The body of a young woman and her unborn child are found on a construction site. Clara Jefferies is determined to discover the woman’s identity but finds herself with several missing women case files. Which one could this be?
The Blessed Bones is the third crime thriller in the Clara Jefferies series from author Kathryn Casey. I have previously reviewed the other books in the series: The Fallen Girls and Her Final Prayer.
Clara continues to face resentment from the polygamous community she rejected. Her family situation worsens as her mother suffers a stroke. Clara is such a likeable character, struggling to deal with her past and in this book she confronts it head on yet again. On a happier note, her relationship with Max seems stronger than ever despite their traumatic pasts.
The case itself is nasty and emotional as it deals with vulnerable pregnant women and their unborn children. As well as Clara’s first person perspective, we see chapters which show young Violet as she approaches the birth of her child. She is particularly scared as her friends at the shelter disppear after their births.
In a side plot, Clara is investigating old cases of potential physical and sexual abuse amongst the community she left. The animosity towards her is virulent and the misogyny and power play is very unpleasant to witness.
I really enjoyed the style of writing and the use of both Clara’s first person and the third person other viewpoints is really effective for conveying the plot. The narrative twists and turns as she uncovers clues, and Clara is a fab character that we want to succeed in her personal and professional lives.
The Blessed Bones was thoroughly engaging and had me hooked from start to finish.
The Blessed Bones book description:
She could hear nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat. It was dark and the rough ground scraped against her as she tried to move. Being alone was strange to her—she was so used to her big family, to the noise, the warmth, but the last thing she wanted was for the woman to return…
When Detective Clara Jefferies returned home to Alber, Utah, she knew it would take a long time to convince the closed community to trust her. So she is surprised to be called to private land up in the mountains, until she hears that the bones of a young girl have been found. And hidden in the dark depths of the grave are the remains of a baby too…
Digging into the town’s missing persons files, Clara is shocked to discover that pregnant girls have been going missing for years. And when she spots Ash Crawford, the first cop on the scene, praying over the bodies, she begins to suspect that he knows more about the victim than he’s letting on.
With Crawford staying silent, and the identity of the girl still unknown, Clara’s only choice is to visit every family living on the mountaintop, desperate to find what they might be hiding. But doing so means facing the man she was once bound to, and the tall iron gates of the ranch she ran away from all those years ago.
Then another pregnant girl is reported missing, and Clara ramps up her search, racing to find her alive. But can she uncover the town’s dark secrets in time to save both the girl and her unborn child?
A heart-pounding crime thriller that twists and turns like a rollercoaster, leaving you on the edge of your seat. Readers of Lisa Regan, Linda Castillo and Kendra Elliot will be completely addicted.
Author Bio:
A novelist and award-winning journalist, Kathryn Casey is the author of eleven highly acclaimed true crime books and the creator of the Sarah Armstrong mystery series. Library Journal picked THE KILLING STORM as one of the best mysteries of 2010. Her latest true crime, IN PLAIN SIGHT, investigates the Kaufman County prosecutor murders, a case that made worldwide headlines. Casey has appeared on Oprah, 20/20, the Today Show, Good Morning America, the Biography Channel, Reelz, The Travel Network, Investigation Discovery, and many other venues. Ann Rule called Casey “one of the best in the true crime genre.”
