Dry Bones in the Valley

'A tough, edgy thriller ... readers are going to love this. I wish like hell that my name were on the cover.' Wiley Cash, New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2014 Gold Dagger for This Dark Road to Mercy
WINNER of the LA Times Book Award - Thriller/Mystery
WINNER of the Edgar Best First Novel
Longlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

When an elderly recluse discovers a corpse on his land, Officer Henry Farrell follows the investigation to strange places in the countryside, and into the depths of his own frayed soul.

In Wild Thyme, Pennsylvania, secrets and feuds go back generations. The lone policeman in a small township on the sparse northern border, Henry Farrell expected to spend his mornings hunting and fishing, his evenings playing old-time music. Instead, he has watched the dual encroachment of fracking companies and drug dealers bring money and troubles to the area. As a second body turns up, Henry's search for the killer opens old wounds and dredges up ancient crimes which some people desperately want to keep hidden.

With vivid characters and flawless pacing, Tom Bouman immerses readers in this changing landscape. In these derelict woods, full of whitetail deer and history, the hunt is on...

Genre: Mystery

"This novel is so precise, so delicate, that I feared turning its pages too quickly may cause the beautiful language to float off the page. But don t be fooled by its precision; this is a tough, edgy thriller that asks hard questions about the destruction of our environment, our local communities, and our families. No smoke is being blown here: readers of smart literary thrillers are going to love this novel. All that to say this: I wish like hell that my name were on the cover of Dry Bones in the Valley." - Wiley Cash

"Officer Henry Farrell is a shy man, but in his own ways just as ornery and tough as the cast of rugged characters who inhabit his Pennsylvania woods, where the mysteries are as old as love and grief. A rural cop with a keen intelligence and a wounded heart, Henry's the right man to unearth the secrets of Dry Bones in the Valley. Tom Bouman's debut novel is one you won't want to miss." - Ed Falco

"So smooth it's as if it was written on spring water. Shadowy, swift, impossible to put down. I was enraptured. Any justice and this writer will soon be a major star." - Joe R Lansdale

"It's a mystery, yes, but it's also a love story between a man and the land and people he knows like the back of his hand. Dry Bones in the Valley is a gorgeous, lived-in novel, and Bouman's turns of phrase are chest-clutching in their beauty." - Hannah Pittard

"Tom Bouman is a remarkable new voice in contemporary fiction. Dry Bones in the Valley is a tightly crafted piece of rural noir that seems pulled from the earth itself, a profound look at the dark corners of rural America. Readers of Daniel Woodrell and Donald Ray Pollock will find much to love." - Steve Weddle