Absolutely loved this book! The characters were interesting, well developed believable and fallible. The story catches you from the first page and each chapter invites you to continue to read in a way that is not overly descriptive or too wordy. Unlike other books I've read recently the ending tied together well, made sense and left me wanting to read the next book. Great job Loreth White! Your story telling left me wanting more and I will be back to read the other books as well. Thanks for the early copy Netgalley!

I really enjoyed this action-packed book! I did read the first book in the series, A Dark Lure, but if you choose to skip that one before reading The Dark Bones you won't be completely lost (there are some references to the history of Olivia West, which was the focus of book 1). Both books were enjoyable, though, so why not read both?!

Loreth Anne White did a really nice job with the characters, especially Ash, Becca North's ex-boyfriend for whom she still has unresolved feelings. Ash is handsome, rugged, and mysterious - Becca knows he's hiding something and she tries her hardest to get him to open up to her as she tries to get to the bottom of a 20 year old cold case that keeps circling back to Ash as a primary suspect.

This book kept me hooked with the near constant action. I do hope that there will be a third book in the series!

Thank you to Montlake Romance and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

Wow. I had not originally been aware that this was the second book in a series. Upon realizing that, I went back and read the first book in the series, The Dark Lure. I was unprepared how deeply I would be sucked into the world that Loreth Anne White created for this set of books. I found myself angry with the characters behavior at times, championing their strides towards happiness and on edge about who were the guilty parties. This was a "keep you up all night" read and I eagerly await how she might tie in yet another mystery and crime into this small, remote town.

The Dark Bones – Loreth Anne White

I was fortunate to receive this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an objective review.

Sargeant Rebecca North is getting ready to testify in a big case in Ottawa, when she receives call from her father retired Corporal Noah North. Sounding somewhat intoxicated, he mentions a cold case, missing papers, being followed, and wanting to know what really happened one fateful night in Becca’s past. The next call she receives is that notifying her of her father’s apparent suicide, and of a fire that burned his homestead to the ground.

Grief stricken, and consumed with guilt, Rebecca returns home to Cariboo County, and the town that she once called home. As she views the burned out homestead, she makes a discovery – snowmobile tracks leading away from the scene. No longer convinced her father’s death was a suicide, Becca begins to investigate, and soon reunites with her high school love and neighbor, Ash Haugen.

But word travels fast in a small town, and soon Becca finds herself mired in a case from long ago – that of two teens who reportedly took a bus to Los Angeles but have never been seen or heard from again – and Becca begins to believe that may have never left at all. And someone will do anything to keep those secrets hidden…

I LOVED THIS BOOK! This is my first read from author Loreth Anne White, but it will not be my last. Full of intrigue, drama and nail-biting suspense, this book kept me up long into the night, with twists, turns and surprises that even this well-read mystery buff did not see coming!! A great read! Highly recommend!! I hope to see more of these characters in future novels!

I started reading books by Loreth Anne White a few years ago and fell in love with her Angie Pallorino series. Some of you may be familiar with those. The Dark Bones is the second book in a new series, A Dark Lure, and I actually didn’t realize that until after I finished the book. Obviously it didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the first book since I thought it was a stand-alone. It is fantastic!

When Detective Rebecca North left her rural Canadian hometown, she vowed never to return. A call from her drunken father made her nervous, a follow up call notifying her of his apparent suicide brought her home. However, “Becca” is not content with the suicide findings. Her father may have been a drunk, but he was not suicidal. Despite what she believes, the town, including all of the “officials,” seem hell-bent on making sure his death is classified as a murder. Becca is determined to find out what her father was doing before he died, who he was with and why the townspeople are behaving so strangely and to give her father the proper RCMP burial he deserves.

The Dark Bones swept me up in its saga from the very beginning – the frantic phone call, the alleged suicide, teens accidently setting fire to cabin – there is so much action in the beginning that it was difficult not to get carried away in the drama. But this is more than just a thriller. There are multiple storylines for several families. A few story lines that I know now harken back to the first book which are resolved in this book – don’t worry, you will either appreciate the closure or enjoy the independent story on its own . Becca has unresolved issues from her high school years that led to her fleeing the town. There are underlying issues of drug trading, which sadly afflicts all rural small towns and there are stories of abuse – physical and mental – which were undetected for years. There is a lot going on in this book but it is handled with care, deftly written and marvelously crafted. There are tiers and folds to this story, each waiting for you to pull back their coverings so that they can reveal their mysteries to you. Mystery, romance, murder and more – you cannot ask for a better story than this.

Thank you to #Netgalley, #LorethAnneWhite and #MontlakeRomance for my copy of #TheDarkBones available May 21,2019.

Set in Canada amongst blizzards and whiteout and mountains. The past meets the future in an exciting thriller.

Loreth Anne White is one of my favorite authors. I love all of her books. Her characters are memorable and the suspense is always outstanding!

The Dark Bones is the second book in the Dark Lure series (The Dark Lure was FANTASTIC). The main character is Rebecca North. She's a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detective who moved out of her rural hometown of Clinton, Canada as soon as she could after her boyfriend Ash Haugen broke her heart.

Rebecca's dad is a retired detective. He's an alcoholic and he lives by himself. Out of nowhere, he calls Rebecca and tells her that he believes someone is following him and he wants to see her. He has been reviewing a cold case and he wants to know why she and Ash lied to him so many years ago. Rebecca knows this has to be about Whitney Gagnon who had slept with Ash and had left town with her boyfriend Trevor Beauchamp. Rebecca tells her dad she will call him back. Next thing she knows, she gets a call. Her dad has killed himself. Rebecca can't believe it. She comes home to investigate. She believes her father has found something about the disappearance of Whitney Gagnon and Trevor Beauchamp and someone killed him for it.

"He lied
You both lied."


On her first night back home, she bumps into the last person she wants to see, Ash. All her past feelings for him resurface. She remembers how hurt she was when he cheated and when she found out he had lied to her. She also remembers he was her first love and she has never forgotten him. As the days and the investigation progresses she realizes she still feels something for him.

Besides Rebecca and Ash, two teenagers are also important. One is Olivia's daughter Tori Burton (Liv is the main character on The Dark Lure) and the other one is Ricky Simon, a kid Ash promised to take care of. Both of their lives are in danger. They know too much.

Soon, Ash becomes the main suspect and Rebecca knows she needs to figure out who's at fault or none of them are going to be safe.

The Dark Bones was gritty, dark and full of suspense. Loreth Anne White painted a perfect small town ambiance full of secrets and lies. She gave us a great resolution while still leaving an opening for another book to answer the remaining questions.

"Quiet descended with a sense of menace."


Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion.
I loved this book even though it was a sequel, it pretty much was a standalone. It was a riveting story about an allegedly suicide of a retired local cop. His daughter Detective Rebecca North flies back into town to investigate his death because something make sense.
Rebecca runs into her old flame, who she was running from, Ash Hauger.
There was no way that her father was an alcoholic who was crap faced drunk and knocked over an oil filled lamp in his cabin. This incident caused him to be burned alive in his cabin. Yet the local officials were deeming his death as a suicide.
The storyline has a great deal of lies and secrets thus causing it to jump around.
It is a great read. Excellent for a movie.

Overall, it was a good read but it took a while to really get the plot going. The jumping between past and present was a bit jarring and really messed with the flow of the story at times, but all of the plot lines were wrapped up at the end. I would definitely another book by this author.

This book was one of great mystery, intrigue, and family drama. I enjoyed this book from the very beginning. It kept me totally immersed throughout the book until the very end. Rebecca North saw her boyfriend, Ash Haugen, and Whitney Gagnon, come out of the barn during the yearly Clinton Rodeo, apparently, looking like they had just had sex. Rebecca was devastated, and was determined to leave this pathetic little town of Clinton behind. Rebecca had made a move to the East Coast, and is now Sergeant Rebecca North investigating white collar crime. She was engaged to be married, but something just wasn’t right. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Her father called her, drunk, as usual with his conspiracy theories on cold cases that he had never rectified. Rebecca was headed into court, and told her father she would call him back. That was the last time she heard her father’s voice. He was found with a self-inflicted wound to his head with a shotgun, and his house had burned down around him. Rebecca arrived back in town. She was determined that she would prove her father didn’t kill himself, and he would be buried with honors. What case was it that he was so obsessed about? Why did he think that Ash was involved in this cold case? Can Rebecca trust the local law enforcement, since Buck was an old classmate of Rebecca’s. Buck didn’t seem to be asking the right questions, and basically closed the case. Why was the ME so focused that her father committed suicide? There is an underlying theme here, and Rebecca was certain that everything was not as it seemed. Individuals who became involved in the investigation seemed to be having accidents resulting in death. Who is behind this mystery cold case, and what is it that they are trying to keep hidden? What mystery will she uncover from over 20 years ago? Will Ash really be the culprit of the cold case? Will Rebecca and Ash ever get past what happened between them 20 years ago? The plot was well throughout and had multiple underlying themes within it. The writer reverted back from 20 years ago to the present. This definitely kept the reader coming back for more. The character development was on point. The reader could definitely relate to the emotions and flaws within each character. I also liked the life lessons that were intertwined in the plot of this book. This was really an action packed book. You will definitely enjoy this book.

I always love a good story about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and this no exception. Childhood hurts exposed, honorable characters come to light.. Truth about "upstanding" community members is exposed. Good mystery & romance.

Thanks for granting me access to their s book.

I will leave a 4 star review on Amazon under name of Connie

Oh my goodness!This book just stole my heart and has not given it back yet! So much action and the romance was so tender and emotional that it brought me to tears more than once. Rebecca and Ash had been teenagers in love. They broke up when Rebecca knew that Ash had slept with someone else. She left town and was working as a white crimes detective. She comes back home when informed of her father’s death, suppposedly by suicide. She does not accept it was suicide and begins investigating on her own behalf. It becomes obvious that Ash and Rebecca still have feelings for each other, but will they deny their feelings? I just loved this book and I loved the characters of Ash and Rebecca.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rebecca North has everything going for her, until Whitney Gagnon. Ash Haugen has everything going for him, including Rebecca North, until Whitney Gagnon. Rebecca and Ash don't seem to get past Whitney. Whitney has left town, never to be heard from again. Fast forward, Rebecca's Dad, and ex cop, Noah North reopens the question of where IS Whitney, just before he commits suicide. Or did he? This is a riveting story of what can go so very wrong when lies are told and secrets are kept. Loreth does a terrific job of keeping one guessing, while adding in believable characters along the way. Enjoy!

I am a big fan of Loreth Anne White, first discovering her through the Angie Pallorino series. After I devoured those books, I moved on to A Dark Lure, which I was equally impressed with. Needless to say, I was thrilled to find out that she wrote a follow-up novel that included A Dark Lure's protagonist Olivia West.

The Dark Bones follows Detective Rebecca North who returns to her rural hometown after learning of her drunken/disgraced father's apparent suicide. The official report is that retired cop Noah North shot himself, knocked over a lantern, and set his isolated cabin ablaze. But Rebecca cannot believe he killed himself. Rebecca just cannot believe that her father killed himself and sets out to prove it. Loreth Anne White does in impeccable job of weaving together multiple story lines over the span of twenty years into one cohesive narrative. This book is simply a must read!

"Can you pinpoint the exact instant your life starts on a collision course with someone else's? Can you trace back to the moment those lives did finally intersect, and from where they spiralled outward again, yet from that point they remained forever entwined, two lives locked one with another?" (quote: The Dark Bones)

Really good Mystery Suspense novel, not a lot of romance which kind of made me twitchy. But I overall thought it was a great read.T he Dark Bones is the second book in the Dark Lure series. The main character is Rebecca North. She's a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detective who moved out of her rural hometown of Clinton, Canada as soon as she could after her boyfriend Ash Haugen broke her heart.

Two teens disappear 20 years ago and the mystery was never solved until now! A retired cop comes across new evidence and is killed because of it so his daughter Rebecca comes home and starts putting all of the clues together.

The author jumps from the present to the past and back again to set up the relationships between Ash, Becca, and Whitney. The past holds the key to actual crimes committed. And man, I couldn't put it down. The book is emotional, and could be triggering to some it involves physical abuse, inappropriate behaviour, murder, deep & dark secrets, brief mention of rape and a second chance to romance.

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
I loved this book. A great psychological thriller. It was a page turner till the end and I didn't figure it out till the reveal. A most excellent read.

A suspense story that will keep you turning the pages until the end. Lots of intriguing characters that you'll wonder who to trust. There are secrets buried that need to be discovered so that life can go on.

Characters from the first in this series make a return, although their part isn't necessarily significant. This time around we follow the story of Sergeant Rebecca North and her need to understand her father's sudden death, suspected to be suicide. As she starts asking questions, we learn that her father's death is tied intricately to the disappearance of a young woman about twenty years before - a young woman with whom her high school sweetheart cheated on her. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way to a satisfying ending, with the reader not being sure who they should trust or believe.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.

The Dark Bones opens with a chilling, atmospheric crime that sets the tone for this thriller that brings readers back to Caribou Country. The cold case plot brings a town daughter home too late to save her father. It twists through people’s lives with a grip that sets the towns people against each other and no one is safe in this compelling read. I couldn’t put it down and read it till I finished it. Her heroine, Rebecca North, is so complex I want to see this book on the TV or silver screen. I loved every second of this story and didn’t want it to end. If you’ve read The Dark Lure, this is a must-read for you.

Laurie Wood, Author of "Northern Deception"

“He’d always harbored a fear that she still lay there. Her dark bones in wait. To rise. To get them.”

Reading Loreth Anne White is a sensory experience. You can feel the biting wind in your hair, whispering in your ear like a lover might. The snow crunches and powders beneath your feet. Frost alights on your fingertips, and the sky is vast overhead, raining stars over the horizon. It’s as if you are there, walking side-by-side with the characters, hearing a bird shriek in the wilderness, seeing headlights flash in the dark. It’s my favourite thing about her writing – that acute sense of place, and it never wavers.

The Dark Bones is a sequel to A Dark Lure, and I was excited to see White returning to this world. Although I didn’t remember everything about Olivia, Cole, Tori and Ace, I remembered enough to want to check in – see how they were doing, and get reacquainted with their town and the folk who live there. Although they’re kept on the periphery, I sense another novel in those characters – Olivia and Cole’s romance especially seemed to have stuttered to a halt – so I’m anxious to see if White returns.

The novel switches between the past and the present, circling around Rebecca North, once an insecure, shy teenager, and now a police officer based in British Columbia, who returns to her hometown after her father commits suicide. His cabin is also razed to the ground in an “accidental” fire, and knowing that her Dad was working on a cold case when he died, Rebecca is suspicious of the blaze. She begins to investigate both her father’s death, and the cold case he was fixated on – that of the disappearances of Whitney and Trevor, local teenagers who vanished twenty years back. Her machinations bring her into close quarters with Olivia (whose daughter Tori is suspected to have been near the cabin when it burned), and Rebecca’s ex-boyfriend, Ash Haugen, whose land borders Broken Bar Ranch, and who cheated on her with Whitney the summer they turned seventeen.

It’s all quite a quagmire, and I found it difficult to get into at the beginning. The action felt slow to start. Not only that, but I wasn’t enamoured with Ash, and grew quickly exhausted with Rebecca still being hung up on a guy she went to high school with. Slowly though, White hooked me in, as she has a tendency to do, and the tension ratcheted up to a fever pitch. I appreciate that as a novelist, she’s not afraid to go to dark places, and truly, the reality of what happened to Ash, to Whitney, to Trevor and more… it’s disturbing, and raw, and bloody.

As the book drew to a close, it became clear why Rebecca was so frustrating in the beginning – because she’d sublimated so many memories of her past in order to move on, and coming back was like a regression of sorts. The landscape of her childhood was a hell of forgotten feelings, and the ghost of her father, whom she’d been too late to help.

Ash too, was unable – or unwilling – to work through what had happened to him, and so, they were both stumbling, like newborn deer, into the dark.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and Montlake Romance, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to both!