2022 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award (longlist)
2022 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year (shortlist)
A teenaged girl’s disappearance brings her community’s most devastating secrets to light in this ���compelling and nuanced psychological thriller suffused with small town prejudice and dark family secrets” (Paula Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author) that is perfect for fans of Megan Miranda and Celeste Ng.
The town of Whistling Ridge guards its secrets.
When seventeen-year-old Abigail Blake disappears after a party, her best friend Emma is left with questions no one else can answer. The police initially believe Abi ran away, but Emma doesn’t believe that her friend would leave without her, and when disturbing evidence is discovered nearby, the festering secrets and longstanding resentment of both Abigail���s family and the people of Whistling Ridge begin to surface with devastating consequences.
Among those secrets: Abi’s older brother’s passionate, dangerous love for a handsome Romanian immigrant who has recently made his home in the town’s trailer park; her younger brother’s feeling that he knows information he should tell the police, if only he could put it into words; her father’s mercurial rages and her mother’s silence. Then there is the rest of Whistling Ridge, where a charismatic preacher advocates for God with language that mirrors violence, all under the sway of the powerful businessman who rules the town.
But Abi has secrets of her own, and the closer Emma grows to unraveling them, the further she feels from her friend. And in a tinderbox of small-town rage, all it will take is just one spark—the truth of what really happened that night—to change their community forever in this “intricate and compelling thriller, beautifully nuanced and wonderfully claustrophobic�� (S.J. Watson, New York Times bestselling author).
Genre: Mystery
The town of Whistling Ridge guards its secrets.
When seventeen-year-old Abigail Blake disappears after a party, her best friend Emma is left with questions no one else can answer. The police initially believe Abi ran away, but Emma doesn’t believe that her friend would leave without her, and when disturbing evidence is discovered nearby, the festering secrets and longstanding resentment of both Abigail���s family and the people of Whistling Ridge begin to surface with devastating consequences.
Among those secrets: Abi’s older brother’s passionate, dangerous love for a handsome Romanian immigrant who has recently made his home in the town’s trailer park; her younger brother’s feeling that he knows information he should tell the police, if only he could put it into words; her father’s mercurial rages and her mother’s silence. Then there is the rest of Whistling Ridge, where a charismatic preacher advocates for God with language that mirrors violence, all under the sway of the powerful businessman who rules the town.
But Abi has secrets of her own, and the closer Emma grows to unraveling them, the further she feels from her friend. And in a tinderbox of small-town rage, all it will take is just one spark—the truth of what really happened that night—to change their community forever in this “intricate and compelling thriller, beautifully nuanced and wonderfully claustrophobic�� (S.J. Watson, New York Times bestselling author).
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
"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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