Tall Bones

By: Anna Bailey

Narrated by: Natalie Simpson

Brought to you by Penguin.

A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE MONTH

'A wonderfully haunting debut.' JANE HARPER, author of The Dry

'Irresistible, compelling.' PAULA HAWKINS, author of The Girl on the Train

When seventeen-year-old Emma leaves her best friend Abi at a party in the woods, she believes, like most girls her age, that their lives are just beginning. Many things will happen that night, but Emma will never see her friend again.

Abi's disappearance cracks open the façade of the small town of Whistling Ridge, its intimate history of long-held grudges and resentment. Even within Abi's family, there are questions to be asked - of Noah, the older brother whom Abi betrayed, of Jude, the shining younger sibling who hides his battle scars, of Dolly, her mother and Samuel, her father - both in thrall to the fire and brimstone preacher who holds the entire town in his grasp. Then there is Rat, the outsider, whose presence in the town both unsettles and excites those around him.

Anything could happen in Whistling Ridge, this tinder box of small-town rage, and all it will take is just one spark - the truth of what really happened that night out at the Tall Bones....

'A clever, twisting debut, about the dark side of small town America. It is packed with secrets like firecrackers ready to ignite.' FRANCINE TOON, author of Pine

© Anna Bailey 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critic reviews

Beautifully written and very moving, this is an assured debut.

A nuanced thriller that will haunt you long after you race through its pages.

One of the most exciting debuts of the year.

Spellbinding and darkly beautiful.... intricately plotted and exquisitely written, Tall Bones is a stunning debut.

Fast paced and moving.

With Tall Bones, Anna Bailey bursts onto the scene with a wonderfully haunting debut. Small-town intrigue, exquisitely drawn.

The best kind of small-town crime novel... one that drips with atmosphere... an intricately weaved and haunting story that will stay with you for days after.

Both menacing and haunting, a compelling and atmospheric debut.

Anna Bailey writes like a dream about teenage love and lust, the terror of knowledge and the claustrophobia of families and of small towns.

Bailey writes with perfect poise. She is destined for great things - I feel it in my bones.

Crime in small town America...

I could never really get into this story of a petty crime in small town America. Situations and characters are a bit of a stereotype and the plot truly never acceleretes to get the reader more involved . Not for me