this is a series that progresses the story into the next book.

Carrie Coello is a new to me narrator. She was a perfect match for a teen girl main character and a wide range of voices from both genders surrounding Paislee. She nails the tone and paced the story well especially as it got near the end. The book was enhanced by her audio work.

In summary, it was an amusing coming of age blended with small town murder mystery that will continue on in a series of books. I can definitely recommend it to YA mystery fans.

Bones and Drones

This is the beginning of a great new series! Paisley is the daughter od death.Well,not really,but her parents run a mortuary and she spends a lot of time in cemetaries. She and a boy are teamed against each other to find a body.With her knowledge and his drone,it should be a cinch! Excellent narration.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Cute Story

I think the biggest question I had for this story was why Elgort seemed to be the biggest suspect. He wasn’t allowed contact with Paislee until he was questioned, yet that seemed to take years. And strangely, the author never included any questioning on his part. What would have been his motive to kill? Overall, I enjoyed the story.

I think the narrator did a great job with the voices. Can I say that she annoyed me whenever she said “important,” pronounced as “import- tant” (drawing emphasis to the t’s)? In chapter 15, she had two mess-ups that were included in the audiobook. I never understand how mess-ups are never caught prior to publication/release. Mess-ups as in she forgot to delete it from the story. For example, “I was glad that my mother…” and she did one of those blah kind of noises like she wasn’t happy with how she said it. Then the next sentence (I believe), has Paislee asking, “How’s Rainy’s obit coming?” The narrator said it once, then said it again in a different tone.

Questions/Comments:

How did she not notice Elgort carrying to-go containers considering he’d been on foot?
Paislee is talking to the hair/makeup guy in the morgue. “I stared at Teddy while Chance stitched up his side near the rib cage.” One of the previous sentences described Teddy as being in a black and white suit… so if he was still getting sewn up (for what exactly?), why would he have a suit on already?

Paislee is at Rainy’s brother’s house (I forgot his name) and decides to make pancakes for them. Of course, a young, single male would have buttermilk in his fridge.

Elgort sends Paislee a message saying he left something for her with Sarah. Why was she surprised it was a b-day gift when he was her best friend?

The police had taken Paislee’s car to check her dashcam footage. Why did it take so long before it was returned?

I received a free audiobook version in exchange for an honest review.

Great start to a new series!

This was a great start to a new series. Paislee is the teen historian of the town who assists the police department and the coroner, who is her father, in solving a crime. She is paired with another boy, Gage, who is also studying forensics but from a different angle which is through the use of drones. They work together to try to figure out the link between a classmates murder and one of the towns missing founders.
I liked the macabre comedy of the funeral home and Paislee’s odd family. The love/hate relationship between her and Gage works well as does their witty banter. The one thing I couldn’t stand was Elgort. First of all, he was boring. We didn’t really get to know him. He was one dimensional. Secondly, that name! Every time the narrator said it I would cringe and say “Why? Why choose such a random weird name?” It just didn’t work for me. It was almost distractingly weird. It didn’t have any historical context in the town or at least none that was noted. On top of that, I looked it up because I was curious and it’s a surname. It’s not even used as a first name. Maybe the author is just an Ansel Elgort fan and thought Ansel was too common. Anyway, name rant over. Sorry for the detour.
The ending was satisfying. There were a few red herrings in there throughout to through you off the trail and I totally love that. I liked that I didn’t suspect the actual killer until close to the very end. There were two big mysteries to solve in this book if you don’t count the skull that Paislee carries. Essentially only one was solved. I didn’t mind it though. It just makes me want to read the next book more.
The narrator did a really nice job. She really brought the story to life. She infused the characters with a lot of feeling and emotion. She managed to make each of their personalities really show through.
Overall, this was an amusing new mystery series. I’m excited to continue on to the next book. 4 stars.

loved it

The story is fantastic and the narrator is great. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes small town mysteries.

Interesting plot!

[I got a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review] actual rating: 3.5

I love a good murder mystery and I always enjoy sleuthing and guessing who the killer is. This series makes me think of Nancy Drew a little bit although the feel is quite different.

I enjoyed the family aspect of the story as well as the friendships although I'm not a big fan of the romance and it's one of the reasons why I wasn't able to give it a higher rating. The plot was quite intriguing and I was expecting an intense thriller murder mystery that's very atmospheric but instead, there was a bit of romance and contemporary vibe which I don't mind but just wasn't expecting based on the synopsis. I was hoping that the plot focused more on the murder plot which took a while to unravel since it started out with the MC breaking up with her not-so-boyfriend leading up to a short background of the MC and her family before getting to the murder mystery. I did enjoy meeting the different characters and checking for clues and it was quite challenging to guess who the killer is which is quite refreshing as I tend to usually know or have a hunch as to who at the first half or so. I enjoyed following the crumbs along the way as I met new characters or suspects which made the plot more fun.

There were just times when I thought the story was going one way but then it goes another but not in an epic-plot-twist kind of way. I don't mind a little romance although I was hoping for a more spooky, suspense, and intriguing kind of vibe instead of a contemporary - mystery kind of vibe but nevertheless, it was a fun read with a brilliant theme.

Great book to listen to

I enjoyed listening to this book. I have not read or listened to any books by this author before but I know I will again in the future. The writing flows well and the plot keeps you listening. I really enjoyed Paislee's character. She was quirky and interesting. I liked the fact that she was a bit morbid too. There is a good balance of mystery and a little romance. The narrator was great as well. She had a pleasant voice that I could listen to all day. She was good at giving each character a voice. I would listen to more books narrated by her. I might even pick a book outside my normal comfort zone if she was the one reading it.

3.5/5 Cozy-ish Mystery

3.5/5 Bones and Drones
Summary:
Besides being a high school student (during the summer?) Paislee Grimes functions as a small town historian.

Additional Comments:
- Side characters 4/5: have a lot of character to them. I believe the side characters are one of the strongest points to this book. They’re many and varied. Making the connections of who’s related to whom can be daunting. I’m not sure I have them all straight.
- Main character 3/5: It’s a first-person narrative, and to be honest, the MC’s kind of annoying.
- Performance 4/5: I didn’t detect much variation between various characters, but then again, I listened at 2x speed. That always messes with nuances of the performance. The narrator has a nice voice, and I’d definitely listen to more from her.
- Plot 3/5: It’s standard fare cozy-like mystery, right down to an obsession with something cooked (in this case pancakes) and spouting off of recipes mid-book. What the heck is with cozy-like mysteries and recipes? The plot itself meanders all over the place. I think the MC spent 5 minutes of audio-time picking up her little sister.
- I have a lot of issues with the way the mystery unfolds and certain things like the MC’s father, the coroner being okay with his daughter traipsing over a crime scene when he didn’t know who the victim would be. Somebody asking a random 17 year old high school student to solve a murder mystery isn’t normal either, Nancy Drew references aside.
- Content Warnings: Nothing gruesome is described, but there is a LOT of casual cursing. I think holy s- was used at least 7 times. Not sure I can truly count this as a clean book or not. If they were f-bomb’s I would have quit outright. Guess I’ve been jaded.

Conclusion:
If you can deal with curse words being used quite liberally and don’t mind the plot wandering on random pancakes-are-awesome tangents, you’ll likely enjoy this quirky tale.

*I received a free copy. I have freely chosen to review the book.