Unknown bones, untold secrets, and unsolved crimes from the distant past cast ominous shadows on the present in the dazzling new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen. Present day: Julia Hamill has made a horrifying discovery on the grounds of her new home in rural Massachusetts: a skull buried in the rocky soil–human, female, and, according to the trained eye of Boston … according to the trained eye of Boston medical examiner Maura Isles, scarred with the unmistakable marks of murder. But whoever this nameless woman was, and whatever befell her, is knowledge lost to another time.
Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, Norris Marshall, a talented but penniless student at Boston Medical College, has joined the ranks of local “resurrectionists”–those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the black market. Yet even this ghoulish commerce pales beside the shocking murder of a nurse found mutilated on the university hospital grounds. And when a distinguished doctor meets the same grisly fate, Norris finds that trafficking in the illicit cadaver trade has made him a prime suspect.
To prove his innocence, Norris must track down the only witness to have glimpsed the killer: Rose Connolly, a beautiful seamstress from the Boston slums who fears she may be the next victim. Joined by a sardonic, keenly intelligent young man named Oliver Wendell Holmes, Norris and Rose comb the city–from its grim cemeteries and autopsy suites to its glittering mansions and centers of Brahmin power–on the trail of a maniacal fiend who lurks where least expected . . . and who waits for his next lethal opportunity.
With unflagging suspense and pitch-perfect period detail, The Bone Garden deftly interweaves the thrilling narratives of its nineteenth- and twenty-first century protagonists, tracing the dark mystery at its heart across time and place to a finale as ingeniously conceived as it is shocking. Bold, bloody, and brilliant, this is Tess Gerritsen’s finest achievement to date.
This ebook edition contains a special preview of Tess Gerritsen’s I Know a Secret.
“The story, which digs up a dark Boston of times long past, entices readers to keep turning pages long after their bedtimes.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
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Kept me reading!
I didn’t think this book was quite up to this author’s usual.
Started off toooo slow, just couldn’t get into this book
Great read
Very good book kept you guessing
I wasn’t sure at the beginning since jumping between Now and 1830 was disconcerting, but the more I read the more I liked it. Kind of knew early on whose bones were in the garden. Some of the 1830 medical info was hard to read.
A good easy read, characters you can like and dislike, and interesting build up.
This is one of my favorite historical fiction books! I have read it twice over the years & it was just as good the second time!
Loved. It
One of her best stories. Enjoyed it very much.
Liked it
Typical Tess Geritson, keeps you reading way past bedtime!
Really good historical fiction.
I love stories that bring past and present togetherness like this one.
A good historical mystery with genealogy thrown into the mix. Well written. I enjoyed it.
I always love Tess Gerritsen’s writing. Another book that does not disappoint!
I like all the books by this author.
Could not put this book down. Amazing what life in Boston used to be like.
I love Tess Gerritsen, but this was not her best. The Historical portion, while interesting, labored. The present-day story didn’t have enough to it. I finished it, but wasn’t sure I would. I’m a big fan of her books, but this was only so-so.
This was s really interesting and original story. The generational angle to the book made it hard to put down. I would highly recommend this multigenerational book!