The Mystery of the Bones

Snow & Winter, Book 4

By: C.S. Poe

Narrated by: Wyatt Baker

Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

It’s been a full year since the mystery that brought together antique shop owner and part-time amateur sleuth Sebastian Snow with homicide detective Calvin Winter. Patience, sanity, and their very lives have been put to the test, but love has persevered. Although Sebastian is now New York City’s best-known busybody, he’s finished with crime solving and wants nothing more than to plan a romantic budget wedding.

Then Snow’s Antique Emporium receives a decapitated human head in the mail and the holidays are gory once again. Sebastian patently disregards the mystery of a lifetime because he is done with death and danger — but the killer escalates. Before Sebastian knows it, his closest friends and family are dragged into a series of horrific murders with antiquated clues hinting to the infamous Victorian American Bones Wars.

The clock is ticking to recover a long-lost artifact linked to paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope and to capture a murderer. But it’s not Sebastian who may become the next target — it’s Calvin.

©2020 C.S. Poe (P)2020 C.S. Poe

More, please

I absolutely need more of this series, and lo and behold, a fifth book is in the works, to be released (on kindle) at the end of this month, and I'm champing at the bit to get my hands on it. I hope it's released on audio relatively soon, and Wyatt Baker has grown on me as Sebastian enough that I'd love to hear him narrate it.

This book is structured a little differently than the other books in the series, which is both good and bad. Calvin is in peril for a good two thirds of it, which I don't think is a spoiler because it's mentioned in the blurb. This lends a sense of urgency and tension to it that is missing from the other books. Unfortunately that sort of takes away from the cozy feeling that I get from the others. The excellent writing and characterization is still here, though, and I can't even describe how much I love the series-long redemption arc a certain character has gone through in the past four books. His increased presence in this book doesn't QUITE make up for the lack of Calvin, but it does help.

I'd give this book an easy five stars because I've grown to love the series and its characters, but for a couple reasons this is my least favorite of the series. The aforementioned non-cozy feeling and the fact that Calvin is out of commission for most of the book I've already mentioned, but in addition to this, I think Sebastian is a bit of a jerk at some points, particularly to Calvin's brother, and WAY oversteps his bounds where Calvin's family is concerned. I still love it and I wouldn't skip it in a re-listen to the entire series, but I'm VERY happy there will be a fifth book so the series doesn't end with this one.

enjoyed it - solid 4 stars

Would I listen to it again: yes ✔
Did the story keep me engaged: yes ✔
Was I invested in the characters: yes ✔

📖 Story comment: Good pace, likeable characters, nice flow.
Great story, kept me entertained and guessing - I really enjoyed how much everyone came together to solve this one.

🎧 Narrator comment: I enjoyed Wyatt Baker's narration. He has good cadence, inflections and intonations and it's easy to distinguish the characters from each other.
Overall I enjoyed his performance and he bought the characters of the book to life.

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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 7
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough • 5 enjoyed it • 6 will listen again if i'm in the mood for the narrator • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list • 8 kept me up past bed-time • 9 recommended to family/friends • 10 own it in multiple formats • 11 keep a copy with me at all times
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A Definite Winner

This is an amazing series with complex mysteries, and a great group of characters. I am still adjusting to the narrator, but he improves each time.

Sluth Seb is at it again

Super Sluth Sebastian is at it again. This time the reward is much higher. It is up to Sebastian to save Calvin. This book is just as awesome as the rest of them.

Narrator had a better performance for this one.

Narrator was improved with this book compared to the previous book. No angry shouting. If you passed up this book based on the last book, it's worth taking a chance on this one.

So we’ll written

These are the series of books that made me a serious C.S. Poe fan. This story is well researched, beautifully plotted and an absolute joy to listen to.

WOW!! This was fantastic!!

This was fantastic!! Sebastian and Calvin are dream worthy! Sebastian owns an antique shop, one day he is sent a package with human remains in it. Calvin is a detective and Sebastian's fiancee. When Calvin is kidnapped, Sebastian must work to solve the mystery of the bones to find him before he dies. This was excellent!! Wyatt Baker did an excellent with the narration!

So good!

Good Lord, I loved this. When this book first was published I began it with some trepidation because it was the end of a series that I've loved from the very beginning and I wanted a proper send-off for one of my favourite couples.

I shouldn't have worried because of course it's great. And now, revisiting it as an audiobook, I only can reafirm what I said before: it's the best in a series of extremely good stories.

Seeing Seb working against time to save Calvin, seeing Neil risking his job to help him; Calvin's partner, Quinn and Max doing their best to help, too... it was simply wonderful. Hell, even Pop helped =D

The mystery had me baffled until Seb explains his reasoning, and as I usually have at least a hint of what's going on, that was also a high selling point.

I will miss these characters, but at least I now have Interlude to look forward :P

Oh, and Wyatt Baker's narration was simply gorgeous ♥

Good, Solid Ending To The Series

I have enjoyed Seb and Cal's journey and hate to let them go. We get another solid mystery and spend time with favorite secondary characters. For me though, I didn't get enough of Seb and Cal together. And avoiding spoilers, I will just say I wanted more detail in the ending so was left feeling it was a little wanting. It is hard to change narrators during the series but Wyatt Baker does a good job. Overall, definitely worth a credit. I will miss these characters and hope we get to revisit them sometime.

Masterfully done

I never thought Sebastian could ever come to life the way Wyatt makes him so. As someone who is absolutely enamored by this series and revists the books often, the emotion i felt from his delivery made it feel like the first time! I laughed. I cried. I was completely sucked into the case. Stunning work!