Silent Bones by Val McDermid

Cover of Silent Bones shows disturbed earth in the foreground and a view of Edinburgh Castle and a clock tower in the background against a hazy yellow sky.Grove Atlantic
December 2, 2025
Reviewed by Barbara Fister

Karen Pirie and her small team of cold case detectives have their plates full. First, an angry New Zealander accuses the Scottish police of botching an investigation into the death of his brother, who broke his neck falling down a steep stone staircase on his way home from his job managing a hotel. He believes his brother was pushed. Then bones turn up when a storm washes out a portion of a road, revealing a skeleton. When DNA determines they are the remains of a journalist who was accused of murdering his pregnant wife before he disappeared, the case becomes another murder investigation for the Historic Crimes unit.

Continue readingSilent Bones by Val McDermid”