Magda Trudell is the caretaker of Whimbrell Estate in Key West, Florida. The stately property was once home to a famous American poet, Isobel Reyes, who committed suicide on the property in 1918. Magda, a botanist and historian, has dedicated her most recent years to restoring Whimbrell Estate to its former glory; something Isobel could be proud of.

Magda's hope is for Whimbrell to be recognized as a national historic site. It's important to her that Isobel's legacy be passed down for future generations to enjoy. Some might say she is a little obsessed with it actually.

When a fierce hurricane is reported to be headed straight for the Keys, local authorities call a mandatory evacuation. Magda isn't hearing it. There is no way she is fleeing and leaving her life's work at risk to Mother Nature. She must stay and protect the property, whatever the cost.

Once the storm hits, it proves to be just as dangerous as the experts predicted. Go figure. Now with her supplies wiped out and the house barely livable, Magda has company arrive. A teenage girl and her father, seeking shelter from the storm. Without many resources to spare, Magda nonetheless takes them in. It's the three of them against the storm. Will they be able to survive?

In amongst all of this, Magda discovers some hidden artifacts that she believes may be tied to Isobel's death. You know she will never leave those artifacts behind. This is her chance to leave her imprint on Isobel's story.

The Bone Cay is a good book. I had never read anything by Eliza Nellums and I'm glad that I had a chance to. I think for a lot of people, this will be a really great story. For me, it was good. It kept my attention and I'm glad that I read it. However, I wouldn't say it will remain particularly memorable for me.

It's a simply-told, linear story that makes a great escape from regular life. I enjoyed the setting of the Keys and Magda's role as caretaker for the Estate. Some aspects of the storm and the discovery of the new artifacts seemed a little strange to me, but in the context of the story, it did flow fairly well. As I mentioned above, I do think a lot of Readers will enjoy this. I think it could work well for history buffs, particularly Florida history buffs, and people just getting into the Thriller genre.

Thank you so much to the publishers, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. I did listen to the audiobook and would recommend that as a medium for reading this story. It was quite well narrated.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me an audiobook ARC of this suspense novel by Eliza Nellums and narrated by Nancy Peterson- 4 stars!

Magda is a historian, somewhat obsessed with a young poet, Isobel Reyes, who died by suicide years ago. Magda is now the caretaker of Isobel's home in the Florida Keys, Whimbrel Estate, and has made it her mission to restore the home to the conditions Isobel would have known. Magda makes the decision to stay in the home when a hurricane is approaching. The storm is more powerful than Magda could ever have imagined and she finds herself in peril. She also makes a discovery hidden in a cistern when part of the house collapses. In addition, the estate handyman, Hank, shows up with his daughter, Emily, to escape the storm.

This is a very atmospheric novel - not sure I've ever read a novel that featured a scary hurricane. Makes me glad I live in the mountains! The fight to survive amongst the odds brought a fraught tension to the novel. Then there are multiple mysteries to solve - What is in the trunk? What really happened to Isobel? And who exactly is Hank? I thought the narrator did a wonderful job - there were very few characters so it was easy to differentiate plus she did a great male voice as well!

I picked up this audiobook at Netgalley because I was in need of an audiobook. I haven't read anything by Eliza Nellums before but she is definitely going on my list of authors to read.

The opening of The Bone Cay is very atmospheric - I loved it. I've been watching The CW's Nancy Drew and I had to keep reminding myself that I was not reading a book about the Drew Crew.

In addition to the suspense of a major hurricane rolling in and a man and his stepdaughter getting stranded with Magda at Whimbrel Estate, there is also a mystery. Some of the storm damage unearthed an old cistern and inside it, there's a trunk. Inside the trunk is a body.

Magda is the caretaker of Whimbrel Estate which functions as a museum to Floridian poet Isobel Reyes. Magda is a bit obsessed with Isobel. Even though a major hurricane - like "storm of the century" major - is heading towards Florida, she refuses to leave the Key West home. She wasn't planning to come down with the flu nor does she has the provisions for two unexpected visitors. Something didn't feel right about the man and his stepdaughter, but Magda knows him as he's a local handyman and she really can't turn them away during the storm.

I loved Magda, even though her obsession kind of bugged me. But she is a really great character.

The plot was terrific. The suspense was perfect - will they survive? kept me turning the page. And the mystery of bones in the trunk was intriguing. Altogether I didn't want to put the book down. I was bummed when my phone battery ran down and I had to wait for it to recharge to get back to the story (I really wish the Netgalley app was available on more devices).

I don't usually like listening to suspense/thrillers as audiobooks as I usually get distracted and miss key points of the plot. But this audiobook was really well down. Nancy Peterson did a great job as the narrator. The cast is small so it wasn't difficult at all following the story.

I highly recommend this book.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Friday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2021/12/3-suspenseful-books-to-read.html

Really enjoyed this one!

The description (which discusses someone preserving a historical house that belonged to a poet) would not normally interest me, but this cover is AWESOME and I love a good storm story so I gave it a go....and I'm so glad I did!

The characters were good and the story jumps right in! I will say that I did see the twist that you get about half way through coming from the beginning, but the way the story is set during a major storm and how that plays out in such an old house makes for a very compelling read.

I definitely look forward to more from this author!

I'm not retelling the synopsis or giving spoilers. This is classified a mystery/thriller, and in my opinion it is written for Young Adults at best. I listened to the audio and am exhausted mentally. I didn't like the characters. I did like the idea of the House being loved by the historian. However, the dialogue, the hurricane plans, and survival was juvenile. In addition, there is profanity. I did like the narrator's voice, but not for this book.

While the storyline sounded good, it didn't work for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to read and review The Bone Cay.

#NetGalley
#DreamscapeMedia
#TheBoneCay
#ElizaNellums
#NarratorNancyPeterson
#MysteryThriller

5 stars for Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums. Narrated by Nancy Peterson who did an excellent job. I chose to listen to this book on audio and I’m so glad I did. The novel is built around a historian who is obsessed about this dead author. She’s made it her life’s work restoring and sharing everything she knows about this historical site.
If you don’t love history you might not enjoy this as much as I did but the writing is good with great suspense and mystery. I loved learning about Isobel and the place she lived. The story gets really interesting when the weather turned bad. I highly recommend listening to this and hope you put this on your TBR list.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via Netgalley. #TheBoneCay #NetGalley

A hurricane is coming, but Magda cannot leave. She has to stay and protect her life's work- preserving the estate of Whimbrel Estate, home of tragic poet Isobel Reyes. Soon the storm reveals long buried secrets and brings danger, too. Will she, and the estate, survive?

This started out slow for me. So slow that I contemplated DNFing it. You get a lot of historical facts about a fictional poet. Way too many facts. But, I was given an ARC for review, and I try to honor my commitments, so I persevered.

It did get better, but I found it predictable. Overall, it was just pretty "meh" for me.

I listened to the audio version. For the most part, it was fine, but I could regularly hear the narrator swallowing, and it kind of annoyed me. That was another factor in my DNF debate.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Fun. Weird and unbelievable at times? Interesting nonetheless. It wasn’t super suspenseful or edgy or anything like that, but I did enjoy it. I really liked the focus on poetry and literary history too. This was a quick and fun little story.

Pro: the narrator; I felt like I was on the house tour at the beginning of the book; Magda's determination/persistence; Magda's relationship with the teen girl during the storm

Con: not much really happens/limited action (it is a short book, so I guess it's understandable); the paranormal aspect seems sort of tossed in {see my blog post for a mild spoiler (hidden)]

I liked the writing well enough that I've added the author's previous book to my TBR list. I appreciate that—I have a hard time keeping my pipeline full.

Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Publication is expected December 7.

3.66 stars

Magda is the historian of Whimbrel Estates, the Florida home of a poet who died of a suicide more than a decade ago. Now there is a hurricane barreling towards them and an evacuation order is in effect. However, since this house has withstood more than a decade of storms she is pretty sure she will be able to stay. She sets out to package and move as many of the treasures as she can to ensure they are safe. There are also lemurs on the property that need to be saved. What Magda finds is a cistern uncovered by the storm and a steamer trunk. In the midst of the storm a boat finds its why to them with a man and his pregnant daughter in need of shelter and medical attention. So many twists and turns and with the hurricane definitely being a character all on its own. This one took place over only five days but they were action packed days.

This was an exciting new author for me. I really enjoyed the setting and characters. I loved how the story combined the past and present to solve a long hidden secret and ultimately save our heroine. I gave it 4stars.

I enjoyed listening to this book on audio. I really liked the feeling of exploring a dark history about a beloved poet. I can actually totally understand the main characters’ absolute obsession with her favorite poet and preserving her legacy and history. It was also thrilling to listen to the progression of the storm and how the main character desperately responded to it. I just couldn’t believe the other parts of the story and felt that they convoluted the main theme of the book. Got a little weird for me and I would have liked the story so much more without those characters added to it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to review this audiobook!

Thank you #Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of The Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums in exchange for an honest review. My best friend loves Florida and books that take place there. I have never really thought about it, one way or the other, but am trying to see why she likes it. When I saw this audiobook took place in the Keys, I thought I would give it a shot. This was a very exciting and interesting story. There was the story of Isabel Reyes and the historian who was fascinated by her. When a hurricane comes in and unexpected guests, danger and intrigue, I found I couldn't stop listening, I listened to almost the whole book in a day.

First thanks to #Netgalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book. The main character Magda has spent the past decade working on a historical estate in the Florida keys where a poet from the early 20th century lived and reportedly committed suicide. The fright of the pending - and then active hurricane and her desire to protect the grounds is palpable. It all did have a bit of an obsessive feel to it though.

It was when Nate and his pregnant teenage daughter show up that the story takes a twist.

The author did lose me with the obsessiveness - oh and the sex scene but I will say they chose a great narrator for this project. She kept me engaged in the story.

The Bone Cay
Eliza Nellums
Magda Trudell is a botanist, historian, and the caretaker of Whimbrel Estate in Key West. The estate is the former residence of poet Isobel Reyes and is now a museum. Isobel was reported to have committed suicide at the estate in 1918. Magda was obsessed with the poetry and life of Isobel. As the caretaker she has spent years restoring the home.
The governor has declared a state wide mandatory evacuation because a category 4 hurricane is headed straight for Key West but Magda refuses to abandon the museum; she is sure the governor didn’t mean her. The storm is fierce and dangerous. Magda hunkers down with her supplies to ride out the storm. Both fire and flood endanger the museum; Magda is knocked out by an electrical shock and the hurricane takes most of her resources before the house begins to fall down around her. She discovers an old trunk in the cistern, inside is what is left of a woman’s body. Determined to save the trunk and evidence Magda moves the trunk to a safer place. She wonders if there is more to Isobel’s story than she realized. A boat makes its way to shore in the midst of the storm, its passengers a father and his pregnant teenage daughter. Something just didn’t seem to ring true about the couple.
Magda is the main character; she has baggage. Throughout the book she seemed to relate to Isobel. I wondered if Magda wasn’t more than a little nuts. While Isobel died many years ago it felt as if she was a character in this tale. Isobel was small; she was deaf and didn’t speak. Her father kept her home on the island; he taught her to read and had control of her life. The father and pregnant daughter play a large part in this story, but I won’t spoil that for anyone.

This novel has so many different appealing aspects. The main character is a scholar who gives such convincing details about the subject of her scholarship that I wondered if this was actual history. Details of Key West, where I often visited, were also compelling. Surviving a hurricane and dealing with other death threats made it a suspenseful thriller. Thanks to #NetGalley and #Dreamscapes for the copy of the audible book. I enjoyed the story and the narrator.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audiobook.

This was a rather enjoyable quick read. I liked the historical back ground, and there were some suspenseful moments that pulled me in. I thought the narrator did a great job as well.

The Bone Cay is a story of survival in more ways than one. I thought the book was well thought out and presented but I wish there was a little more action to the story. Magda, the caretaker of the estate, would randomly rattle off facts about the house during the weirdest times (even during a sex scene). I enjoyed the narrator (Nancy Peterson) and she was probably the reason I continued to listen to the end. The big plot twist with the visitors is what bumped it to a 3.5 for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review!

The Bone Cay
by Eliza Nellums

Very haunting story about a museum curator not only trying to save her charge and the history that comes out in a hurricane. She is followed by ghosts, and a local carpenter who has a tremendous secret. Drawn to a repellant tension, the book brings the reader through the trials and tribulation of the characters in the tremendous storm. The book has a lot of history of the Florida Keys, and authors that began in the region, from Hemingway to the romantic poets.
The narrator brings a lot of drama to the story. Making it even more haunting.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is different from many of the books I have read, it includes a historical aspect while still being a thriller/horror type work. While many of the bigger aspects and events in the book are well throught out, I felt this book drug on with all the historical facts the main character blurts out during most times of the dialog. There is a cringeworthy sex scene that is horrific and becomes even more horrific thinking back on it as the book goes on. I didn't love this book but its not the worst book I have read either.