The Bone Garden

by Tess Gerritsen

Julia Hamill is gardening one afternoon in rural Massachusetts when her spade strikes something soft and unyielding - not a rock but a human skull.

Medical examiner Maura Isles quickly determines that the skeleton - that of a woman - dates back to the early 1800s.'But too much time has passed,' Maura warns Julia. 'We may never know the whole story of how she died.'

Boston in the 1830s is a place of disease and pestilence - and no one is more aware of this than Norris Marshall, a student at Harvard Medical School who is forced to support himself by performing the most secretive job of all.

Norris is a resurrectionist - a body-snatcher - who procures cadavers from grave robbers in order to further his study of human anatomy. Soon he finds himself hunting the most notorious killer of his time, a shadowy figure who flits through graveyards and glittering ballrooms.

What he does not realize is that the killer is far closer than he thinks ...

• ISBN10: 0345497600
• ISBN13: 9780345497604
• Publish Date: 18 September 2007 (first published 1 January 2007)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ballantine Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 370
• Language: English

Reviews

[ibeforem]

The historical part of this book was great, despite the West End Reaper being heavily based on Jack the Ripper. I really enjoyed the story of Rose and Norris, despite its sad end. However, the present day stuff wasn’t really needed. I feel like Gerritsen really wanted to write historical fiction, but she was afraid it wouldn’t grab her usual readers so she had to throw these present day ties in. I could have done without Julia altogether.