Syd Walker is back, this time searching for a missing tribe teenager. When she stumbles into a dig site and finds the remains of a female from long ago, her world will dive deep into privilege and money. A society built on lies and desperate for funds, Syd will join their cause only to get Intel on the missing girl. Her loyalty to the tribe will be tested when the remains go missing. What follows will be a high speed chase to find out what really happened to the missing women.

I really enjoy Syd as a character. She's a little broken and stretching herself very thin. She values family and work. Syd is thrown into a group with cult like ideals. This was a great second, I look forward to seeing where the series goes if it continues. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy.

Absolutely wild ride in the best way. Fast-paced, thought-provoking, and completely unpredictable. Will be telling others to read it for sure.

4 skeletal stars

This is the sequel to “Blood Sister,” both written by Indigenous author Vanessa Lillie. The books feature a Native archaeologist, Syd Walker, who works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Syd is called in as some skeletal bones have been stolen from a summer camp. There’s also a missing Native girl, and the authorities have stopped looking. Syd has had luck finding missing girls before.

Syd finds herself amid a country club environment, where early colonist families are still involved in the area where the Narragansett Indians originally lived in Rhode Island. They call themselves the Founders Society. While drawn to the idea of preserving and celebrating Native culture, the Founders have questionable means of doing business.

As Syd investigates both crimes, she’s also trying to spend time with her wife Mal, who is about to have their first child. Luna, a childhood friend from book #1, and her daughter also live with them. Things are a bit complicated at their house!

Syd has to fight against wealth and privilege to help search for the missing woman and the missing bones. This one was a fascinating read, and I enjoyed the cultural learning.

Loved this one!

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of The Bone Thief, and wow, this book completely pulled me in. The writing is sharp and engaging, and the pacing kept me turning pages late into the night. It’s part mystery, part thriller, and all-around gripping.

What really stood out to me, though, was how much I learned while reading. The story dives into Native culture and history in a way that felt natural and eye-opening. I appreciated how Vanessa wove real issues into the plot without it ever feeling heavy-handed or out of place.

Normally, I can see where a book is headed, but this ending genuinely surprised me, in the best way. It was smart, satisfying, and made me want to go back and reread some earlier moments with fresh eyes.

The main character, Syd, is a strong female character who stands up for what she believes in, and given our current landscape right now, I found myself particularly drawn to and inspired by this fearless energy. I loved following her through all the twists and turns. The mix of suspense, emotion, and cultural depth made this more than just a fast-paced thriller, it really stayed with me.

Highly recommend picking this one up when it comes out in the fall!

The Bone Thief brings us back to into the life of BIA agent Syd Walker, months later from where we left her with Lillie's prior book in the series "Blood Sisters". Once again, Lillie brings us a story that is intense and fast-paced, each moment building in a way that makes the reader want to keep going to find out what comes next.

This novel is a tense and heavy read, bringing to the fore the exploitation of indigenous people by white colonizers who view them as a commodity instead of a community of people. Throughout the book, the mystery weaves together intricate twists and turns, and it easily kept my attention rapt to the pages.

It is also a credit to Lillie that you can read this novel without having read the prior book. She writes enough to cover the events of the first book without making it feel like a drag to someone who has already read it. (However, you should read the first book. It was great. I binged the audiobook in a day.)

I am thrilled that Syd got another book, and I am hoping for many more.

This book started off with an intriguing premise, Indigenous remains have been unearthed and the owners of the property claims legal ownership. We meet our heroine, a Cherokee BIA worker, who we hope will save the day. Lots of history and modern day issues are addressed. And then we are told the owners of the land are part of a "Founders" organization that is trying to create a museum to save their failing club.
Very quickly the story becomes a tale of a weird group of cultish leaders, crazy cover-ups, unbelievable coincidences, murders, blackmail plots, baby-stealing plans, and worse.
I read to the end, and the story just became more and more chaotic, in a very bad way. I felt that this story could have been much better, and interesting had the author not decided to put forth such an unbelievable plot in such a confusing, disconnected way. So disappointed!

As part of Vanessa Lillie's "traveling ARC program," I was thrilled when it was my turn to receive the ARC, so thrilled that I didn't wait for it to arrive, but downloaded it from Netgalley. As much as I liked BLOOD SISTERS, i enjoyed this one much more. Loved the way Vanessa wove history into the story, which was educational for me. Found this to be a fast-paced well well-researched story that kept me turning the pages as fast as I could. Syd's character has grown, and I hope we can look forward to another book featuring her and her family.

Thank you Berekly and Vanessa Lillie for including me in this traveling ARC program!

“Sharing the past is important, but it should be led by the people who carry that history forward and are living it today.”

“Nature has never been the enemy. The bumps in the night are from man.”

“Stolen land. Stolen people. Stolen remains. Unhealed, the echo never stops.”

Well hell. Vanessa Lillie knows how to pack an emotional punch.

I live in a city that has deep indigenous history - before we were colonized, we were called Kenozia (place of the pike) by the Potawatomi. I feel fortunate because this history was always told alongside settler history. Growing up, I knew I was walking on stolen land, and because of this, I always wondered what my feet were wandering over. I always wondered who walked before me, what lives they lived, what made them laugh. Traveling through Wisconsin always makes me ruminate on whose land and heritage it once belonged to. What it would be if it still did. It’s humbling, to say the least.

I had the privilege of taking part in the traveling ARC program for The Bone Thief, and I’d be a liar if I said the thought of this book traveling through places that once belonged to indigenous populations didn’t make me emotional. Because woof. It did. The Bone Thief made me straight up emotional, made me want to press it firmly to my chest and keep it there. I feel like I didn’t breathe the last 100 pages. I was tight with tension, my throat heavy with emotion, my heart pounding. I fell hard in love for Blood Sisters, and I’m so thankful that Vanessa Lillie packed even more heart and soul into The Bone Thief.

My favorite thing about reading is learning. I love walking in someone else’s shoes and honing my empathy. I love learning about the history and heritage of people whose voices have been silenced. The Bone Thief provides this and more. I really hope we get to meet Syd Walker again, because she has a special place in my heart.

Although this book involved a mystery within a Native American landscape - two areas I usually lap up, this one was problematic for me.
A few times it was the writing which need to be honed for a better fit, but I really thought the book was just too much. Too many people to keep track of (especially with names with the same beginning letter - a trap for me), too many agencies clamoring for control over the situations.
I was never sure who was wearing the white hats and who wore the black ones.
I never take more than 2 weeks to read my primary book. I'm glad it's over.

This was my first book by author Vanessa Lili, and this book is actually a sequel to her first book called Blood Sister. Although I had not read Blood Sisters, I can say that this book can be read as a stand alone. That being said, I think reading Blood Sisters first would enhance the readers experience of this story. When I first started reading The Bone Thief, there was some background information that was not clear and I found I was slightly confused but soon enough the author gives enough info that I understood the premise of the first book without the author having to go into too much info for those readers who had read the first book, smart writing and the author gets point in my book for that!

This is a story of a BIA indigenous anthropologist who has some background trauma she is dealing with while trying to solve a mystery and possible murder navigating tribal and non tribal lands. Topics include tribal jurisdiction limitations, and the misappropriation of indigenous remains and funerary objects which is a significant and relevant issue still today highlighting how important it is for universities and museums to return what the author beautiful describes as the indigenous tribes personal “belongings.” The connection to missing and murdered indigenous women and girls is also relevant to today’s indigenous population and adds another layer of complexity to this story.

These indigenous topics and the twist and turns in this thriller/mystery story would make a great bookclub pick to discuss. If you enjoyed Angeline Boulley’s Fire Keepers Daughter or Warrior Girl Unearthed, Nick Medina’s Sisters of the Lost Nation or The Hatak Witches by Devon A. Mihesuha then I think you will enjoy this book

Thank you to BookBrowse, NetGalley, and Berkeley for this advanced copy for my honest review.
I would also like to thank the Author Vanessa Lili for another incredible story giving her present tribal members and their ancestors a voice.

A great book. I hadn’t read a book like this one before. However, it is a great tread. I heard about this book in bookbrowse.

In the second instalment of the Syd Walker series, Lillie shines a light on the unjustness that continues to affect many Native Americans. This story explores the history against the deeply rooted traditions all while delving into the extremely important issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women. To say that Lillie's work and her voice is important is an understatement, and I hope this series continues.

I really enjoyed The Bone Thief. It is well written and I loved getting some history in the story. The characters were well developed.. I will be reading more from Vanessa Lillie.

In The Bone Thief the author addresses several important issues - 1)the ongoing issue of missing indigenous women who have disappeared and the fact that the police don't spend time looking for them and there is no justice for these women and 2)white people who misappropriate Indian items from the past. She does an excellent job of making these two issues important parts of the story along with providing a real page turning mystery.

Syd Walker is an archaeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Rhode Island near the reservation of the Narragansett tribe. When she receives a call that some newly discovered skeletal remains have been stolen from a local summer camp, she begins an investigation and finds that Indian artifacts have gone missing in this area for years. At the same time she learns that a Native teen girl has disappeared near the camp and the police refuse to investigate. Syd learns about the Founders Society, an exclusive club whose members trace their lineage to the first colonists and claim ancestral rights to the land, despite fierce objections from the local tribal community. There is a lot of bad blood between the local Indian tribe and the Founders club who believes that any artifacts from the area (which is tribal land) belongs to the club. Who is responsible for the missing artifacts and is there a connection between the stolen items and the disappearance of the local teen?

There are a lot of characters in this book and a lot of intermingled plots but the end result is a mystery that will keep the reader turning pages. There was also a lot of information about Indian customs and how the tribes have been treated for centuries. I enjoyed the story line and also enjoyed learning more about the history of indigenous people and the way that many of them are still being treated today.

I read The Blood Sisters when it was first published but plan to read it again and then read The Bone Thief again. I think that I missed some crucial connections. My opinion is that you should read the two books in order to get maximum enjoyment from The Bone Thief. I highly recommend both books.

Trust No One
Everyone is a suspect and there are as many suspects as crimes committed. This story has a lot of moving parts and a few too many characters, most of which had similar one-syllable shortened names, that made it difficult to keep the good guys separate from the bad guys. The main character was just TOO complicated to be likable.
It reminds me of a cake recipe that has a long list of ingredients that don't all necessarily need to be added to the cake mix to enhance the flavor or texture to make it more palatable. Sometimes less is more…

Thank you to Vanessa Lillie and Berkley for this advanced reading copy.

After reading Blood Sisters (and absolutely loving it), I was so excited to read The Bone Thief and even more excited to participate in Vanessa's traveling ARC program as a team captain. This was action packed with Syd Walker as our main character again. I loved getting to see her character take shape from Blood Sisters to The Bone Thief. She's such a strong protagonist and I really hope we get to see more of her (as well as more of Mal, Luna, and Gracie)!

One of my favorite things about this novel is the passion you can feel in the writing. Vanessa has done so much research to bring the horrible truths to light about how Indigenous people have been treated and continue to be treated (please make sure to read her author's note). I truly learned so much without feeling like I was being lectured but instead reading a thriller woven with facts placed just right to propel the story forward. Vanessa is also a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and really brings her knowledge and passion for injustice to the forefront of this novel while also creating a story that kept me intrigued and glued to my seat until I was done.

Long story short - preorder preorder preorder! It comes out in October and you're going to want to read this. In the meantime, if you haven't read Blood Sisters... now is a great time to pick it up!! The Bone Thief can be read as a standalone (eh, maybe?) but I highly recommend reading Blood Sisters before because it really gives you a sense of Syd Walker's character as well as a few other characters mentioned and their background stories.

The Bone Thief by Vanessa Lillie
This is the second book of the Syd Walker series. Unfortunately, I did not realize that when I read it, so my rating may be lower because of that. While it is a stand alone, there is a lot about the character and her past, that comes into play in this book that I feel would make the book a 5 rather than the 4 I’m giving it. However the novel is an extremely unique thriller that deals with Native Americans and issues that they face. While giving a bit of history, a bit of politics, there is still a fun mystery intertwined, as well as, a bit of a love story. Not all authors can juggle this many plot lines, but Lillie does it and does it well. The writing is strong, characters well drawn, and there is a delightful sense of spookiness and magic that is weaved in. My only issue besides not having read book 1 is that some of the plot lines seemed a bit over the top, but then I read her notes at the back and most of the rituals, and other things I thought were too much actually happened! Many thanks to Bookbrowse.com, NetGalley.com and Penguin Random House for the ARC for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up
This book was one of my highly anticipated novels for 2025, and I was so happy to receive an advanced reader copy via BookBrowse and Berkley/NetGalley.

Blood Sisters was an excellent reading experience for me, and The Bone Thief was very good, but I still loved Blood Sisters even more. We join our MC Syd Walker, archaeologist with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as she delves into another mystery involving a missing girl, and stolen bones on the Narragansett tribal land in Rhode Island. The mystery is detailed, twisty and involves a lot of characters.
I did love how the story unfolded, but I admit at times I got confused about what was going on as some events were happening quickly and not completely fleshed out.
There is no doubt I will continue to read anything Lillie writes and hope to continue following Syd and all her friends and family in their adventures.

This book is part history and part mystery. I found it sad to see how selfish and self righteous ancestors of early settlers still are. Why do they believe they have the right to steel Native American relics, bones and personal items. A young Native girl goes missing, the remains (bones and beaded moccasins) of a mother and her baby uncovered and taken. During the search for both a strange society with odd rituals around the supposed power of relics is uncovered- wealthy old men looking for a thrill. Well written, good characters, and very engaging. Sad to be reminded of how terribly we treated those who were here first.

Another great entry in this series, and important to keep telling these stories. The character building was good, setting the reader up for many more challenges and adventures in the series ahead.