The Dark Bones by Loreth Anne White is a mystery shrouded with suspense, and a little bit of past romances. Detective Sergeant Rebecca North is back in her hometown to solve the mystery surrounding her father's death, retired cop Noah North. It is believed her father committed suicide, but she knows in her heart that isn't true, even though it's been years since she's returned home to visit him. The investigation is even more difficult due to a lantern falling over causing the house to catch fire before North is even discovered destroying what little evidence they had.
Rebecca needs help from Ash Haagen, her past love interest who holds secrets of his own...but is also the last person to possibly see North alive. It is discovered Noah North was reopening a cold case from twenty years prior, involving two missing teens, missing cash, and Ash somehow in the middle of it all. When a cold blooded killer resurfaces, what will Rebecca uncover that brings to light a 20 year old cold case, and her father's unlikely suicide?

I enjoyed this book. It was well written, the descriptions within the story really make you see and feel the surroundings. The characters are well defined, they are dark, secretive, and they secrete that small town feel. There is a lot going on in this book...the past and present are melded together, but in a way that is easy to follow and understand, well done by the author! The mystery and suspense will keep you wanting more until the very last pages, and it doesn't disappoint.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Montlake Romance and Loreth Anne White for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. It is a must read for the springtime, you will not be sorry.

When Detective Rebecca North left her rural hometown, she vowed never to return. Her father’s apparent suicide has changed that. The official report is that retired cop Noah North shot himself, knocked over a lantern, and set his isolated cabin ablaze. But Rebecca cannot believe he killed himself.
She sets out to solve the mystery but to do so she has to deal with her old flame Ash and eventually the mystery leads back to an old missing person mystery. Ash may have the answers to both but is he willing to rake up the past?
I really enjoyed this book, the characters were strong and the mystery was engaging. I look forward to reading more from Loreth Anne White.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

AMAZING!! Wow I wanted to read this novel again and again and again. I need more novels from Loreth Anne White, seriously y'all do yourself a favor and read this! Oh my goodness it kept me guessing until the very end I couldn't believe it! It literally had everything you would want in a novel, romance, thrills, suspense and more! A must read.

A fast paced thriller with surprises. I liked the main character and all of the characters had depth.

The Dark Bones is the second in the A Dark Lure series. Sargent Rebecca North receives a phone call from her retired detective father one day, claiming that he'd discovered some evidence in a cold case that possibly involved Rebecca's first love, Ash. Knowing her father was heavy into drinking and conspiracy theories, she sort of blew him off at the time. Shortly after his call, her father is found inside his burned cabin apparently the victim of suicide. Rebecca comes home and things just don't seem right. She decides to launch her own investigation in to the case her father had been looking into and into her father's apparent suicide. Along the way she uncovers layers and layers of deceit among the small town where she grew up. She is determined to prove that her father was on to something big and didn't take his own life, but was murdered to keep him from finding the whole truth about the disappearance of two teens 20 years ago.

The Dark Bones starts immediately with excitement and doesn't stop until the end. White does jump from the present to 20 years ago a few times. The list of characters is quite large, but I felt it kept me from thinking I knew 'who done it' right away and I love when that happens. We also heard from a few characters that were in the first book in the series, which is always nice.

Very exciting story and I will definitely be looking for book three.

I think this is a great book and completely loved reading it. It had a mixture of thriller, mystery and a bite of a love story to it. Rebecca goes home to close up all the final details for her father's death, a home she hadn't been to since she left right after high school broken hearted. When she sees what's left of the house and her father's death she knows something isn't right and she's a cop so she knows a few things about crime scenes. It's a small town so when she starts snooping around certain people get upset and that's when trouble starts. I loved reading the detective work and her logic on what she gets from talking to people it was very interesting where as some books can make a book drag with to much information this book was perfect. The who-done-it also kept me going cause everytime I thought I had it something else came out to change who it could be. The love story is awesome and heartbreaking and I would have never of guessed the reason for the heartbreak which made it great. The ending blow me away it was perfect. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a book that will engross them all the way to the end. Definitely a five thumbs up.
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
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This was a well-written story, part two in a series, but that didn't deter me! Detective Rebecca North is called from her hometown with the news that her father, a retired cop, has committed suicide. Although she swore she would never return, she cannot believe her dad would ever kill himself and decides to do her own investigation. She calls on her old boyfriend, Ash, the man who drove her away, to help her track down what she now believes is cold-blooded murder. The story is well paced with lots of interesting characters. I think I'll go back and read the first novel in the series now! Thank you #netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

I am a huge fan of this author - as well as this series. The first book was one of the best I have read - the second did not fail to impress. The suspense was great throughout, sometimes it was little lengthy. The build up and the finish was fantastic - excellent ending and total shock.
I loved the characters - the complexity of past events as well as relationships. I also enjoyed the continuation of characters from the first book.
Overall great read and highly recommend.

Rebecca and Ash have a history so complicated they can't even speak to one another, and trust for Rebecca is a frightening undertaking. When her Father kills himself she has to return home, and she walks into more secrets and rumors than she can imagine. It is hard for her to tell if anyone or anything is as it seems. An unholy alliance with Ash may be the only way to find the truth, and perhaps stay alive. A really great suspense filled book with rich characters and a pace that keeps you completely rapt.

Detective Rebecca North said she would never go home. There was just to much heartbreaks, to much sadness. But when she got the call that her father had committed suicide she knew that was not possible. So begins the search for answers.
The Dark Bones is the first book I have read by Loreth Anne White. It’s book 2 in the Dark Lure series. Even though I hadn’t read the first book I loved this book. It’s got some of everything action,mystery, suspense and romance.
It’s a 5 star read for me.

Thank you to #Netgalley, #LorethAnneWhite and #MontlakeRomance for my copy.

Rebecca North returns to her hometown to bury her father after his apparent suicide. She finds it difficult to believe that he killed himself and begins to conduct her own investigation into his death. Prior to his death he had been re-examining a cold case of two missing teens that he had never been able to solve while he was a Royal Canadian Mounty. The past and present collide as Rebecca follows in her father’s footsteps in her investigation of his death.

This book grabs your attention within the first chapter and never lets it go until the end. I didn’t realize that this book was the second in a series, but not having read the first book didn’t take away any of my enjoyment. Now I want to go back and read the first book because this one was so good.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/33898560-lisa-bensley
Her books are hard to put down. A Dark Lure was one of my favorite books by her, if my favorite, so I was thrilled to see she’d come out with a sequel. However, you don’t need to read the first one to think the second is a great book (though I’d highly recommend picking up both!).
White does suspense so well. She keeps you guessing the whole way through, and even if you think you know what’s going to happen... you don’t! There’s always great twists and turns. She also paints a beautiful picture of the desolate areas where the stories take place. Can’t recommend her books enough

This is the first romantic suspense/mystery novel since White's Angie Pallorino trilogy, and I was intensely curious to see what one of her books would be like after that compelling series. The mystery and suspense writing is solid and as strong as it was in her previous series. The individual character development and romance was, alas, not quite as strong though, which dampened some of my enthusiasm. While the Pallorino series allowed readers to know Angie and see her develop over the course of several books, The Dark Bones takes off immediately with a rather shocking opening that never really lets up enough to allow readers to get to know Rebecca or Ash on a very deep level.

I do, however, think that because of Loreth Anne White, I am developing a real love for cold cases as a specific subgenre in mystery writing. Cold cases function so well to create unrest and instability in a community, and given the focus on a small rural town here, the sense of impending doom permeates the entire story of this claustrophobic society. Every character is potentially a suspect (even the investigator and main character Rebecca at one point), everyone has secrets, and all of the secrets from the past threaten nearly everyone's relationships with family, friends, lovers, and neighbors. No one is safe in this book from the revelations, and when they come, they are grim. The secrets also feel all too realistic.

Some of the hidden events and revelations I guessed in advance and some were a genuine surprise, but I did wonder if the discoveries would be overwhelmingly destructive to everyone's life once they came to light in such a way that the pieces of life couldn't be put back together. It reminds me of the doom that overshadowed the haunting TV show, Twin Peaks, back in the day, and like that wonderful series, the setting of the Pacific Northwest creates a very specific atmosphere and flavor that really enhances the entire book. The answer is that tawdry and horrifying revelations end up being healing to many, though I do wish there had been more time at the end for reflection on how a town moves forward after surviving so much.

Gripping storytelling from start to finish with lots of intriguing details on the art of predator tracking, extreme hunting, and even Karelian Bear Dogs (a fascinating detail and much welcome addition to the novel that I took the time to look up!).

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Winter in northern Canada is unforgiving. There are multiple stories that intersect when RCMP Sgt. Rebecca North returns to her home town to bury her father and investigate his death. Although the official verdict was suicide, she finds this hard to believe and follows the clues to discover the truth. In her search, she uncovers "The Dark Bones" which link to her father's previously unsolved case.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the description of the isolation and difficulties of living in such a remote, forbidding area.. The author takes you through the process of unraveling the current case and connecting it to the past. I would be interested in reading other books by Loreth Anne White.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this book!

I loved this one. The characters were well developed and I grew an attachment to them as the story went on. The story telling in this book had me wanting more, I do not enjoy heavily detailed novels and this one had the perfect amount of detail to be believable but not oversaturated.

I would definitely recommend this read!
Thank you again for the chance to read it!

Absolutely loved this book! The characters were interesting, well developed believable and fallible. The story catches you from the first page and each chapter invites you to continue to read in a way that is not overly descriptive or too wordy. Unlike other books I've read recently the ending tied together well, made sense and left me wanting to read the next book. Great job Loreth White! Your story telling left me wanting more and I will be back to read the other books as well. Thanks for the early copy Netgalley!

I really enjoyed this action-packed book! I did read the first book in the series, A Dark Lure, but if you choose to skip that one before reading The Dark Bones you won't be completely lost (there are some references to the history of Olivia West, which was the focus of book 1). Both books were enjoyable, though, so why not read both?!

Loreth Anne White did a really nice job with the characters, especially Ash, Becca North's ex-boyfriend for whom she still has unresolved feelings. Ash is handsome, rugged, and mysterious - Becca knows he's hiding something and she tries her hardest to get him to open up to her as she tries to get to the bottom of a 20 year old cold case that keeps circling back to Ash as a primary suspect.

This book kept me hooked with the near constant action. I do hope that there will be a third book in the series!

Thank you to Montlake Romance and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

Wow. I had not originally been aware that this was the second book in a series. Upon realizing that, I went back and read the first book in the series, The Dark Lure. I was unprepared how deeply I would be sucked into the world that Loreth Anne White created for this set of books. I found myself angry with the characters behavior at times, championing their strides towards happiness and on edge about who were the guilty parties. This was a "keep you up all night" read and I eagerly await how she might tie in yet another mystery and crime into this small, remote town.

The Dark Bones – Loreth Anne White

I was fortunate to receive this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an objective review.

Sargeant Rebecca North is getting ready to testify in a big case in Ottawa, when she receives call from her father retired Corporal Noah North. Sounding somewhat intoxicated, he mentions a cold case, missing papers, being followed, and wanting to know what really happened one fateful night in Becca’s past. The next call she receives is that notifying her of her father’s apparent suicide, and of a fire that burned his homestead to the ground.

Grief stricken, and consumed with guilt, Rebecca returns home to Cariboo County, and the town that she once called home. As she views the burned out homestead, she makes a discovery – snowmobile tracks leading away from the scene. No longer convinced her father’s death was a suicide, Becca begins to investigate, and soon reunites with her high school love and neighbor, Ash Haugen.

But word travels fast in a small town, and soon Becca finds herself mired in a case from long ago – that of two teens who reportedly took a bus to Los Angeles but have never been seen or heard from again – and Becca begins to believe that may have never left at all. And someone will do anything to keep those secrets hidden…

I LOVED THIS BOOK! This is my first read from author Loreth Anne White, but it will not be my last. Full of intrigue, drama and nail-biting suspense, this book kept me up long into the night, with twists, turns and surprises that even this well-read mystery buff did not see coming!! A great read! Highly recommend!! I hope to see more of these characters in future novels!

I started reading books by Loreth Anne White a few years ago and fell in love with her Angie Pallorino series. Some of you may be familiar with those. The Dark Bones is the second book in a new series, A Dark Lure, and I actually didn’t realize that until after I finished the book. Obviously it didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the first book since I thought it was a stand-alone. It is fantastic!

When Detective Rebecca North left her rural Canadian hometown, she vowed never to return. A call from her drunken father made her nervous, a follow up call notifying her of his apparent suicide brought her home. However, “Becca” is not content with the suicide findings. Her father may have been a drunk, but he was not suicidal. Despite what she believes, the town, including all of the “officials,” seem hell-bent on making sure his death is classified as a murder. Becca is determined to find out what her father was doing before he died, who he was with and why the townspeople are behaving so strangely and to give her father the proper RCMP burial he deserves.

The Dark Bones swept me up in its saga from the very beginning – the frantic phone call, the alleged suicide, teens accidently setting fire to cabin – there is so much action in the beginning that it was difficult not to get carried away in the drama. But this is more than just a thriller. There are multiple storylines for several families. A few story lines that I know now harken back to the first book which are resolved in this book – don’t worry, you will either appreciate the closure or enjoy the independent story on its own . Becca has unresolved issues from her high school years that led to her fleeing the town. There are underlying issues of drug trading, which sadly afflicts all rural small towns and there are stories of abuse – physical and mental – which were undetected for years. There is a lot going on in this book but it is handled with care, deftly written and marvelously crafted. There are tiers and folds to this story, each waiting for you to pull back their coverings so that they can reveal their mysteries to you. Mystery, romance, murder and more – you cannot ask for a better story than this.

Thank you to #Netgalley, #LorethAnneWhite and #MontlakeRomance for my copy of #TheDarkBones available May 21,2019.