I was very excited and had high hopes for this book, but I couldn’t get into it. The setting & plot/synopsis were very enticing and made me select this book but I just couldn’t connect with the characters. She was naive and the other supporting characters from Effie’s life were (obviously) not supposed to be likeable; I still don’t understand why Effie decided to join up and agreeing to help them all. I just couldn’t get into the story and connect with it, even though lots of other readers did; just didn’t feel believable to me. Would maybe try a different book/series of Gordon Brown/Morgan Cry but Thirty One Bones was not for me.

Scottish Writer Gordon Brown (Morgan Cry) has given us with "Thirty-one bones" a magnificent and hilarious crime caper that had me in stiches from start to finish.

It's 2019 and the story takes place in El Descaro, a fictional resort town reminiscent of that urban eyesore called Benidorm on the Costa Blanca, 20 minutes north of Alicante (Spain)
Effie Coulstoun, a 80 year old British expatriate and pub owner drops dead from a heart attack after popping one too many ecstasys. Effie is also one of the masterminds behind a rather idiotic property scam put together in order to fleece incredulous suckers (investors) out of 20.000€ each. Think about the moronic plot of "The Producers" and you will get the gist of the swindle.
Unfortunately, Effie, the Queen Bee in the plot, has died without telling her associates (6 morons who are all a wheel short of a full set) where they could find the 1.3 millions euros they were supposed to split between themselves before taking a powder out of Spain.

Then Daniella, Effie's estranged daughter arrives from Glasgow in order to bury her morher and tidy up her affairs.....
Well as you can easily imagine nothing won't go smoothly, mayhem will ensue and everyone will go totally bonkers....

Brown has written a very funny crime comedy where he perfectly describes the type of lowlife European expatriates that can easily be found overhere in Spain especially around Alicante, Marbella and Ibiza, unable to go back where their come from and never able to fully embrace the place or places they have chosen to reside in.

This is a very entertaining European novel, with perfect dialogues and unbelievable characters!
Go ahead and read it, you won't be disappointed and you will laugh a lot! I guarantee it👍👍

Many thanks to Netgalley and Arcade for the opportunity to read this very funny novel prior to its release date

Wow. Morgan Cry keeps you engaged with this thriller all throughout the story. Twists and turns with ups and downs. Action and surprises you won’t see coming.

I absolutely loved this book. The quirky cast of characters kept me turning the pages for 2 straight days. I truly thought I had figured things out, but I was very, very wrong, and happily so. If you want to escape to a sunny, beautiful getaway, and try to solve the mystery of Where is the Money, Daniella, you will not be disappointed. This will make an excellent summertime beach read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.
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Okay, so first things first, let me tell you what i liked.
The author is really good with his writing, the dialogues were entertaining, there weren't any stretching, and the ending of some parts especially the investigation parts, ended in a really funny and amusing manner.
On the other hand, i didn't think the plot was that strong, like it needed more spice to let you feel hooked, and i'm sure the author was capable of that, also the ending got me feeling peeved, it was so "ideal" but not in a fulfilling kind of way.
To sum this up, i think it was a love-hate relationship with the book in my part.

Part mystery, part family drama, this novel takes us on a journey through Spain, searching for the truth and a few euros. I enjoyed the twists and turns, and the unexpected route the story took.

I loved this book! It was such a strong well written story. It was exactly what I needed with everything going on in the world! A mind bending escape!

when Danielle Coulstoun's estranged mother dies in Spain Danielle flies over for the funeral and to settle the estate. While there she helps run her mother's pub, and meets the ex-pats who were friends with her mother. Almost immediately there is tension as the ex-pats and other pub customers come to Danielle demanding she returns money her mother owed them.
I almost quit this book after about 1/3 into it but decided to keep going. The chapters alternate between what is happening with Danielle and the others with chapters that are police interviews with the various suspects over her mother's death. I found these chapters to be rather confusing and actually skipped over them. The other reason I almost stopped reading is I didn't like any of the characters and not even Danielle did I really care about. I finished it but didn't get much satisfaction. There is constant backstabbing and trying to cross each other of all the characters that I didn't enjoy it.

Well, why wouldn’t you enjoy a book set in the sunny coastal Spain while being stuck inside on a snowy wintery day miles and seemingly worlds away. Actually, there’s probably many possible reasons, but fortunately this book provided none of those. It was pretty fun through and through.
Daniella Coulstoun doesn’t just leave the rainy Scotland and comes to Spain for fun and sun like the rest of the English emigres comprising some of the local community, she comes to bury her long estranged mother, who dropped dead in a middle of a con job at the ripe old age of 78. Effie Coulstoun was a formidable woman in her community and not merely due to her generous proportions. She owned and operated a dive bar specifically for the less desirable social elements and was a boss of her own gang of expatriates named ExPatriots, who helped her build a scam that raked in 1.3 million euros. Now Effie’s dead, the money’s vanished and the ExPatriots are in panic. And the conned people are in outrage. And a local crime boss is…well, something. And their solution to it all is Daniella…who must sort out all this sordid legacy or her thirty one bones are in grave danger.
So it’s that sort of a book, heavy on crime, but light enough in tone with plenty of action and a dash of slapstick, but also quite excellent character writing. In fact, the ExPatriots are a fun bunch, an assortment of onceuponatimers long past their prime and desperate for a second chance. Used, abused and exploited by Effie gladly in exchange for a place to belong and a promise of ash to fund their past expiration date dreams. And the star of the show is definitely Daniella, who’s tough, smart, able, doesn’t take crap from anybody and doesn’t back down and basically very much the opposite of a damsel in distress in all the right ways. Many kudos to the author, Gordon Brown, whoever he is, this is my first time reading him, writing under a peculiarly chosen pseudonym (Cry? really? why?) for creating a genuinely great female lead, frankly an improvement on a lot of women written by women.
And there you go, a perfectly entertaining crime tale set in a perfectly excellent locale and featuring considerably superior writing than that this sort of thing might normally get away with and an excellent protagonist. One that seems poised to get a series out of it.
Quick fun read and a lovely armchair trip to Spanish coast among other things. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

I'm already keen to read more by this author! I enjoyed the setting for much if the action (a faithfully described seedy bar in Spain) as well as the range of sympathetic and downright repulsive characters. The twists and turns of the plot, involving the disappearance of a large amount of ill-gotten cash, kept me guessing, and the many comedic moments contrasted well with episodes of danger.

Very well developed characters and an extremely engaging story. Well thought out and very suspenseful story line that keeps the reader guessing until the final twist! This is the book to read this year! Highly recommended!

Thanks you Net valley and Skyhorse Publishing for the eARC.
What a fun ride this book is! A great group of characters, a warm, lovely setting (Costa del Sol!), a feisty, appealing lead character and the mystery of 1.3 million hidden Euros make this a unputdownable read.
When her mother dies of a heart attack (or was it murder?) in her bar, Daniella has to leave Scotland for the funeral and ends up meeting her mother's 'friends', a motley group of ex-pats who are basically losers. They're all broke and determined to get their share of the money Effie conned out of hapless investors.
With the help of her lawyer and many twisty, dangerous incidents, feisty Daniella survives by the skin of her teeth and manages to set things right at the satisfying ending. Definitely recommended!