Review: A Whisper of Bones

Title: A Whisper of Bones
Author: Ellen Hart
Publication Date: February 27, 2018
Genre: Mystery
Recommended If You Like: family drama, LGBTQ+ main characters, secrets from the past

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

The Book:

What do you do when you remember someone from your childhood, but your family denies that he ever existed? In Britt Ickles' case, you hire Jane Lawless, private investigator. Jane starts on the case, but a set of bones found in a garage after a mysterious fire complicates matters even further.

What I Liked:

Jane is a compelling main character. She is smart and resourceful, but still human, as she tries to figure out what she should do about an ex-love who now is back in her world due to a life-threatening illness.

I also love the premise. The idea of someone denying the existence of a person that you absolutely remember is really eerie, and makes me want to know more.

Anything I Didn't Like?

Hart just tries to fit too much in. There is so much going on, so many subplots, that the mystery suffers. I felt like the solution to the mystery was telegraphed too early, so there wasn't really a lot of suspense. And while I appreciated one of the twists, there was just so many stories flying at me simultaneously that it got sort of lost in the crowd.

So...?

This is by no means a bad book, it's an okay book with a lot of potential that never got realized. I think if Hart had decided what the focus was, and built from there, the book would have been a lot stronger.