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Tall Bones

Tall Bones

The engrossing, hauntingly beautiful Sunday Times bestseller

Summary

'Wonderfully haunting' JANE HARPER, author of The Dry

'Extremely well written, fantastic' HARRIET TYCE, author of Blood Orange

'Conjuring up... Twin Peaks and Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects' Stylist

'Spellbinding.... a stunning debut' Woman & Home

'Irresistible' PAULA HAWKINS, author of The Girl on the Train

'Clever, twisting' FRANCINE TOON, author of Pine

'A nuanced thriller that will haunt you long after you race through its pages' Grazia

'One of the most exciting debuts of the year' Sunday Express
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When Emma leaves her friend Abi at a party in the woods, she believes that their lives are just beginning. Many things will happen that night, beneath the stark beauty of the stars, but Emma will never see her friend again.

But what happens next in Whistling Ridge is so much more than the story of a missing girl.


It's a spellbinding story that will keep you guessing, a story of surprises and secrets, regrets and rage, love and lies. Abi's disappearance cracks open the façade of this small town, peeling away the layers of its past. Even within Abi's own family there are questions to be asked - of the older brother whom Abi betrayed, of the shining younger sibling who hides his wounds, of her mother and her father - both in thrall to the fiery preacher who has an unsettling grasp on the whole town. And then there is Rat, the outsider, whose exciting presence is a catalyst for change.

Anything could happen in a tinder-box like Whistling Ridge. All it will take is just one spark...the truth of what happened that night at the Tall Bones. Beautifully written, arresting, and constantly surprising, TALL BONES is a gripping read from a stunning new voice.
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READERS AND REVIEWERS praise TALL BONES:

'A striking first novel' Observer

'Fast-paced and moving' Literary Review

'Will haunt you long after you race through its pages' Grazia (Book of the Month)

'A compulsive literary crime-drama' Culturefly

'Bailey writes like a dream' Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths

'Brilliant, could not put it down' Katie Fford

'One of my all-time favourite reads' Goodreads

'I loved this book from the very first line' Goodreads

Reviews

  • Beautifully written and very moving, this is an assured debut.
    Laura Wilson, GUARDIAN

About the author

Anna Bailey

Anna Bailey is a Sunday Times bestselling author from Gloucestershire. Their debut novel, Tall Bones, inspired by their experiences living in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, was nominated for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year and Goldsboro Glass Bell awards, as well as the Prix Nouvelles Voix du Polar. Their short stories, based on their travels through rural America, have been dramatised for BBC Radio 4, including ‘Long Way to Come For a Sip of Water’, which was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. They live in Bordeaux with their wife.
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