The Bone Garden - Tess Gerritsen

Julia Hamill is digging in her new garden in Boston when she comes across the skeleton of a woman who seems to have been murdered and dumped over 100 years previously. Curious as to the past of her new home, Julia is contacted by the previous owners cousin who has letters dating back to the 1880's which might give clues as to the identity of the mystery woman buried in her garden. Its in the 1830's that we find ourselves for most of the book, looking in at the life of a young medical student called Norris Marshall, a farmers boy who has to obtain payment for his course through gruesome means - by becoming a "resurrectionist" - digging up ...  Read the complete review

Tess Gerritsen is a doctor, an anthropologist, and now an extremely successful novelist. She has, to date, specialised in crime and forensic fiction in the present day. This novel marks a change from her previous style, with no real lead character and a historical setting. Whether or not she has successfully made this transition, I'm not sure at all. I think the first thing to establish is that the novel is set both in the present (by the discovery of long forgotten letters and documents from the 1830s) and in the 1830s (as we see the events described in the documents unfold). In the present day, Julia Hammill uncovers the remains of a ...  Read the complete review

The Bone Garden is a break from Gerritsen's usual style of writing, and her first one-off book for a number of years. There is no Rizzoli, and although Dr Maura Isles makes a brief appearance it is just that, brief! If you are a fan of the duo and this was your reason for purchase, you could be disappointed. I found the change refreshing, and it demonstrated new depths of skill in Gerritsen's writing. I'm not generally a fan of historical type novels, but Gerritsen has slipped nicely into the genre giving it her own unique edge. The book mainly takes place in Boston in the 1830s with occasional jumps back to the present day. The main horror and ...  Read the complete review

The Bone Garden is a gripping read and a fast paced sometimes gory medical drama. Two stories intertwine throughout the book one set in present day Boston where the discovery of an old skull in a garden provides a welcome mystery for the house's new owner particularly when she find that the skull belongs to a young woman from over 100 years ago. The other story transports you back to 1830s Boston where the notorious serial killer, the West End Reaper, had a rein of terror preying on medical students. This story focuses on Norris Marshall a poor medical student who has to turn his hand to shady dealings to further his studies. How are these stories linked and what are the ...  Read the complete review