The thing about Erin Kelly is that she takes a really weird, obscure concept/thing I know nothing about and she incorporates it so well in the thriller premise I end it up half-convinced she is expert on the matter and now, so am I.
I jest, but whether it's a total solar eclipses from He Said/She Said or psychological dichotomy of Swan Lake from Watch Her Fall, she does make her stories totally unique because of this.
The Skeleton Key introduces us to the incredible culture of armchair treasure hunt. In simple terms, it refers to the regular people solving puzzles that will lead them to a real treasure that's hidden somewhere in the world. Per this article:

A typical armchair treasure hunt usually begins with a book. “Masquarade was really the first one,” says Kile. Masquarade is a short, 32-page picture book by the author and illustrator Kit Williams, released in 1979. The book tells the story of a rabbit, Jack Hare, who loses his treasure, and at the end, the reader is encouraged to try and find it. The trick with Masquarade was that the treasure was real. As part of the release of the book, Williams buried an 18-carat gold rabbit pendant in a particular spot in England, and let it be known that the location could be found within the text and images of Masquarade.

The entire life of main character of this novel, Eleanor Churcher, is determined by one such treasure hunt. The book that inspired it is The Golden Bones, the author is Nell's father Sir Frank Churcher and the prize is a golden pelvis bone that will complete the girl skeleton and according to legend, Elinor will rise again. Similarity of their names and her age and looks made some of the most obsessed fans of the book, Bonehunters, fixate on Nell and it ruined her completely.
On the 50th anniversary of the release, book will be reissued with a new treasure hunt, and Bonehunters are in frenzy, because entire family gathered at Churcher estate with documentary crew and the rumour is that Frank will finally reveal the hiding place of pelvis bone. But it doesn't go according to plan.

Look, if treasure hunt was the only thing in this book... it would still be incredibly interesting premise. But Erin Kelly mixed it a complicated family dynamic, jealousy between artists and, yes, a murder.
Frank and his wife Cora met at the university and it was her interest in old folk songs that inspired Frank's idea for TGB. He and his best friend and talented illustrator Lal are inseparable, so both families are used to share everything and live door to door, and Nell's brother Dom even married Lal's daughter Rose. In light of new events it makes for some old secrets and resentments come to surface and it mashes perfectly with the whole treasure hunting craze.
The reason for taking the star off was Nell. We are in her head most of the time and her paranoia doesn't make for an easy reading, but some of her thoughts and convictions were really grating to me: it's the type noble martyrdom only privileged can afford, "true artist" lifestyle she is so proud of read so out of touch to me. By the end she was more and more challenging to like and understand (seriously, I had only one nerve left for her at the end) and I don't even know how I felt about her. It's like every other character developed and adapted by the events in the book, only Nell remained firmly in her own narrow view, completely incapable of seeing things from point of view of other people.
And I don't think I would be as bothered by her if every other character in the novel wasn't so well written. Lal with his huge heart, temper and red face, Bridget with her pragmatism, Cora with her inability to adult, Dom and, naturally, Frank on whose actions entire story hinges. They are not likeable or unlikeable- nothing in those absolutes- they are bit of both and that makes them compelling to read about.
Erin Kelly rarely disappoints, recommended.

This book has the potential to be a smash hit of 2022. Not only is this a story of mystery and mayhem, but the craft on show is that of the greats of the genre. Just superb!

I absolutely loved The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly. What a beautifully well written, interesting book. It had be hooked from the start. My favourite book so far this year

Erin Kelly’s latest is an absorbing treasure-hunt mystery that’s also a murder story, a family saga, and also significantly about ageing, particularly how it affects men and women differently. Nell is the semi-estranged daughter of artist Frank Churcher, whose masterpiece The Golden Bones – a picture book containing clues to the location of, yes, bones made of solid gold – became a worldwide phenomenon in the 1970s. Now, on the 50th anniversary of its publication, a revival is planned, but the ‘big reveal’ goes drastically wrong and soon the entire Churcher family is embroiled in a murder investigation. The Skeleton Key is a sprawling story with subplots galore and a smart perspective switch somewhere in the middle. With so much happening, it doesn’t quite keep the same momentum throughout (I found a few of the aforementioned subplots a bit tiresome, and found myself furiously disagreeing with Nell’s moral standpoint towards the end!), but it’s good at being a story about a lot of things. For me it was most effective in its portrayal of a monstrous, powerful figure casting a shadow across far too many people; I suspect it’s one of those books in which different readers will find different meanings.

I can always rely on Erin Kelly to come up with something original, intriguing and interesting. This amazing plot is similar to a fairytale treasure hunt, resulting in murder and lies. It's one heck of a thriller and I loved the quirky characters.

I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't sleep because I wanted to keep reading kinda good. Its a very clever story about a treasure hunt type book and the effects it had on the family that created it, invested in it, tried to solve it and others that fell into its path.
The main protagonist is Nell, the daughter of the author of this gripping bok - The Golden Bones. Nell struggles to trust others and lives a life in the shadows as she fears those that hunt the 'bones'. This makes it sound like its a horror, which I can assure you it is not. It's a pure thriller.

4+

I love a dysfunctional family, and this feels like a 2-4-1 deal.
I also love a book within a book, so already winning here.
The obsessiveness of some people with a treasure hunt is really quite a thing, but totally believable.
This book has many surprises, and I may have uttered "what?" outloud more than once.
It twists and turns places I never even imagined, and it just kept me turning the pages faster.
So much to like in this book. So much.

#TheSkeletonKey #NetGalley
Wowsome.
Summer, 2021. Nell has come home at her family's insistence to celebrate an anniversary. Fifty years ago, her father wrote The Golden Bones. Part picture book, part treasure hunt, Sir Frank Churcher created a fairy story about Elinore, a murdered woman whose skeleton was scattered all over England. Clues and puzzles in the pages of The Golden Bones led readers to seven sites where jewels were buried - gold and precious stones, each a different part of a skeleton. One by one, the tiny golden bones were dug up until only Elinore's pelvis remained hidden. The book was a sensation. A community of treasure hunters called the Bonehunters formed, in frenzied competition, obsessed to a dangerous degree. People sold their homes to travel to England and search for Elinore. Marriages broke down as the quest consumed people. A man died. The book made Frank a rich man. Stalked by fans who could not tell fantasy from reality, his daughter, Nell, became a recluse. But now the Churchers must be reunited. The book is being reissued along with a new treasure hunt and a documentary crew are charting everything that follows. Nell is appalled, and terrified. During the filming, Frank finally reveals the whereabouts of the missing golden bone. And then all hell breaks loose.
I loved it very much and enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder Straughten for giving me an advance copy.

A book that starts with a quiet pace yet before I knew it I was hooked - glued to the page, the story taking me on a rollercoaster ride.

What defines or even validates an individual human being? A spouse, family, work, values, money, being strong or successful?

Proverbial fireworks and perhaps even real time goosebumps is what you'll get with The Skeleton Key. And that's even before the smashing finale with the epilogue.

It all comes down to two words: power and pettiness.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.