The Dark Bones by Loreth Anne White

Montlake Romance | May 2019 | 444 pgs

Source: Library 

I started this book without knowing that this is book 2 of the Dark Lure series. That said, it works fine as a standalone and I'm glad to report that Loreth Anne White's books will be added to my "books-to-look-out-for" list after having read and enjoyed her latest release, In the Dark, and now this book which was published last year. 

Detective Rebecca North returns to her rural hometown at Cariboo after receiving news of her father's death. Although speculations point that her father had most likely committed suicide, Rebecca was sceptical considering they had a telecommunication the day before his death and it seems that her father (a retired cop) was looking into a cold case twenty years ago but he didn't say too much over the phone, thus his suicide didn't make any sense to her. Despite Rebecca's job is more to do with commercial crimes instead of homicide, that doesn't stop her from looking for the truth. 

To move forward, she has no choice but to seek assistance from Ash Haugen. Rebecca and Ash had feelings for each other way back then, but various misconceptions drove them apart. To find the truth, they set their pent-up emotions aside and work together with the investigations but as much as Ash is helpful, she feels he isn't forthcoming when it comes to his past and that makes her wonder if he has something to hide. When their investigations later led them to two troubled teens, Tori and Ricky, who had stolen some booze from Rebecca's father's house on that fateful day, Rebecca feels there's something more than what they'd told her. As Rebecca tries her best in digging up as much info as she can, she realises that Cariboo is a close-knit community where everyone seems to know everybody and that words spread quickly. Rebecca has a lot of questions but first, she needs to revisit events of the past even if it means it'd put on further strain and mistrust between her and Ash. 

Nowadays, a good conventional police procedural is such a rare find to me because there are so many psychological thrillers out there that easily catches my attention (not that I'm complaining, though.) The Dark Bones satisfied my expectations of a good police procedural and I loved many of the things in this book -- good characterisation and developments, engaging and suspenseful plot and finally, a complex relationship that had my head spinning, in a good way. The setting was another element that piqued my interest as it was set in a wintry, rural Cariboo hometown of British Columbia and it read "atmospheric" to me since summer is the only season I get to enjoy from where I live. 

The author also expertly integrate the past with the present, giving the reader both sides of the story with equally suspenseful thread. As much as there's suspense, there's also some heartbreak moments as well not only from the romantic aspect but children who come from a broken family, like Tori and Ricky. To sum everything up, I really enjoy this author's writing style and I look forward to reading more of her books. 

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