An Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestseller.She’s come back to solve the mystery of her father’s death and confront her own dark past.When Detective Rebecca North left her rural hometown, she vowed never to return. Her father’s apparent suicide has changed that. The official report is that retired cop Noah North shot himself, knocked over a lantern, and set his isolated cabin ablaze. But … set his isolated cabin ablaze. But Rebecca cannot believe he killed himself.
To prove it, she needs the help of Ash Haugen, the man she left behind. But Rebecca and Ash share more than broken hearts. Something darker lies between them, and the investigation is stirring it back to life. Clues lead them to the home of Olivia West and her deeply troubled twelve-year-old daughter, Tori. The child knows more about the murder than anyone can imagine, but she’s too terrified to say a word.
And as a cold-blooded killer resurfaces from the past, Rebecca and Ash begin to fear that their own secrets may be even harder to survive.
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MY REVIEW
A desperate phone call from Becca North’s drunk father fills her with a sadness that changes to horror when she receives the news he’s committed suicide. A trip home to arrange his funeral uncovers a string of inconsistencies that soon has the RCMP officer embroiled in a past she never wanted to revisit.
Ash Haugen can’t believe Rebecca- his Becca- suspects him in the growing case proving her father was murdered for the secrets he’d uncovered. Ash had a few of those himself; ones that could ruin any chance he might have of winning her trust.
As the investigation heats up, Rebecca is forced to rethink her beliefs while fighting a growing attraction to her teenage love- Ash Haugen- her chief suspect.
Loreth does it again in this spine-tingling thriller!
We get a little reminiscing with characters from the first in the series, A Dark Lure, a whole lot of broody settings, and a cast of characters that will leave you wondering in the way of classic mystery-suspense page-turners, who-done-it?
I give The Dark Bones 5+ lovely kisses- A chilling suspense!
Secrets, lies, and betrayal converge in this heart-pounding thriller that features a love story as fascinating as the mystery itself.
A masterfully written, gritty, suspenseful thriller with a tough, resourceful protagonist that hooked me and kept me guessing until the very end. Think C. J. Box and Craig Johnson. Loreth Anne White’s The Dark Bones is that good.
Let me first say in the beginning of this book I hated Ash. I was truly hoping Rebecca would walk away from him at the end of this book. However a character tends to grow on you as they develop throughout a book and that’s what Ash did. I didn’t really see where Ash’s background story really fit in with everything, it seemed (to me) to be thrown in just to give Ash an excuse for his cheating on Rebecca when they were younger. It held no bearing to anything else. I mean at one point he actually used his *secret* as his reason for cheating and basically told Rebecca It was her fault that he cheated because of the secret. Really? I think I would have throat punched him at that point. Which brings me to my next point, I wish Rebecca had been a little more bad a** and thick skinned. Especially with Ash, but I also loved her compassion throughout the story. I loved the suspense and intrigue of the story. I couldn’t put it down. The mystery of the who-done-it was entertaining but really anticlimactic when you found out who the mastermind was behind the deaths, ( You figure out who actually pulled the trigger long before the end). I would like it to have been a little more dangerous so to speak. Having said all that I found this book to be very entertaining and a definite page turner.
Pretty good read. Rebecca North is a cop out of Toronto in white collar crimes. Originally from BC, she goes back when she is told her father, also a cop, has committed suicide. Old boyfriend, old hurt, old crime and her father’s so called suicide make for a complicated plot. Maybe too much information at some points.
But,overall, not bad.
This author really gets teenagers and treats their fears and wantings with such respect.
The young teens witness a scene of murder and are shocked into silence by fear of what might happen to them.
This starts off as Rebecca goes home to see about her dad’s funeral, he died in a fire at home, after killing himself with his shotgun. Funny thing is, he’s a retired cop that asked his daughter to come home and check out an old case. Rebecca is a hot shot detective in the city but returns home finding evidence pointing to murder. And her first boyfriend, Ash, is still there, and had been seen with her dad.
The case is old, scary and still has power over the people that remember it. Ash is a wonderful character with hidden depths and a huge capacity to care for others. Rebecca is trying to solve the murder and forgive Ash for an incident years ago
The best part of this book is Ricky and Tori. Two young teens with horrific backgrounds, trying their best. Ricky is wise beyond his years and shows more bravado than most grown ups. These two kids are so real and so hurt, yet open to the possibility of hoping for better lives.
The teens and adults come together and solve the old mystery with some scary moments thrown in. Very realistic scares. At least the romance between Ash and Rebecca is shown as it would be over time and without sexual teasing throughout the book….thank you!
In a way, this mystery is quite inspirational, especially for the guys…Ricky and Ash ..and that in itself makes this unique reading. The women are strong and the men can lean on them. Solid plot …4.8 stars
5 Stars
Review by: Alysia
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog
I didn’t realize this was the second book in the series, but that’s okay. It’s a standalone. The Dark Bones by Loreth Ann White is a romantic suspense with mystery. It starts as two separate cases that are actually connected. The thing I didn’t like was in the beginning. it bounced between the past and present. It was difficult to keep up. Although once everything started to click into place it was easier.
Detective Rebecca North is called home when her father is found dead, apparent suicide, in his burned down home. He was a retired officer that continued to look into cold cases to pass the time. Rebecca doesn’t believe that her father would take his own life and begins asking questions to prove it.
She must recruit help from her high school sweetheart Ash Haugen. Although she doesn’t want to spend time with him, since he broke her heart all those years ago, he was the last one to see her father alive and the last one that knows about his frame of mind. It is a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone. Rebecca and Ash must figure out the last case her father was working on, to solve what actually happened to her father. Yet, they don’t know who they can trust and who they can’t.
While on the case to find her father’s killer they also start to uncover clues to solve the last case her father was working on, a case of missing kids from twenty years ago. When information starts resurfacing the safety of everyone involved becomes at risk. The criminals do what ever they need to do to keep the past buried.
Loreth Anne White has a talent for setting and mood. The Dark Bones hooked me from the start. A chilling and emotional read.
A riveting, atmospheric suspense novel about the cost of betrayal and the power of redemption, The Dark Bones grips the reader from the first page to the pulse-pounding conclusion.
Loreth Anne White has set the gold standard for the genre.
THE DARK BONES (Dark Lure Book 2) by Loreth Anne White is a mix of romantic suspense, mystery and thrills with ever increasing physical, emotional and environmental threats. This is the second book in this series, but it can easily be read as a standalone.
Detective Rebecca North is notified that her father, a retired Mounty has committed suicide. Rebecca has been away from her hometown in rural Western Canada for twenty years and even though she knows her father had problems, she refuses to believe he would take his own life. He called her just that day to tell her he is revisiting a cold case from their hometown and that he believes he is being followed and has had papers stolen from his home.
One of the last people to see Rebecca’s father alive was her ex-high school boyfriend, Ash Haugen. Ash always dreamed of one day marrying Rebecca, but he broke her heart and trust. The investigation is stirring up old feelings and lies. Even as they work together, old friends and relations may once again pull them apart.
While regathering the evidence for the case her father was working on and trying to prove he did not commit suicide, Rebecca and Ash are under increasing threat by someone who is trying to keep the old case cold.
I loved this book! The murder mystery and the cold case keep you guessing, turning the pages and they keep the overall pace continually increasing to the climax. The flashbacks to Rebecca and Ash’s pasts did not detract or slow down the story in any way. I liked the tie in to the first book, but it does not interfere with your understanding of this mystery plot or romance. Rebecca and Ash were complex characters with actions and emotions that were believable. The romance grows at a realistic pace. The secondary characters are fully fleshed out and added depth to the small town, good and bad.
I highly recommend this book and series! Ms. White is an author that I now automatically go to when looking for an intense suspenseful read.
Thanks very much to Net Galley and Montlake Romance for allowing me to read this eARC.
The Dark Bones is a dangerous snow sled ride into the dark side of abuse, rape, and murder in a small town filled with betrayal and lost dreams. When Rebecca North’s father commits suicide, she returns home to find out what led Noah to make such a dark decision to end his life. What she finds is more questions than answers as she reconnects with old friends and Ash, the love of her life who caused her to flee twenty years ago. This story, which features Olivia and Tori from A Dark Lure, grabs hold and doesn’t let go until the ending I didn’t see coming-kind of like a warm blanket after being caught in a blizzard. Loreth Anne White is gifted at creating wonderful, complicated characters, suspenseful yet believable plots while keeping the romantic tension flowing through the story. I highly recommend this very entertaining book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.
A twisty, insightful story with a gripping plot, addictive characters and brilliant storytelling.
On to the next!
While a suspense, this is also a romance book and that just does not appeal to me. This is also the second book in the series. However, it also works well as a standalone. Though the background from the first book is useful. The author provides graphic details, so you need to go into the book aware of this. A story of redemption and healing relationships makes this an interesting read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
I’d recommend this book. It keeps your interest until the very end. Good job.
Though book one fell a little short for me, this one completely made up for it! This had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and I could not put it down. I love the little taste of romance that Loreth Anne White includes in her stories, yet the story remains mostly a thriller / mystery. I love how her stories are so in depth, that I have to go back and re-read and take notes! love the characters in this book and loved the story!!
I’ll read all of Loreth Anne White’s books.
A definite page turner. Off to read more books by this author.
just not my cup of tea
“Because the past writes the present…”
“Because the past writes the present and the present writes the future, and sometimes the loop just cannot be broken.”
I read the first book in this series A DARK LURE and really liked it.
At first I had a problem getting into this book but it didn’t take long before the action ramped up and I was turning the pages as fast as I could.
Sergeant Rebecca North is an accomplished detective with the commercial crime branch of the Canadian federal police force, going after white collar criminals.
She gets a call from her father, retired from the RCMP and still living in the small town in British Columbia that she grew up in. He’s been looking into cold cases and wants her to come home. She is in the middle of a trial and doesn’t make it right away. And the next thing she hears is that her father killed himself and his house burnt down around his body.
She doesn’t believe he would kill himself and finally heads home to investigate.
There were all kind of different storylines in this book from different time periods, all coming together in the end, and all were exciting.
This book has almost all new characters from book one. There’s a small overlap. So reading either book as a standalone would be no problem at all.
I loved the characters in the story. I loved the twists and turns. I highly recommend this and the prior book to readers who like mysteries and psychological thrillers.
I received this book from Amazon Publishing through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.