Fractured Truth by Susan Furlong

Fractured Truth (A Bone Gap Travellers Novel, #2) (Bone Gap Travellers Mystery, #2) (Bone Gap Travellers Novel, A)

by Susan Furlong

When the mutilated remains of a young woman are found in an Appalachian Mountain cave, newly sworn-in deputy sheriff Brynn Callahan is forced to track down a killer driven by twisted motives . . .  
 
Not long after donning the uniform of the McCreary County Sheriff's department in Bone Gap, Tennessee, ex-Marine Brynn Callahan faces her first official homicide. On a cold February morning, a lone cross-country skier stumbles across the mutilated body of a young woman. Sent to investigate, Brynn is shocked when she recognizes the victim as a fellow Traveller, Maura Keene.
 
Maura held a solid standing both within the Travellers’ insular community and among the settled townspeople—a fact that makes her murder all the more disturbing to Brynn, who also straddles the two worlds.  After her trained K-9, Wilco, digs up human bones, and then a scrap of paper scrawled with arcane Latin phrases is uncovered, Brynn finds evidence leading her to question those closest to her—and closing the case becomes a deeply personal matter.
 
While trying to suppress local superstitions and prejudices, Brynn discovers that Maura was keeping a dangerous secret. And as the bones Wilco found are analyzed by forensics, Brynn harbors the troubling suspicion that she knows who they belong to. Still struggling with PTSD, Brynn must put her career on the line and her life at risk to find justice for a woman not unlike herself—haunted by her past, and caught in a vicious cycle she may never escape . . .

Reviewed by Melanie on

5 of 5 stars

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4.5 stars

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

This is the second book in the Bone Gap Travellers series. Brynn is a former Marine, who was discharged after being hit by an IED. She was released from active duty with her human remains detection dog, Wilco, who was also injured (he lost his hearing and a leg). So, Brynn is back with her family, who are Travellers or Pavees.

Brynn struggles not only with her PTSD, but also with coming back to living in Bone Gap with all the other Pavees. She is looked on as an outsider because she is half “settled” (which is what they call people who aren’t part of their culture) and her mother left her. She was raised by her grandmother and grandfather. When her marriage was arranged, which is typical for their culture, she ran off and joined the military. But now she’s back and she has joined the settled police department. Again, pushing her on the outside of her group.

In this story, Brynn and the police are investing the death of a young Pavee girl. Her death looks like it was sacrificed in a Satanic ritual. As per most police protocol, they start to look at the people who knew the victim, which in this case are Pavees. Pavess aren’t known for their love of law enforcement. They feel like Brynn is betraying her own by looking into them.

This is a fun, interesting police mystery that adds a bit of a different cultural aspect to it. You can also add in the stress of PTSD and substance control issues to the story as well. I really love the time I spend in Bone Gap.

Narration
I love Amy Landon’s narration. It was her narration that caught my eye when I grabbed the first book. She does a great job with the narration of this book. I really enjoy her Pavee accent (though I have no idea how correct it is, but sounds really good to me). She also has to narrate a large male cast, which she does with ease. The females have great voices too. She also did a really great job with Brynn as she was really struggling in this book. Great work. If you haven’t tried Amy Landon, you really should give her a try.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 19 December, 2018: Finished reading
  • 19 December, 2018: Reviewed