Bone Deep

Sandra Ireland

Jun 2019 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A twisty and propulsive read, this dark psychological thriller of sibling rivalry, love, betrayal, and the dire consequences of family fallout brilliantly plays on our fears of loneliness and abandonment, harkening to the modern gothic bestsellers by Ruth Ware and Liz Nugent.

Is a story ever just a story?

Mac, a retired academic and writer, is working on a new collection of folktales, inspired by local legends, and at the insistence of her only child, Arthur, she hires a young assistant, Lucie, to live in a cottage on her property and help her transcribe them. What Arthur doesn’t know is that his mother is determined to keep the secrets of her past from ever being discovered. And what Mac doesn’t know is that Lucie has a few complicated secrets of her own.

The creaking presence of an ancient water mill next to Mac’s property that used to grind wheat into flour serves as an eerie counterpoint for these two women as they circle warily around each other, haunted by the local legend of two long-dead sisters, ready to point accusing fingers from the pages of history.

This atmospheric page turner evocatively gives voice to the question: What happens when you fall in love with the wrong person?

Ratings and reviews

If the cover for Bone Deep caught my attention, the blurb grabbed me by the collar and shouted at me. This one had me from the very first glance. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. It does have its moments and I liked the Gothic feel, but he story moves too slowly for my taste, and the writing is choppy much of the time. We have two unreliable narrators in this one, and the point of view moves back and forth between them, plus we have a story within a story as Mac writes her book of sisters with deadly secrets. The only character I liked was Arthur, and I began to question his judgment as the story progressed. Unreliable narrators and unlikable characters aside, my biggest problem with this psychological thriller is I failed to find the thriller part of this story, psychological or otherwise. There is murder and what are supposed to be twists, but I guessed those before we got there with one exception concerning Lucie, and I found it to be completely unbelievable, like eye-rolling unbelievable. I realize that my opinion is in the minority here, and that's okay. This is just one person's opinion, so take it for what it's worth. In the end, I think I liked the idea of this one more than the reality of it.

About the author

Sandra Ireland is the author of the novels Beneath the Skin and Bone Deep. Before turning to fiction, she worked as a journalist. Born in Yorkshire, England, she spent many years in Limerick, Ireland, and now lives near Edinburgh.