Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh – Dual Review

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Description:
My mother vanished ten years ago.
So did a quarter of a million dollars in cash.
Thief. Bitch. Criminal.
Now, she’s back.
Her bones clothed in scarlet silk.

When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband.

But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that’s housed the same influential families for decades.

The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago.

Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he’s determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance…but no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.

Even the dead aren’t allowed to break the rules in this cul-de-sac.

Barb’s Review:
Quiet in her Bones by Nalini Singh is a standalone mystery thriller. Aarav Rai, our hero, is a well-known famous author who writes thrillers.  10 years ago, his mother disappeared, as well as a quarter of million in cash; and he has never gotten over his mother leaving him.   Aarav, who was 16 years old at the time of her disappearance, continues to have nightmares of that night; he goes to two doctors for his multiple issues with a broken foot, as well as a brain injury that causes him confusion. To his shock, a body was discovered in the nearby forest area of the elite area for the rich where he lives.  Turns out the body (totally in bones) was his mother, wearing the same clothes from that night; which means she never left the family, but was murdered.

The story revolves around Aarav, as he is determined to find the truth of what really happened.  Even though he is the hero in this story, he is very much fragmented, with his physical and mental issues (memory loss, delusions, forgetfulness, etc), causing confusion as to what is real.  Aarav loved his mother, though despite her love for him, she was a passionate, but hard women who drank and cheated; which is not surprise as the father was the worst of them, equally hated by wife, son, and all the cul de sac neighbors.  Who killed Nina and why, especially with many people being suspects?

Aarav becomes obsessed with solving the crime, questioning everything he remembered from that night years ago, and questioning all the neighbors who were possible suspects. There were so many twists and turns along the way, that at times was riveting and holding our breaths; but also confusing with all the mind games.  I will say for the most part, I did not care for most of the characters, as they were difficult, with only a select few being nice.  I did like Shanti, Par, Lily and Diana; the detectives on the case were good.  Aarav was a good hero, but his issues were really wacked out, making me question what was a dream or real.

What follows is an exciting, challenging mystery that was changing the game quite often.  I can’t say too much more, as it would be spoilers and that would ruin it for you.  Nalini Singh created a mindboggling mystery that held our attention throughout.  If you like mystery thrillers, I suggest you read, Quiet in her Bones.

Sandy’s Review:QUIET IN HER BONES by Nalini Singh is a stand alone, contemporary, adult thriller focusing on the potential murder of socialite Nina Rai.

Told from first person perspective Aarav Rai (Nina’s son) using present day and memories from the past, QUIET IN HER BONES follows ten years after the disappearance of Aarav’s mother, a disappearance under mysterious circumstances in the wake of his parents’ numerous affairs. Aarav was only sixteen years old when his mother went missing from their family home. A late night fight between his parents saw Aarav’s beloved mother leave, never to return until, ten year later, a search crew found her remains, along with her car, buried deep within a ravine now covered in branches and leaves. A now famous mystery author whose only book became a number one best seller turned movie, Aarav begins an investigation of his own only to realize that everyone was suspect including his father and himself.

Aarav Rai’s life is spiralling out of control. An accident that left our hero recovering at the family home finds Aarav suspicious of everyone and everything, bordering of paranoia, psychosis, heart break and pain but as Aarav’s search for the truth begins to reveal a disturbing possibility, there may have been more to his mother’s disappearance than anyone could have ever imagined.

QUIET IN HER BONES is a slow building, intricate and complex story line of mystery and suspense. The Rai family live in a well-to-do Cul-de-Sac where infidelity is rampant, and secret and lies are the order of the day. Similar in feel to Peyton Place, and former American prime time television series Knot’s Landing, and Desperate Housewives, QUIET IN HER BONES reveals the soap-operaesque lifestyle of the rich and famous whose scandalous lives are fodder for gossip and lies.

The back and forth between present day and memories is a little difficult to navigate at times as there is no delineation between the present and the past, often addressed within the context of the same paragraph. The slow build reveals a mosaic of possible suspects, their lives, their loves, their secrets and sins.

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