The Bone Keeper by Luca Veste

"Though suspenseful and eerie with the myth of the "Bone Keeper" running rampant and bodies being discovered left and right, by the end of it all the book was really rather disappointing, though some of the puzzle pieces clicking into place were fun and surprising." 

2 Stars

Pros: It was definitely a page turner and suspenseful/There's more to Louise than she lets on and the author is good about playing their cards very close to their chest until the very end. 

Cons: The revelation of the identity of The Bone Keeper was really rather cliche and rote/The ultimate confrontation between Louise and the Bone Keeper was really rather disappointing and anti-climactic. 

Full Review: 

The book begins "Before" where four children are wandering the woods in search of the mythical boogie man, the Bone Keeper. They find a tunnel and each go through it in their own turn, knowing that the Bone Keeper is in there. And when it comes to the girls' turn, she's convinced she smells rotting flesh, death and hears whispering. Horrified, she runs to the other side and when she and the other two children go back through the tunnel, there is no sign of her brother. She never sees him again. 

Cut to present day where Louise Henderson is an English cop. She's called to investigate a woman who was found wandering the road, bloodied, beaten and singing an old folk song about the "Bone Keeper." Louise and her partner, Paul Shipley are sent to question her and try to find out as much as they can, but unfortunately the woman, who says her name is Carol Rickards, can't remember much. They leave the hospital, perplexed but things get interesting from them on. They manage to connect Carol with a low life drifter named Rhys Durham whose only remaining relative is an Aunt, whom they go to question. 

She's a shell of a woman, permanently changed by the death of her only son a year ago. And as they go to investigate his bedroom to see if there's anything that might lead them back to Carol Rickards, they're astonished to find an intricately detailed mural painted on the wall of a devils mask, and what is labeled the "Bone Keeper." Hazel Durham, Jon's mother, claims that her son was obsessed with the myth and was determined to find the Bone Keeper and make him stop killing. She feels that with his obsession and with Rhys' bad influence, her son was driven to suicide. 

Louise and Shipley leave the distraught mother behind and try to further their investigation. Photos of a wooded area that were in Jon's bedroom and the area where Carol Rickards was found wandering are very close by and similar enough to warrant a thorough search. And while there, Louise and Shipley stumble across an old, dilapidated shed that's on fire and someone is seen running off into the woods. Louise gives chase but whoever it is eludes her and as she returns to Shipley and they call for backup, they come to the discovery that the ground they're standing on is a massive grave. 

The story unfolds from there and for its part is suspenseful enough to keep the reader guessing and eager to know the ending. But when the conclusion does come, it's all rather melodramatic and disappointing. Louise is connected to the Bone Keeper in an interesting way and though Veste does use flashes of the past and present to confuse the reader and keep them guessing, in the end, it was just kind of a let down. 

I'm not one for murder mysteries. I picked this book up at Barnes and Noble because it was a buy 2 get 1 free deal and figured, might as well change it up a little. I'm not disappointed that I read it, as it was an interesting change of pace, but overall it was pretty disappointing. And of course, the ending leaves off as a possible "cliffhanger" or with the idea that the myth of the Bone Keeper will remain alive but I was content to just finish and be done with it. 

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes suspenseful mysteries because Veste was good at making you guess and wonder. The author really didn't give anything away and kept you curious enough so that when the reveals did come, they were fun and surprising. If you're looking for an easy, quick "beach read" this would probably fall under that category.