Forgotten Bones (Dead Remaining, #1)

by Vivian Barz

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a ChapterI received this book for free from Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.





Once I heard the words "cold case" when reading the pitch for Forgotten Bones by Vivian Barz I was in. I can't tell you how glad I am that I read this book. It took no time at all to fall into this one.

The first chapter opens with a sighting of a little boy in denim overalls and a car crash. From there I was hooked and needed to know who this little boy was! Susan Marlan responded to the scene of the car accident and while putting everything back to rights they find the body of a little boy. And that's just the start of it.

I really enjoyed Susan's character. She is determined to do right by her small town and as a police officer wants to see this investigation through. I think she supported Eric well. I can't tell you how happy I was to see one of the two main characters representing debilitating mental illness but leading a life that was full with his mental illness managed. I think it really shows that even if someone has a mental illness that it doesn't mean game over.

I think Barz did an amazing job with weaving the mental illness into the story. Not once did she come across as condescending or insensitive. I really enjoyed Eric's character and thought that he was doing remarkably well in his current life situation.

The mystery didn't really catch me in an "Ah ha!" moment in this story. I certainly wasn't shocked when everything came to light but the mystery was handled well and I think the reveal was well done.

I enjoyed Forgotten Bones by Vivian Barz a lot. When I finished it, I hoped that there would be more to the series. I see on GoodReads that it is marked as first in a series but no other books listed in the series. Fingers crossed that changes soon!