Old Bones Lie by Marion Todd

Old Bones Lie by Marion Todd
Publisher: Canelo Crime
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

DI Clare Mackay is about to face a test of her loyalty…
When a report comes in that a van containing two prison officers and a convicted jewel thief is missing, the police in St Andrews work quickly to locate the vehicle. Their efforts prove in vain when no trace is found and they realise the wives of both officers also appear to have left the area. Is this a case of corrupt guards springing a felon, or innocent people caught in the crossfire?

DI Clare Mackay leads the team but has to do without her right hand man; DS Chris West is a cousin to one of the missing prison officers and must not be involved in the case. With a new sergeant at her side plus a previously unencountered DCI, Clare’s people skills are pushed to the limit. Especially once she realises her boss is keeping her on the sidelines. Just what is it that Clare doesn’t know? And if she has to choose between keeping secrets from a friend, or letting slip something that could see a culprit go free, which path will she take?

DI Clare Mackay is racing the clock trying to find a missing prison van with two guards and a seemingly escaped convicted jewel thief. When it quickly becomes apparent the wives of the two missing guards are also nowhere to be found, the question is asked were the guards complicit in the escaped man – or are they innocent men caught in a terrifying crossfire. Without her right-hand man – DS Chris is the cousin to one of the guards, and with both a new partner, new DCI and new team members Clare has her plate full.

I found this to be an interesting and well-paced police procedural style of mystery/suspense novel. I feel it stands very well alone, and while a number of the team members have been working cohesively together for a while now, there are a number of new characters introduced here and so I don’t feel readers will feel like they need any of the previous books to thoroughly enjoy this novel. I also feel the author did a good job helping this story feel fresh without casting too much tension or an unbelievable amount of conflict into the story. Adding new characters and changing the team’s dynamic like this certainly to my mind helped keep everything feeling fresh and different.

I also really appreciated the complexity to the plot. There were two to three main investigations interweaving throughout the whole story and working out what was linked and what was independent kept me on my toes for much of the story. Tension and emotions were also running high – with one of the prison guards being a well-loved cousin to a long-standing team member and with the new characters not immediately being transparent there were plenty of questions and double-guessing going on for me personally. This helped keep the complexity of the plots high to my mind and I enjoyed trying to unravel everything.

Each of the main plotlines had a solid and thorough explanation and conclusion – so readers who detest cliff hangers or “find out more next book” shouldn’t find anything here to annoy them. I also enjoyed how while Clare’s personal relationship with their previous DCI is still ongoing and was continued in this book at no stage did I feel it detracted or overshadowed the police investigations or the main plotlines. I thought the author balanced all these elements really well and I found it an excellent and enjoyable read.

Readers looking for a solid, well-paced and cleverly plotted Scottish police procedural story should definitely give this book a try. While all the books in this series are good this can easily be read by itself, and I feel it’s an good addition to the “tartan noir” Scottish based mystery/suspense genre.