Anna Bailey is certainly an author to keep your eye on because Tall Bones is her debut novel and outstanding! Whistling Ridge is a small American town that seems to have a foot planted in the past and where its people follow the word of the preacher more than that of the law. Abi, a teenager, was missing and her best friend had no intention of giving up finding out what had happened to her the night she watched her walk into the woods. There is a lot of characters, but amongst them were the core performers that stayed individual for me in the story. All had the role that life had dealt them within their families. Abi’s home was not one to be envied, with a father that excused his unrelenting cruelty with quotes from the bible. All sanctioned and encouraged by the priest of the town. I loved the cover of this book which summed this place up as anything but Godly. The story meanders from the present day and the hunt for Abi as the weeks begin to increase since she disappeared without a trace, and back to the events leading up to her disappearance. The toll is heavy on her family not knowing where she could be. It is a heart-breaking story of prejudice, abuse of leadership power and manipulation. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I would like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

This a a phenomenal debut. It is essentially about outsiders in a small town. One of the best books I have read so far this year

Loved the characters and the story. A wonderful read.

This novel explores the deep secrets and subtle relationships that simultaneously hold together and tear apart the small community of Whistling Ridge, Colorado. Reviewers might easily describe the town as claustrophobic but oppressive would be more accurate; the young are oppressed by their parents, the women by their men, the men by the only real employer – the mill owner, the town by the fire and brimstone Pastor. The term “Redneck” is never used in the book but would be an accurate description. Some might call this a murder-mystery, the mystery being that we don’t know for sure that there has been a murder. Equally it could be called a psychological thriller but it isn’t really a thriller. It is a meticulous, almost forensic, analysis of the neuroses of the main characters. At first it appears to be all about the disappearance of Abigail Blake and the effect this has on her friends but, as it explores the family background of each of these, it unearths guilty connections and a deep seated history of coercion and violence, which has caused profound psychological damage to everyone of them. This is a debut novel but there is no evidence of this in the plotting or language. The writing is powerful and the characters are all well drawn and act in a believable way, consistent with their roles. Anna Bailey has set herself an extremely high standard and I look forward to reading her next novel. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Thank you to the publishers who sent me this lovely early review copy, I had heard so much about this already... not publishing until April 2021 (do suggest a pre order) and already everyone is talking about it! So very simply this book is the best debut I have ever read, if you had asked me to guess how many books this author had already written, how long they had been writing for... well I'm afraid to say that I would not have guessed anywhere near correctly. So brilliantly written, fantastically written characters (I happen to think any of them was worthy of being the lead character). Great setting for the novel, very much pulling on people's limited views of life. Excellent plot, such depth to this book. Even with an incredibly hectic day yesterday, I couldn't help but grab a chapter or two with every spare moment. So I certainly recommend you get this pre ordered, otherwise come April you are going to be missing out on all the conversations. But be warned, once you start to read this, it will take over your head so be prepared to carry it everywhere until you finish it. One final note, Dear Anna Bailey, whatever you are writing next - I am more than ready to read it first... (I can either beg or sharpen my elbows to reach the front of the queue).