White Bones: an absolutely gripping and gritty Katie Maguire thriller, the first in the unmissable must-read series for 2024 (Katie Maguire, #1)

by Graham Masterton

READ THE THRILLER THAT LAUNCHED THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING SERIES

Eleven bodies. One grave.

On a wet, windswept morning, a field on a desolate farm gives up the dismembered bones of eleven women. They have been buried there since 1915, their skeletons bearing the marks of a meticulous butcher.

Then a young woman goes missing. When her remains are found soon after, police are horrified to discover the bones were carefully stripped before being arranged in an arcane pattern.

With the crimes of the past echoing in the present, DS Katie Maguire must solve a decades-old murder steeped in ancient legend before this terrifying killer strikes again…

Perfect for fans of Peter James, CJ Tudor and Chris Carter, White Bones is part of the darkly original million-copy-bestselling DS Katie Maguire thriller series, which can be read in any order.

'One of this country's most exciting crime novelists.' Daily Mail

Also in the DS KATIE MAGUIRE series

#1 White Bones
#2 Broken Angels
#3 Red Light
#4 Taken for Dead
#5 Blood Sisters
#6 Buried
#7 Living Death
#8 Dead Girls Dancing
#9 Dead Men Whistling
#10 Begging to Die
#11 The Last Drop of Blood
# 12 Pay Back the Devil

Why readers love Katie Maguire...

'A tough and gritty thriller.' Irish Independent
‘A natural storyteller.' New York Journal of Books
'Any fan of mysteries should grab this book.' Irish Examiner
'Books in this series and they never fail to entertain.' Reader review *****
'A fierce read with a plot that feels topical.' Reader review *****
'Devastatingly brilliant...Brilliant, exhilarating writing.' Reader review ****
'Riveted from start to finish.' Reader review ****
'A first class detection novel.' Reader review ****
'Amazing, the man is a genius.' Reader review ****

• ISBN10: 1781852162
• ISBN13: 9781781852163
• Publish Date: 29 August 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 4 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Head of Zeus
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

All of the shivers I both do and don't want to find out if it's based in real magical tradition but overall it's creepy as all get out.
 
When the extension to a barn means that bodies are found, well skeletons, and all the bodies are dismembered and have dolls threaded through the leg bones. They date back to the early 20th Century. Then more remains are found, modern remains and they can't discount ritual.
 
The investigator is Detective Katie Maguire, a garda based in Cork and whose marriage is floundering and life is crumbling and things are only going to get worse.
 
Oh man, that was complicated and messy and I found it quite horrific, but I also found the attitude to the main female character was a bit un-modern, while I know it can be hard to be in charge while female this was set in this decade and it felt earlier.
 
very creepy and plausible.