My Sister's Bones: 'Rivals The Girl on the Train as a compulsive read' Guardian

by Nuala Ellwood

'RIVALS THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN AS A COMPULSIVE READ' The Guardian

The compelling thriller about the secrets even those closest to us keep, which readers are calling 'SHOCKING' 'RIVETING' and 'HAUNTING'.

If you can't trust your sister, then who can you trust?

Kate Rafter has spent her life running from her past. But when her mother dies, she's forced to return to Herne Bay - a place her sister Sally never left.

But something isn't right in the old family home. On her first night Kate is woken by terrifying screams. And then she sees a shadowy figure in the garden . . .

Who is crying for help?
What does it have to do with Kate's past?
And why does no one - not even her sister - believe her?

*****

'A twisty psychological thriller. I raced through it in one sitting!' Lucy Atkins, author of The Other Child

'Wow . . . creeps slowly up your spine, grips you round the throat and doesn't let you go! ' Amazon reviewer

'My Sister's Bones is a tense, atmospheric, deliciously dark story' Amanda Jennings, author of In Her Wake

'Well-written . . . an elegant, punchy thriller with a dark heart' Observer Thriller of the Month

• ISBN10: 0241977274
• ISBN13: 9780241977279
• Publish Date: 9 February 2017 (first published 1 November 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 7 April 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

My Sister’s Bones is one of the twistiest books I’ve read this year! The plot above really doesn’t give much away, and neither does the book. It very much keeps its cards close to its chest. And the surprise reveal with only a little way to go was genuinely shocking, because in all the events leading up to it, you’re kind of convinced Kate is cuckoo. It all adds up – she’s suffered severe stress/trauma during her time as a journalist, and you kinda feel it’s all boiled up to the point where she’s seeing things that aren’t really there.

It was honestly impossible to see where the book would go next and there’s a few pretty surprising twists and turns that you won’t see coming. The book is told in three parts, and I was never sure what was coming next. Would Kate truly unravel to the point of no return? Was she ACTUALLY seeing a little boy? Would her sister Sally ever be anything but a drunk mess? It was so hard to trust Kate’s narrative, though, because you know she’s suffered lots and lots of trauma, and with everyone around her questioning her – even the police! – you kinda get to thinking that she must be untrustworthy, it must all be in her head. But you keep reading anyway because the narrative was so gripping.

My Sister’s Bones is definitely one of the most surprising, shocking books I’ve read. I didn’t see the ending coming, I didn’t expect it to pan out that way at all, and you know when you think you know a character and then it’s like you didn’t know them at all? That’s the scariest part. Nuala wrote her characters SO WELL, so convincingly! And you just kind of have to back up and wonder if there were signs, if you missed something? It was the greatest fake-out in the history of fake-outs. Nuala Ellwood is a cracking writer, she had me for a good’un.