I was initially pulled in by the stunning cover and the synopsis. How could I resist the storyline and the beautiful way in which Erin Kelly writes?

Unfortunately, for me, this didn't really work. It's undeniable that the writing is almost poetic and artful, but the story failed to hit the mark. It took me a long time to become engaged in the story. I didn't really care for the characters and didn't really understand the logic behind the puzzle of the golden bones. The followers of the fabled story felt like a cult following and would do anything and hurt anyone to succeed in their goal.

The Skeleton Key features two families - The Churcher's and The Lally's. They seem to have lived quite an affluent lifestyle due to the success of The Golden Bones. It's quite the portrayal of dysfunctional families, and I felt both of them were largely unlikeable.

This wasn't a hit for me, but it won't stop me from reading Erin Kelly's other novels.

The Skeleton Key is a book to become immersed in, a book to allow yourself to understand the original concept of the puzzle within the illustrated book, the Golden Bones,

Within the pages of the original book Elinore's bones were scattered and the readers were challenged to find them all to make her whole once more. The book was such a sensation that a group of treasure hunters self--styled the Bone hunters collaborated to find the last piece, without success.

The book caused its creators harm via one of their daughters, Nell but now twenty years later the book is being reissued for the modern age - and the publicity takes off once more.

The story behind the book is unveiled within this multi-;layered tale which skilfully uncovers those bonds that bind, and break us.

A fabulous tale which deserves dedicated time to get the best experience from it.

An intriguing plot based on a ‘treasure hunt’ written by two authors whose children and family are drawn into a dark and worrying cult of ‘Bon-hunters’ who are determined to track down the missing bones of ‘Elinor’. Obviously naming your child Eleanor when you have created this mystery hunt is like dangling bones in the face of the ‘bone hunters’ and Eleanor s life is derailed by being the suspected ‘missing bone holder’, being stalked, targeted and attacked by these people.
A thought provoking and worrying read.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

Nell’s family are famous thanks to her fathers success in creating “The Golden Bones” part book and part treasure hunt. Frank Churcher’s mythical tale follows Elinore who is murdered and her bones are scattered at locations across England. The book was amazingly successful and for the 50 years since it was first created all but on of the hidden jewelled bones have been found and a community of obsessive “bone hunters” have grown up. Nell has opted out of normal life and hidden away from dangerous stalkers who confuse her with the book character. She reluctantly agrees to return home for a reunion without realising that a digital version of the book is being released and a documentary crew are there to film the launch. An unstoppable chain of events are set off and Nell finds herself overwhelmed by family secrets that have up until now been kept under wraps.

A beautifully complex tale of friendships, jealousy and family loyalty all laid bare and the consequences of decisions made in the past. An array of flawed characters circle each other and Nell has to decide where her loyalties lie. A fabulous read that I didn’t want to end.

I could not stop thinking about this book from the moment I started reading it. I loved the concept of a grisly folk tale updated into a children's book, a national treasure hut for golden bones, the way the idea later took root online and twisted into something macabre in a few troubled minds. And the way the book's success affected the whole family and their closest friends in different, often dark ways.

Erin Kelly's psychological thrillers are a cut above their competitors - she builds fascinating worlds and fills them with interesting, sometimes loathesome but always very real characters. They feel like the classic Barbara Vine novels that made me fall in love with thrillers in the 1990s.

Thoroughly recommended.

I really enjoyed this twisty novel. As we found out more about Nell's past and why she wanted to stay away from her family and the book that almost cost her her life, more layers of the story unfolded.
I was kept intrigued and enjoyed the read.

This is quite an intricate story, gradually drip dripping clues through trips back into 70s and 90s timelines so that slowly an understanding creeps into your mind and you begin to see how everything ties together. I can’t say I particularly liked any of the Frank/Cora/Bridget/Lal characters, but I don’t think you’re meant to. I did have a lot of sympathy for Nell and Billie though, they were very well written. All in all, I’d definitely recommend this one - just maybe when you’ve got enough time to be able to tackle the 500+ pages fairly quickly, as a few pages grabbed here and there on a commute I think would make it harder to keep all the myriad threads clear in your head. Let this be your holiday treat, your “I’ve nothing to do this weekend, so I can devour this” book.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Honestly, it was that beautiful cover image that me drawn to the book at first but then knowing it was from Erin Kelly, of course, I was sure I was in for a treat. Nope, I have not read many books by the author to form an opinion but The Poison Tree is still crystal clear in my mind and for that alone, I should probably go back and give that book the whole 5 stars for creating such an impact.

The Skeleton Key has a unique plot, keeping aside the central theme of dysfunctional families, the story has an author whose picture book The Golden Bones has clues for a real treasure hunt and the frenzy the release of the book creates for him and his family. Being named after the central character in a fictional book written by your father has not given Eleanor Churcher an easy life. Stalked, stabbed and threatened by the crazy treasure hunters called Bonehunters, Nell stays away from her family as much as possible to escape the madness that has the bone hunters making her life a miserable hell.

Erin Kelly sketches two families intertwined in every possible way and thru different POVs and different timelines, bringing about a story that is all about secrets and power games. The Churchers and Lally's living in semi-detached houses and sharing everything together have more than 50 years of friendship between them but nothing is as rosy as seen from the outside world and for Nell, who discovers the extent of the despicable secrets that are waiting to tumble out of the closet, it is more shocking than most.

The relationship between Nell and Dom and that of Billie and Nell are the highlights of the story, in fact, the arc of each and every character in the book was brilliantly done. Billie, however, is like a breath of fresh air in this dark family drama. It is not just about the mystery of a skeleton but Erin Kelly keeps the readers on their toes convoluting the plot with one reveal after another every step of the way and there are so many subplots running in the story that the momentum of the story also has its own pace, whereas some parts I could literally fly with it there were also some other parts which were very slow in its unraveling.

A solid winner from Erin Kelly, The Skeleton Key is a perfect choice for all fans of the family saga with a mystery woven thru it.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

This review is published on my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Book Bub, Medium.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

I am a new reader of Erin Kelly, but I am hooked. Loved this book and will look for her other novels. It's a thriller, a gothic novel, but not a horror story. A complex plot & a page turner.

I enjoyed this storyline and can see how it could be taken to the level it was... obsessive treasure hunters and clues to be interpretated.. The internal struggle of the ones that started the whole thing off and how they have become a victim of their own success,
I found it facinating that finding the skellington was so addictive... I was driven to want to see the clues that would take me to the final part of this skellington myself...
A fantastic storyline

I wasn’t sure what to make of this book, I haven’t read this author before and it was a bit of a slow burn but it definitely got me hooked before I knew it. There’s definitely a lot of elements to it but the the author is a great storyteller and it blended together seemlessly, I really enjoyed.

Interesting story set between the past and the present where the characters are intertwined with a fifty year old treasure hunt that they created. Really enjoyable and creative narrative with great characters. A little slow at times but I liked it a lot.

This was an excellent, twisty story told in several timelines to build up a picture of the different characters, and what happened in the past to bring them to the current day drama

The Churches and the Lallys live intertwined lives in intertwined, interlinking houses. Sir Frank and Cora Churcher is married to The Lallys daughter Rose. Nell Churcher hasn't lived at home for years - since an attempt was made on her life. She now lives a very quiet existance on a narrow boat keeping far from her very disfunctional family.

Sir Frank Churcher was a famous painter - but more famous for his cult book The Golden Bones. The book was beautifully illustrated, and was actually a treasure hunt which captured the world's imagination. A story about Elinore, who was murdered and whose. Ones were hidden at the locations given in the book. Only one bone was not found and the Bonehunters who were unable to tell fact from fiction thought that Frank's daughter Nell (Elinore) had it.They were convinced that the imaginary Elinore would be resurrected when the bones were all found and put together.

Fifty years on, the book is being republished with new clues to the final bone, and Nell is persuaded to come home for a visit. The ensuing events spark a sequence of events no one suspected, impacting every member of the family.

A wonderful story for those who like mystery, intrigue and murder.

I have loved and really enjoyed Erin Kelly's previous books. I was so looking forward to this one but it felt a bit-meh. Very slow going and I didn't click with any of the characters. Overly long I felt too. I'm glad I read it but very sad that I didn't love it. I will still read this author because I'm sure the next one I'll love

I loved this book, very compelling plot which completely draws you in to the world of Bonehunters and the lives of the two families. The family drama is at the heart of it, I enjoyed the relationships between them all, even though some had terrible secrets. The solving of the Golden Bones clues is a great story with all the twists and turns it takes. Nell is a great central character and I liked her relationship with Billie. The fear she felt from being stalked by those trying to solve the clues was palpable and very real world, being set in the present day. I enjoyed the various timelines aspect, going back into the past and hearing a different characters voice explaning their take on a situation. Great twists and turns, fantastic thriller and highly recommend!

This was very very fun!! It felt like reading an actual treasure hunt and the characters were cool (Specially Nell's). I felt like at the beginning there were *too* many characters so it was a bit hard to navigate through it but then it gets really good.

Very enjoyable thriller/suspense book!


Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Erin Kelly is an author who always keeps you guessing. No novel of hers is anything like any other novel of hers, so you never quite know what you’re going to get. This is why I have a rather complicated relationship with her work, I think. I will adore one book, and feel rather meh about another one. ‘The Skeleton Key‘ lands somewhere in between the two for me.

The positives are mostly with the characterisation. These two families are immensely entwined, kind of like a bunch of Christmas lights you can’t seem to untangle. The parents have been friends for decades, the son of one family is married to the daughter of the other family. There is a lot of history here, decisions that were made for the good of the two families, secrets that are being kept hidden for the same reason. But all is about to fall apart.

One book has influenced these families’ lives in more ways than one. It brought them fame and money. But it also brought them stalkers, nutters and a whole lot of pain. Especially for Nell, who is an obsession for a whole community of people who are enthralled with treasure hunts. Nell isn’t like the other family members. She made a choice to try and distance herself from the lot of them, and leads a very different life. From the very beginning, I struggled to understand why she would have anything to do with these celebrations. Her father’s book, ‘The Golden Bones‘, pretty much ruined her life. If that had been me, I wouldn’t have come anywhere near this anniversary.

To be fair, I had issues with a lot of the decisions these characters made over the years. By way of flashbacks, the readers learns a lot about all of them, and very little of it is good. Frank especially is a total jerk. It’s the revelations about his actions that will influence the outcome of this story, and lead to a rather thought-provoking moment where the reader can try to decide which side of the fence they’d fall on.

The mystery of the missing golden bone is really secondary, and to be honest, for most of the book I wasn’t at all interested in its whereabouts. Even though the obsession with it runs like a thread through this story. However, this is definitely a character-driven novel with a focus on the many, mostly bad, decisions these characters have made throughout the years. Unfortunately for me, I found most of it a struggle. I didn’t particularly like the characters. I often couldn’t understand their behaviour or motivations, both in the past and present. They seemed to knowingly and stubbornly remain part of dysfunctional families and extremely toxic relationships for reasons that made no sense to me. It made me quite sad to realise their lives could have been so much different if they’d been in any way smart/brave/something enough to step away from the one they were living.

The pace was rather on the slow side, which doesn’t have to be a problem, but I found it was in this case. This is one of those novels where you finish and think it could quite easily have been at least a hundred or more pages shorter. Mostly, ‘The Skeleton Key‘ left me immensely conflicted. It wasn’t at all what I expected from the book description and, even as I write this review, I’m still not entirely sure I liked what I did get. Yet, I’m not annoyed I read it, nor did it feel like a waste of time. Could I possibly be any more conflicted, you ask? No, I don’t think I can be. Neither has it put me off reading whatever Erin Kelly comes up with next because I know that whatever it is, it will surprise me once again.

A story about books always tempts me and this is a story about what a family would do for a particular book.. this is gripping and tense, dark and twisty. If you've heard of the Masquerade madness, this book echoes that time. It did leave me feeling a little flat at the end but overall a good read.

I honestly don't know how to put into words what I felt about this book. Definitely a slow burner to begin with and I really wasn't sure I'd like it, but then it gripped me and I couldn't put it down. Sometimes fantastical, sometimes macabre, with a strong theme of dysfunctional family running through it. Fantastic ending pulling everything together.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

Excellent reading! Put your morals to the test - superb tale based on a 'treasure hunt' type book such as Masquerade by Kit Williams in the late 70s. 3 friends are art students. A dreamy, poetic book is produced with exquisite artwork based on old myths and most of all, a mystery to solve: the bones of the heroine in the book must be 'found' to bring her back to life. Cue puzzle solvers, mystery freaks and totally bonkers conspiracy theorists taking everything into their own hands - all exacerbated by the internet. Things get serious - a member of the family of the author is put in mortal danger.

2 families, the Churchers and the Lallys have made lives together on the success of the book. But there are strains in the relationship. Beneath the happy 'communal living' of the families (houses side by side in a very lovely part of Hampstead) lie secrets, lies, oneupmanship, jealousies, arrogance, betrayal and power. I loved the relationship between Nell (Frank Churcher's daughter) and Billie especially. A heady mix, characters to love (and loathe) and your judgement will be tossed about like flotsam! Very exciting - by the end of the book, you're pretty sure you know who did the right thing! But only at the end... the very end.