Quiet in her Bones

Quiet In Her Bones is a twisty and atmospheric slow-burn read that will have readers eager to figure out who is telling the truth and what really happened on that fateful night ten years ago when a woman and a quarter of a million dollars went missing.

Singh is a new-to-me author and I loved that she set her story in her native New Zealand. Throughout the book, she provides vivid descriptions of its beautiful landscape and I appreciated how she scattered tidbits of its different cultures into her plot.

This thriller has a lot going for it. Singh takes her time to develop her diverse cast - including secondary characters, giving readers a wide selection of potential culprits, all with convincing motives. No one is without a vice, a secret or a dark past. That said, there are a lot of characters on this little cul-de-sac who are introduced within a short period of page time. This made it somewhat difficult to remember who was who (I ended up making a cheat sheet which helped, particularly with those that don't play a big role in the story).

The plot, at times, felt a bit farfetched and the pacing lags a bit in the middle, but overall, this was a delightfully dark read. Singh excels at writing a main character who readers will get behind. Aarav's devotion to his sister is touching but he has a dark side and is unreliable enough to make readers suspicious of his motives, his murky past and his dubious memory. You just don't know who to trust and that wonderful uneasiness is felt throughout the book leaving readers to be kept guessing until the very end. 

Look for this book in February 2021!

Disclaimer: Thank you to Berkley Publishing, the author and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. 

My Rating: 4 stars

Author: Nalini Singh

Genre: Suspense

Type and Source: eBook from publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Berkley

First Published: February 23, 2021

Opening Lines: My mother vanished without a trace ten years ago. 

So did a quarter of a million dollars in case from my father's safe.

Book Description from GoodReads: 

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.