Luca Veste's series featuring detectives Murphy and Rossi is excellent but his new standalone novel takes him to a new level. The writing is excellent, the mood of the story is dark of brooding and the supernatural element feels perfectly normal. The legend of The Bone Keeper is well-known in Liverpool and has caused fear and consternation for generations. Detective Louise Henderson was familiar with the myth from childhood and now she must face up to her demons by venturing once more into the dark woods to solve the mystery of the bodies which have been disinterred. Brilliant!

I have never read anything by Luca Veste before, but have heard his crime books are popular and, as they are set in Liverpool and I am insanely fond of the Beatles, anything set in my favourite city has to be worth investigating. “The Bone Keeper,” is a stand- alone novel and seemed a good place to start. The story opens with four children in a wood, daring themselves to go through a disused tunnel which is said to house a local legend, known as ‘the Bone Keeper.’ Four children go into the tunnel and only three emerge…

We are then introduced to D.C. Louise Henderson, who is having a panic attack in her car, when her partner, D.S. Paul Shipley calls. A woman has been found, assaulted and injured, wandering the streets. On investigation, she was singing a local rhyme about the Bone Keeper and she later claims that was who captured her.

One of the things that struck me about this book was that, although this was a stand-alone novel, written after several novels in a series, it really felt like a debut – a trifle unsure of itself. Whether that was because the author is going outside of the comfort zone of his series characters (and to be fair I haven’t read those), but this was often stilted, slightly confused and the characters, and dialogue, a little wooden. The crime escalates, but the tension doesn’t and, although there are various twists and turns in the plot, I found it hard to maintain any real interest in events.

Crime novels can be gripping, intense, sometimes scary, or emotional. This felt like quite a dry read to me – it went from plot point to plot point, with the various character secrets unearthed and the, slightly implausible plot, uncovered, but I never really cared enough and it became a bit of a slog. I would still like to try his series, but this sadly didn’t work for me. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Brilliant. Luca Veste is one of my favourite authors. This book is superbly written. It is nail biting and action packed. There is action right up to the end. This is a thriller that is spine chilling and scary. I now want to sit and read it again to see what I missed. This is the type of thriller that makes you want to keep the light on at night.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read and post a review for The Bone Keeper.

From the start of the story the author has a very good way of writing that makes you feel involved in the story, the storyline has a creepy and eerie feel to it, that did give me shivers (which is very unusual as I tend to read lots of horror and murder mystery and not effected by stories).

The Bone Keeper is an urban myth, but does it come from any truth???? People go into the woods or tunnels but don't come out, where do they go, who else is in the woods or tunnels???

This was extremely well written, gives tingles down the spine with a page turning storyline, one of the best books I have read in 2017 and I would highly recommend it!!!!

I''d like to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for the free advance copy of this Luca Veste novel.
Having read some of Luca Veste's previous books, I hoped that this would be of a similar standard, I was not disappointed. The story takes place in Liverpool (as usual for Luca) but with a brand new detective. Hopefully he will write more novels with DC Louise Henderson as I really liked her as the 'detective with her own demons' character.
The crimes are suitably gory and whilst the killer is fanciful, in a story about an urban legend brought to life, it never starts to drift into fantasy or horror and remains in the gritty crime drama setting.
Overall I really enjoyed the book, and I hope that there is more to come.

I am sorry to say that I felt that this book was a complete waste of time and effort on all parts. It was vague to the point of irritation and the conclusion felt equally stupid.
It was full of lots of atmospheric detail, but nothing substantial to get your teeth into.
The detective was a waste of space and so fond of self analysis that I found her really irritating.
Shame as the title would leave you to believe that it was going to be a thriller.....

I had heard good things about this author and so was delighted to get the opportunity to read this e-ARC from Simon and Schuster UK. This is the second piece I have read by Luca Veste, the first being a short story. The plot seemed to be right up my alley and an interesting take from Luca Veste – a killer on the loose bringing to life an urban myth of the locality. Set in Liverpool a city I know which certainly added interest for me.

It opens with the disappearance of Matty who, along with three other children, had gone into woodland to find where The Bone Keeper lives. Then there’s Caroline who, years later, is found wandering the streets of Liverpool having been viscously attacked repeating The Bone Keepers rhyme. Finally, we have Louise Henderson a Detective Constable assigned to Caroline’s case. All good so far.

The story jumps back and forth between ‘Now’ and ‘Past’ clearly indicated but somehow it feels a bit jumbled and instead of bringing out the tension, story and characters – instead of gripping you so you didn’t want to put the book down – it made me halt, take a break before coming back. The book is pretty much told from the point of view of DC Henderson but I didn’t really find myself engaging with the character, indeed her relationship with her DS grated. This book would have been better for keeping to the detection, I understood that the author wanted to convey to us that Louise had a secret past and issues from that, indeed had done so, without the halfhearted attempt at romance which, whilst not taking over the story thank goodness, for me shouldn’t have had a place in it.

Nevertheless, there is a good story in here. There is some tension, it is a little scary and the parts of the book dealing with the actual initial attack and subsequent murders with the overtones of The Bone Keepers myth turning reality with it’s twists had potential to make this a really good book. Somehow, for me, it just didn’t quite get there. Each reader will have their own take and so I hope you enjoy it even more than I did.

Firstly I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for my advance copy in return for an honest review. I so wanted to like this book, the synopsis sounded great but unfortunately I found the characters flat and boring and as much as I hate not finishing a book, I had to give up half way through.

I don't know whether its because of the recent release of the new version of the film, and with the book getting a lot of publicity but the first half of this book reminds me very much of "It" by Stephen King.
It wasn't until I got past the 50% point that it felt more like a crime thriller.
The Bone Keeper is a mythological character that kids use to scare each other. From the start, set a few years ago, young children start to go missing and the Bone Keeper is blamed. Moving to the present day one of his victims brothers is a Police Officer and when more youths go missing she has to over come deep seated fears to investigate the crime.
Once the book swings into more of a crime fiction than a horror fiction, the story becomes compelling. The end of the book is one of the most unpredictable outcomes I have ever read.

I am an avid follower of Luca Veste's work after discovering his Rossi & Murphy detective series quite by accident at my local library a couple of years ago and keeping up with their "caseload" ever since. I was absolutely delighted to be approved to read this more chilling turn to his writing - and was actually quite apprehensive to get started reading it at home alone in the dark after having read the description of the novel. It pains me to say that unfortunately I found the book fell short of the mark this time.
I didn't click with either detective Shipley or Henderson and didn't find the chemistry between them convincing. The tension I expected to feel as the case progressed didn't really build and at no point did I feel like reading the story peeking from the safety of behind a cushion. The detective duo seemed to be working independently both of each other and of the major crime squad which was brought in as the case escalated.
With crime novels I like the feeling of the evidence being revealed piece by piece like a jigsaw puzzle with some juicy red herrings thrown in to lead me astray from the real culprit but I felt that too much information was held back for the big reveal at the end, so that as a reader I couldn't be part of the build up.
I really wanted to like this book as much as (if not more than) the author's previous work as I am always recommending him to people but I'm afraid this one didn't work for me, sorry. This said though I will still be looking out for his future work especially if Rossi and Murphy headline.

As this book is set in my home town I thought I would love it. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and I could only get 31% in (according to my Kindle). The story didn't flow and I thought the main character was boring and lifeless. Not one for the dark winter nights that I thought it would be!

Luca Vested has produced another page turner, a very dark and complex storyline with plenty of twists to keep you guessing

A truly great tale of a serial killer with a difference & a detective with a dark and hidden past. I got so hooked I read this in one evening. Really keeps you guessing & the twists at the end are genius!

I've literally just finished reading this and wanted to get a few words down before the uneasiness left me. Because that's what this novel did to me. It made me uncomfortable and afraid that the bogey men of my youth might just be watching through the window and waiting.
Luca Veste has done it again. And now I need a shower!

A tale that will keep you awake at night, blinking at shadows; a creepy rhyme that will stay lodged deep inside your head. It's true what the early reviewers have said... this really is a masterpiece. I don't think I have read something as deeply chilling and disgustingly inventive for a very long time. Incredibly clever and beautifully dark. This is sure to be a much talked about book for years to come. Highly, highly recommended.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK Fiction for an advance copy of The Bone Keeper, a stand alone novel set in Liverpool.

Caroline is found stabbed and battered on a street. Her memories of what has happened to her are hazy but she is sure The Bone Keeper is responsible. DC Louise Henderson and DS Paul Shipley aren't sure what to make of this as the Bone Keeper is a local urban myth until it isn't when more bodies are discovered.

I enjoyed The Bone Keeper which is a cleverly plotted read with some excellent twists at the end. I wasn't so keen on the format which constantly changed point of view and time line. I found it hard to engage with the characters as I was never with them long enough to really identify with them and difficult to keep track of the detail.

The novel opens with 4 young children exploring a tunnel and only 3 coming out and returns to it more than once but there is no significance to it until the dénouement so it's a bit of a distraction trying to work out where it fits in. Most of the novel is devoted to Louise Henderson who is keeping secrets and seems to have an uncanny insight into where the case should be going. Some of this is revealed at the end but I'm still struggling to work out how she knows.

The Bone Keeper is an excellent novel in its way and will appeal to many readers but it's not too my taste. I love the plotting but not the execution which is too scattergun for me, the back and forth between characters and timelines does not allow me to sink my teeth in and get immersed, instead it is all too easy to put it down and do something else. 3.5*.