book cover of Tall Bones
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Tall Bones

(2021)
(Where the Truth Lies)
A novel by

 
 
Awards
2022 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award (longlist)
2022 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year (shortlist)

'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
________________________________________________

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.
______________________________________

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

Genre: Mystery

Praise for this book

"A terrific debut about guilt, secrets and complex family dynamics... Anna Bailey is definitely one to watch." - Lucy Atkins

"Smart and compassionate, full of poetry and rage and shy hopes and shredded dreams and missing girls and family secrets and the dark, shameful underbelly of small town life." - Tammy Cohen

"Brilliant! Could not put it down. It's utterly gripping and beautifully written." - Katie Fforde

"Anna Bailey writes like a dream about teenage love and lust, the terror of knowledge and the claustrophobia of families and of small towns.Tall Bones is as brutal, as bittersweet, as tender and as tense as first love itself." - Emma Flint

"Chilling and compulsive. Tall Bones is a dazzling debut." - Kate Hamer

"With Tall Bones, Anna Bailey bursts onto the scene with a wonderfully haunting debut. Small-town intrigue, exquisitely drawn." - Jane Harper

"Anna Bailey's debut is irresistible, a compelling and nuanced psychological thriller suffused with small town prejudice and dark family secrets." - Paula Hawkins

"Tall Bones is as atmospheric as it gets - a stunning debut that delivers on every level." - Renée Knight

"Gripping and so beautifully written Tall Bones is spellbinding; dark and menacing, but also so full of love and hope. I loved it. I cried." - Cressida McLaughlin

"A clever, twisting debut, about the dark side of small town America. It is packed with secrets like firecrackers ready to ignite." - Francine Toon

"Tall Bones brilliantly conjures up the oppressive claustrophobia of the small town... Extremely well written... fantastic." - Harriet Tyce

"An intricate and compelling thriller, beautifully nuanced and wonderfully claustrophobic. Brilliant." - S J Watson


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