Bone Valley

A True Story of Injustice and Redemption in the Heart of Florida

De: Gilbert King

Narrado por: Gilbert King

From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gilbert King comes a chilling exploration of one of America’s most haunting wrongful conviction cases. Based on the hit podcast, Bone Valley dives into the dark heart of rural Florida, where a young man’s life was upended by a tragic miscarriage of justice.

This program is read by the author and contains interviews (some previously unheard) and audio from the Bone Valley podcast by Lava for Good, plus a bonus conversation with Gilbert King and Leo Schofield.

In 1987, Leo Schofield was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, Michelle. Always insistent on his innocence, he was poorly served by his legal defense: The investigation was sloppy, the case flimsy, and numerous pieces of evidence were ignored. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Over thirty years later, Gilbert King is tipped off to Leo’s case and is astonished by what he found: layers of corruption, flawed evidence, and deep-seated errors. He can’t shake the story and starts to get to know Leo and his family. Leo shows an incomprehensible amount of grace and love about his situation, which spurs Gilbert even more to tell his story.

Bone Valley is at once a revelatory investigation into a murder, a chilling portrait of the criminal justice system, and a uniquely powerful story of grace and redemption. Gilbert King has written a new classic of narrative nonfiction.

“Captivating, enraging, and all too true.” —Bob Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road

“Bone Valley is a work of rare moral clarity and deep compassion.” ―Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

Podcast: ℗ and © Lava Productions, LLC 2022

©2025 Gilbert King (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“You won’t read any thriller this year as spellbinding as Bone Valley. It’s captivating, enraging, and all too true—and its astounding conclusion will leave you in tears” —Bob Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road and Lost Girls

“Bone Valley is a work of rare moral clarity and deep compassion. Gilbert King’s investigation reveals not only a grievous injustice, but the grace that can emerge when truth is pursued with empathy and integrity. In the spirit of Just Mercy and Dead Man Walking, this story reminds us that true justice requires more than facts—it requires heart. I urge you to read it.” —Sister Helen Prejean, bestselling author of Dead Man Walking

“With depth, humility, and an open, timid understanding of its inadequacy within the legal system, this orientation of King’s reporting grants human gravitas to the mind-blowing frustrations of procedural technicalities. Both infuriating and hopeful, a story about the ultimate integrity of truth.” —Kirkus

Great story

This story is very well written and performed, and is absolutely worth the time to listen. I personally knew nothing of the podcast associated with the book, it just caught my attention having listened to Gilbert Kings other books that were very good as well, added to the fact that this was in my native state of Florida, I was intrigued. When the story led into Polk county I was all the more interested as I grew up just past the county line in another place that turned integral to the story in Intercession City (a place very few are aware even exists!) so the geography, roads, the Kmart on Vine street, Wooten road all brought floods of memories for me. I used to ride my bicycle to Wooten road to go squirrel hunting in the fall. My oldest brother remembers when the body of the cab driver was found, and the car wreck on the “other side of the tracks”. I grew up with the cousins two children who had their knife stolen from them! This is a story that will remind you why Jesus said woe to the lawyers! While our justice system has many flaws, we must be thankful that we have a system of justice and that most of the time wrongs can be righted even though they take a long time, but even if the wrongs are not corrected here and now there is coming a day God, the judge of the universe will make sure that all the injustices will be repaired.

Absolutely incredible Book that is Life changing

“Chapter 27: Kept My Damn Mouth Shut” has the potential to change your entire worldview on violent crime and forgiveness. Grace and mercy and compassion have never been more explained and displayed to me like this, and this book changed my life.

An Author is not a Narrator

One thing you often read in say the New Yorker or Harper’s are stories and pieces where the writer writes about himself/herself and how s/he went about writing the story. Fine. It is the author who puts pen to paper and pushes those words into readable sentences. The skill of writing a good story, however, does not necessarily mean too that yours is the voice to perform that work out loud. Clearly, Mr King was not awarded a Pulitzer for his narration because his nasal drone and flat delivery would surely have eliminated him from contention.

Exonerate Leo!!!!

Having listened to the podcasts I thought I knew everything. I did not. Before listening to the book I had the privilege to meet Gilbert and Leo in Mount Dora. I was able to speak to both and now I'm more determined to see Leo exonerated. After listening to the book, I realize this was a true travesty and, Leo and Michelle Schofield deserve justice!

-Aimee

Loved.

Like a lot of people, I binged the podcast before reading this book. Although most of it was a review of everything we knew, it was still a comfort to revisit all the people who feel like old friends now. The added color and behind the scenes stuff was awesome. Loved learning more about what a key role Kelsey played in making this whole thing possible. Such an incredible story.