Spoken Bones

A DI Fenella Sallow Crime Thriller, Book 1

By: N.C. Lewis

Narrated by: Deborah Balm

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

This dark secret could finally break her…

Detective Inspector Fenella Sallow is obsessive about her work and driven by her own demons. When the body of a retired artist is discovered atop the blackened embers of the town bonfire, the community is rocked to the core.

It falls to DI Fenella Sallow and her team to find out how she came to be there. In her 50s, the veteran detective inspector thought she had seen it all. But behind the curtained windows and closed doors of the idyllic Cumbria coastal setting lurks pure evil.

Fenella must confront her dark past. Haunted by the unsolved case of a missing girl, she knows it is a race against time. Can she stop this death from slipping through her fingers, too?

Before long, it becomes disturbingly clear that the killer is playing a twisted game and will do anything to conceal the terrible truth of what happened on the beach on Bonfire Night.

Set against the backdrop of beautiful coastal Cumbria, an ancient land of legend, folklore, and myth, Spoken Bones is the first book in the Detective Inspector Fenella Sallow series.

This pause-resisting crime thriller will keep you hooked until the very end. If you like police procedurals with psychologically complex characters and shocking twists, then you’ll love Spoken Bones.

Perfect for fans of L.J. Ross, J.D. Kirk, Simon McCleave, Stuart MacBride, Matt Brolly, Angela Marsons, Alex Smith, J.M. Dalgliesh, J.E. Mayhew, David J. Gatward, T.G. Reid, Jack Gatland, Robert F. Barker, and J.R. Ellis.

©2021 N.C. Lewis (P)2022 N.C. Lewis

Ends abruptly

I love a good murder mystery. I love how the author ties everything up at the end and you have to kind of go back and think “oh yeah that’s right I remember when so and so did so-and-so, now it makes sense”. Not this book. There’s absolutely no buildup to the end and the resolution of the murder. It just pops out of the blue. I cannot even remember anything about the character who was ultimately the murderer, not my favorite author.

Small village police procedural set in Cumbria

First in Fenella Sallow detective series. Well plotted, good character development with one exception, looking forward to the future of detectives, warm atmosphere. The only jarring unit was the over-the-top and unbelievable nastiness of the superintendent.

Character development was pretty good.

I like the setting in Cumbria, the descriptions of the coast and the connections to communities there.

Great characters, well written and excellent performance!

So excited for this series! Didn’t expect it to be thus good!! I found you have to really listen and pay attention. Really excited for the next book!

Frustrating denouement

I liked the characters, but the book comes across to me as a somewhat promising first effort that needs maturation and a better editor. Many threads are dropped without a trace, descriptions of characters' behaviors are repetitive, and when the resolution comes, there is no explanation of how the detective figured it out. The performance kept me going but overall a waste of time.

valerie

The story has so many twists and turns,too many characters, it was struggle to keep up with all the,Characters, at times it was hard to remember the main story. Way to long,an convoluted.

story details and twisting plot

Once I got familiar with the voice dynamics, I thoroughly enjoyed the narration. Each character contributed to the story in unique and intriguing ways that made the ending a great surprise. I hope to read more of the series.

5

It is hard for me to find a realty good British
rural police proedural that I like.
This book is excellent.

Mediocre mystery

My first book by this author. It had no depth at all, nothing more than a series of interviews with multiple suspects. Characters were weakly drawn. Won’t read another book by this author.

Engaging, beginning to a series

The cliffhanger here is so overwhelming. It almost made me resentful, but I will probably go on to get the next in the series.