The Bone Jar (Detective Lew Kirby, #1)

by S W Kane

Shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger Award

Two murders. An abandoned asylum. Will a mysterious former patient help untangle the dark truth?

The body of an elderly woman has been found in the bowels of a derelict asylum on the banks of the Thames. As Detective Lew Kirby and his partner begin their investigation, another body is discovered in the river nearby. How are the two murders connected?

Before long, the secrets of Blackwater Asylum begin to reveal themselves. There are rumours about underground bunkers and secret rooms, unspeakable psychological experimentation, and a dark force that haunts the ruins, trying to pull back in all those who attempt to escape. Urban explorer Connie Darke, whose sister died in a freak accident at the asylum, is determined to help Lew expose its grisly past. Meanwhile Lew discovers a devastating family secret that threatens to turn his life upside down.

As his world crumbles around him, Lew must put the pieces of the puzzle together to keep the killer from striking again. Only an eccentric former patient really knows the truth—but will he reveal it to Lew before it’s too late?

• ISBN10: 1542018870
• ISBN13: 9781542018876
• Publish Date: 1 July 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Thomas & Mercer
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 334
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Detective Lew Kirby is called to the Blackwater Asylum when the guard discovers the body of an elderly woman in the Keats ward of the abandoned asylum. Situated on the banks of the Thames River the asylum has long been abandoned. It was rumored to have underground bunkers and secret rooms. In its heyday, unspeakable psychological experimentation took place. Some say a dark force haunts the ruins.

When another body turns up along the river Detective Kirby will need to decide if the bodies are connected and why they were murdered.

I loved the abandoned asylum and the sinister atmosphere. Kane paired the setting with an interesting cast of characters.

We have DI Lew Kirby and his partner Pete Anderson who are under pressure from a developer to wrap the case up. Then we have Connie Darke, an urban explorer whose sister died on the grounds of the asylum. Then there is Raymond, an ex-patient who lives in the old caretakers cottage. We get to know each and all were developed and intriguing.

Raymond and Connie are secondary characters who became vital to the case and whenever they appeared in a scene the tension increased. I do hope they are permanently woven into the series.

This was not an easy case but slowly DI Kirby and Anderson piece together the clues and made the necessary connections. Twists, unexpected ties and complications kept me listening. The atmospheric setting of the abandoned asylum added to the overall suspense as we uncovered leads and facts. With each discover the danger mounted.

The audio narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies, enhanced the tale with unique voices, tone and pacing. His voice run true for the voice of DI Kirby and his female voices rang true.

This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Inkslinger]

ARC provided by Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing and S.W. Kane via Random Things Tours. All opinions are mine and freely given.

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07-02: 'The Bone Jar' by S.W. Kane is the first book in the Detective Lew Kirby series, a story that circles around the discovery of an elderly woman's body in an abandoned asylum on the banks of the Thames. As DI Kirby and his partner start digging into the details of the woman's death, a second body turns up in the river nearby.

Secrets begin to unfold regarding hidden rooms, secret experimentation, and the legends that places like Blackwater Asylum so often develop.. that there's a force about them. Ghosts of the past. Or at least, an inescapable vortex that seems to draw others to their doom.

When Kirby meets with Connie Darke, an urban explorer whose sister died in an unexplained accident on the asylum grounds, his queries spur her own obsessions with the truth and she grows determined to help him find answers.

There are several questionable characters that pop up throughout the investigation, some of them tight-lipped and severe.. others wild and brash. Each one is richly portrayed, their distinctive quirks making them easy to keep track of even with a wide suspect pool.

To start with.. there's Raymond Sweet, the former resident of the asylum who ends up living on the property for decades after it closes. He's an unusual man, but he seems almost sweet in his strange way. There's the hot shot developer who ends up losing Sweets plot of land to him via squatters rights litigation, the missing urban explorer whose cell phone is found at the scene of the crime, the heir to Marsh House just in from Perth, the daughter of the deceased who is more than a little rough around the edges, and plenty of others.

Nearly everyone has secrets they're keeping, some of which are devastating and not all of them even relate to the case. In fact, while Kirby is trying to track down the killer, he's fielding calls from his parents about something his mom has been hiding. Admittedly, I found her reveal a little odd, but the story was still great.

I loved the dark, gritty setting. The description of the property throughout the book is so vividly stark. The asylum has stood on the grounds for years and it feels as if its affected almost everything within its reach.

Kane did a fantastic job of balancing character and story development with well-paced scenes filled with action or suspense. It's definitely worth the read.

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