The Bone Jar is a complex, chilling and an atmospheric police procedural by S W Kane. London is in the grips of one of the worst snowstorms for decades. When the body of an elderly woman is discovered in an abandoned asylum, scheduled for demolition, the police soon realise that this case isn’t going to be easy to solve. But who could have murdered someone so vulnerable? As they speak to people who knew the murdered woman, including her family, they uncover conflicting accounts about her. Was she a saint, or was she evil? Who held such a bad grudge against her that they wanted to see her dead?

The old asylum, Blackwater, which becomes the scene of the crime, gave the book a very haunting feeling. With the discovery of the body, it seemed to me that there were many undiscovered secrets about the place. Although the setting is near enough abandoned, there is one man who still lives there, who managed to claim squatter’s rights. Raymond Sweet is a former patient, but he isn’t willing to leave the area, even though he has been offered a handsome sum of money by the developers to do so. I wanted to know what he knew about the place, and it’s past. What went on when Raymond was a patient there? Did he know anything about the murdered woman? Raymond also has a secret which he is keen to protect at all costs.

As the plot developed, I became more and more intrigued about the woman, especially when dark secrets about her past were revealed. I was never able to guess how the plot was going to unfold and S W Kane built up the tension really well as the book came to a close.

I also really liked the two main characters. DI Lew Kirby is the detective working on the case, and I thought his character was well developed. He has a love for old cars but hates the police-issue Corsa he drives. Even his mother calls it a ‘student car.’ S W Kane also introduces us to Connie, an urban explorer who has a keen interest in the asylum. Both Connie and Lew are two really engaging characters who I would like to see explored further.

I have heard that The Bone Jar is the first book in a new trilogy and I’m excited to read what S W Kane has in store for us next. I highly recommend this book.

The Bone Jar is the debut from new author S.W. Kane and is an intriguing start to hopefully a new series.

Starring 2 protagonists, rather than focusing on the Detective, this book introduces the kinda cool detective Lew Kirby and urban explorer (new to me) Connie Darke.

When an elderly woman is found dead in an abandoned asylum, Kirby and likeable partner Pete Anderson investigate and find Connie Darke is inexplicably linked to the derelict site.

With a property developer waiting to build on the site and a old patient still inhabiting an old building there are no lack of suspects..

The creepy atmospheric setting is done very well by Kane and almost gets under your skin in an unassuming quietly disturbing way.

There are some great characters in this book, Raymond Sweet is a great creation, but none of the characters seem to take over which is quite a change and something I quite liked.

Paced perfectly, this book holds your attention and the suspense builds well and the twists come at you as the book races toward its satisfying finale,

A very good debut, a quality police procedural and an interesting thriller in a darkly creepy setting with some cool new protagonists on the crime scene.

Recommended

4🔥🔥🔥🔥