Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh Published by Berkley on February 4, 2021
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
My mother vanished ten years ago.
So did a quarter of a million dollars in cash.
Thief. Bitch. Criminal.
Now, she's back.
Her bones clothed in scarlet silk.When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband.
But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that’s housed the same influential families for decades.
The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago.
Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he’s determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance…but no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.
Even the dead aren’t allowed to break the rules in this cul-de-sac.
Quiet in Her Bones is a different genre than her long established series. Nalini Singh seems to be branching out into these mystery thrillers which are standalone and I’m really enjoying it. The story is set in New Zealand (as was the previous one) and includes some different cultural groups.
Our point of view for the story is Aarav who is an adult, a newly famous mystery writer, and back at his childhood home recovering from a car accident with a broken foot. His mother has been missing for ten years and now her body is found, quite nearby in the bush. Aarav gets to work on investigating how she could have died based on his scattered memories and digging for information with people in the neighborhood.
Arrav has a head injury from his accident and is taking some medication. He is obviously smart but seems unsure of his memories at times, from the past and the present. He doggedly works at piecing together facts to get at the truth. He feels like an unreliable narrator and that isn’t something I usually enjoy. Somehow he manages to gather evidence though and I didn’t forget the facts, even when he did.
There were plenty of suspects, nefarious happenings in the neighborhood and secrets people wanted to keep. There is quite a study of human nature in some ways. At some points, it was easy to think his father, various neighbors or even Aarav were responsible for her death. With Aarav, it would be an accident of some sort though. In spite of her flaws, he loved his mother. In the thrilling ending, Aarav solves her murder with someone no one suspects, even the police.
About Nalini Singh
I’ve been writing as long as I can remember and all of my stories always held a thread of romance (even when I was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). I love creating unique characters, love giving them happy endings and I even love the voices in my head. There’s no other job I would rather be doing. In September 2002, when I got the call that Silhouette Desire wanted to buy my first book, Desert Warrior, it was a dream come true. I hope to continue living the dream until I keel over of old age on my keyboard.
I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated every month).
So far, I’ve worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer’s mill.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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I liked her first try at this genre. A Madness of Sunshine was good. I’m looking forward to reading this one too.
This was so good, very well written and plotted. I would say it was not easy to figure out the killer.
I’ve noticed lots of authors branching out from their usual genres. I’d like to try this one?
I really enjoyed it. So many characters developed and suspense with the killer, and it’s very well plotted.
Love when writers do different genres. This sounds like a book I’d like to do as audio to keep me motivated to listen while exercising 🙂
If you like the narrator, it’s an excellent way to multi-task. It really helped me to read more books.
I really like that cover. I haven’t read any of her books, but I have a few on my TBR shelves. Now I have another one to try!
I read the first of her books in this genre – A Madness of Sunshine – and I liked it. Her other worlds are more PNR. That’s the Read-along with one of those series this year.
I love Nalini Singh’s writing, as you know. Madness of Sunshine was an interesting and enjoyable change from her usual genre. I liked the setting, which was a prominent feature of the story, IMO. I’m looking forward to picking this one up, too.
This one also has an interesting setting. I think it’s an excellent read; I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It doesn’t have any relationship to a A Madness of Sunshine that I can tell. Stand alone.
I’ve got my eye out for this one on audio. Excellent review, Anne? Wonderful that you enjoyed it and I love that the ending surprised you.
yes it is convoluted. The “narrator” confesses he may be unreliable. That is not my favorite thing but it’s a great story.
Since I’m not a big fan of thrillers, I’ve not read this or the prior one, but so happy to hear Ms. Singh excels at this genre as well!
I really enjoyed this twisty one. Both books are standalones if you decide to try one.