A good twisty book, set in Scotland which creeps into the story. The wild weather and the rugged coastline makes it very atmospheric. A great start to a series and I look forward to more in the future. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Wow, this was one twisty, dark story!

Rachel McKenzie is a woman with a very traumatic past and this makes her relentless when it comes to seeking justice for others. When a woman's body is found washed up on some rocks and her death is deemed to be accidental, Rachel smells a rat. She must return to the small Scottish island that she really doesn't want anything to do with, in order to solve the mystery at the heart of this death.

It is hard to know who to trust and the local police seem to be a bit of a mixed bunch. She also has a less-than-sympathetic supervisor to contend with.

My heart was in my mouth for quite a lot of this book and I was urging Rachel on to get to the bottom of the mystery and hoping that she would come through it all unscathed, mentally and physically.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing.

A good crime thriller set in Scotlans. There's plenty of potential and I think it will become an excellent series
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!

I picked up "The Liar's Bones," the first book in the Rachel McKenzie Mystery series by Morag Pringle, with high hopes. The moody atmosphere of the Scottish Highlands and the promise of a gripping crime thriller intrigued me, and I was eager to see what Rachel’s investigation would uncover. From the moment I immersed myself in the story, I found it nearly impossible to put down.
Rachel McKenzie, an investigator in the Procurator Fiscal's office, carries the heavy burden of her traumatic past—her father's unspeakable crime against her mother. This haunting background gives her an edge as she navigates the complexities of justice and the shadows of her memories. When she hears about Ellen Hargreaves, a newcomer found dead in suspicious circumstances on a remote island, Rachel can’t shake the feeling that something is amiss. Her instincts push her to pry the case open, much to the annoyance of some local law enforcement who want to quickly label the death an accident.
From the outset, I appreciated Rachel's tenacity, her gut feelings about the case seeming to foreshadow the darker secrets lurking beneath the surface of island life. As she delves deeper into Ellen's death, the sense of foreboding grows thicker. The setting itself, with its cold waves and stark cliffs, mirrors Rachel's internal struggles. Pringle's vivid descriptions made me feel the chill of the wind and the weight of Rachel’s pain and determination.
The narrative twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. Just when I thought I had a grasp on the mystery, the plot would shift dramatically, revealing surprising connections and raising the stakes even higher. The discovery of the missing girl after Rachel's investigation adds a palpable urgency to her search for the truth, and I found myself racing through the pages, heart pounding with concern for both Rachel and the innocent teenager.
While I found the pacing engaging, I did encounter a few moments where the plot felt predictable. However, even these moments didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story. The strength of the character development—particularly Rachel's struggle with guilt and her complicated relationship with her past—kept me invested in her journey. I also appreciated how Pringle painted the local characters with depth, giving them distinct personalities that enriched the narrative.
One of the highlights for me was learning about the workings of Scotland's "Death Unit." The idea of lawyers diving into cases of suspicious deaths and working with forensic evidence was fascinating. It added a layer of intrigue to Rachel’s investigation and really made me appreciate the complexity of the legal system in these scenarios.
By the end, I was left craving more. "The Liar's Bones" succeeds in combining a compelling mystery with rich character exploration and a beautifully crafted setting. Despite a few predictable elements, it captivated me throughout, and I can’t wait to see what challenges Rachel will face in the next instalment.

The Liar's Bones is a first book in Rachel McKenzie Mystery series and I really enjoyed it.
The remote setting in Scottish outer Hebrides, tense atmosphere, relentless pace, the broody weather, it all helps and adds to story that drew me in and kept me fully absorbed throughout.
Rachel herself is a really complex character with difficult past. I think all her past experiences really affected how she dealt with the case, not always making the smartest decisions. At times she really came across as act first think later kind of person. It'll definitely be interesting to see how her character develops in further books.
Overall, it's a very well-written, fast paced, interesting and fully absorbing story and I can't wait to read more in that series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

📚 From the windswept cliffs of the Scottish Highlands to the secrets buried deep within, “The Liar’s Bones” delivers a gripping mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Rachel McKenzie, haunted by her father’s dark past, seeks justice for others in the rugged Highlands. When a drowned woman’s death on an isolated island piques her curiosity, Rachel dives into the investigation. Ellen Hargreaves, an archaeology enthusiast, left behind a mysterious notebook—one that holds the key to a dangerous secret. As Rachel digs deeper, she uncovers a bone, linking Ellen’s death to something more sinister.

Morag Pringle’s prose is as atmospheric as the stormy Scottish landscape. With vivid descriptions and well-developed characters, she weaves a tale of trust, betrayal, and hidden truths. The unexpected twists kept me guessing until the very end. And Rachel McKenzie? A flawed, determined protagonist who refuses to let go. Pringle’s debut mystery is a page-turner that lingers long after the final chapter.

For fans of Elly Griffiths and Rachel McLean, “The Liar’s Bones” is a must-read. Prepare for a journey where every step unearths secrets—and where the bones tell their own story.

I really enjoyed this. The Highlands setting, a small community knowing everyone's business yet jealously guarding secrets, the inhospitable weather and Rachel's past combine to create an unsettling and thrilling atmosphere. Wolfed ot down!

Rachels father murders her mother and gets away with it for many years. When a woman winds up dead near where her estranged father lives, Rachel believes its more than just a coincidence. After a girl goes missing during the investigation, Rachel rushes to solve the crime and find the killer, proving whether her father is a sadistic killer or not after all. I loved the characters and the storyline. The plot and characters kept my interest while the twists made it even harder to put down.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I will be looking for more! I enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. I loved all the characters and the storyline. I would definitely recommend this book.

Rachel McKenzie is an investigator/lawyer goes to the Scottish Highland islands to investigate a case of a Woman who was found washed up at sea drowned and murdered. The case was first ruled as an accidental death and closed but Rachel couldn’t stop thinking that something was overlooked/not right about the case so she asked her Boss to reopen it so some evidence could be looked at further and hopefully more questions could be answered a long the way too. Rachel’s past haunts her throughout this book too. This book has a lot of surprising and shocking twist from the beginning until the end. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in this series also. Thank you to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review a ARC of this book.

Very good book, cannot wait for the rest of the series. It was impossible to put the book down. It's thrilling, twisty and a very gripping story. Hope the rest of the series is also so gripping as the first book.

Rachel McKenzie works in the Procurator Fiscal's office. When the office is informed of the death of a woman on the outer Hebrides something bothers her about the case. She cannot accept that the woman left her shopping on the doorstep & ended up as a body on the rocks in a spot that seems to make no sense. She goes to the island to investigate even through the place hold bad memories. The local police are not a great deal of help although the young female officer seems on the ball & keen to help. Before long Rachel wonders what she has uncovered & how much danger has she put herself in, to say nothing of others.

This was a good mystery with a great setting & interesting characters. Thanks to Netgalley & the publishers for letting me read & review this book. I am looking forward to meeting Rachel again.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. This was a new author for me. The story followed Rachel as she set out to investigate if a Ellen was murdered. Slightly different from the usual crime fiction as she is not a Detective. The twists and turns in the dtory kept me engaged and the characters were all very well written. The ending was somewhat unexpected. I'm looking forward to reading more of Rachel's career.

Thank you netgalley and Storm Publishers for this arc.

Set in Scottish Islands, Rachel a lawyer with the 'Death Unit' gets sent to remote islands to further investigate a suspicious death. Everyone on the island thinks it was an accident. Rachel feels in her gut it isn't. While dealing with emotions of being back on the islands she spent her childhood summers, she uncovers small town secrets and more than she bargained for.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one in the series. Learning about the death Unit in Scotland was incredibly interesting to me. I'd never think lawyers would be going through death reports deciding if it was murder, accident, etc. It was paced well. Had interesting information and a good story line.

The ending was a bit predictable but didn't take away from the story.

5 stars.

The setting was amazing - the Scottish Highlands sound terrifyingly remote and beautiful. The MC had an interesting back story and a fascinating job. The mystery of the dead woman in the water was a great start, but overall this was a bit more of a slow burn than I tend to enjoy, and I had a lot of it sorted out very early on which made things feel very slow. That said, I think I'll still pick up the second book in the series because I'd like to read more about Rachel!

Rachel McKenzie was an attorney in Inverness. She got word that a woman named Ellen had died in the Scottish isles on accident. Rachel didn't believe it was an accident. So she went there to investigate. When she got there, there was a lot more than she bargained for.

For one thing, Ellen had found a bone on an island and it was determined that it was a human bone and that the person the bone belonged to had been murdered. And then it became clear that Ellen herself had been murdered. And then it turned out that there was a group of men running drugs. As a result, two more men were murdered. The murderers were people Rachel had trusted.

This story had enough intrigue and suspense to keep me coming back for more. The plot was well thought out and the author did a fine job developing the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and gave it five stars.

If you're looking for a creepy thriller that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat, determined to solve the mystery before putting the book down, then this is it. Rachel is a lawyer from the city, but she gets a weird feeling when a case comes across her desk, and it doesn't seem as simple as others in her office. Ellen's seemingly accidental death sends her spiraling back to where she spent her childhood summers, and her past starts to come back to haunt her.

Rachel knows better than anyone what it is like to lose a family member to a senseless crime; after all, her father is sitting in prison for her mother's murder. On the island, Rachel refuses to let on that her mother's parents lived there, and she wants to get back to her home as quickly as she can. But the circumstances surrounding Ellen's death lead her down a dangerous path where Rachel isn't sure who she can trust.

This was a fantastic thriller, exactly what I thought it would be. Pringle dug down to the core of what thrillers are meant to do to a reader: make you question whether you truly know anyone at all. It was a reminder that people in your community are not who you think they are. Everything was set up nicely to allow for the second book to connect and solve the main mystery: did Rachel's father really murder her mom?

Because it is set on an island during a horrible storm, Rachel has to watch out and take care of herself because nobody can come and save her.

I highly recommend this book if you want an easy-to-read thriller that will keep you guessing.

I felt like the book was a little slow to start. I need like Rachel’s kind of connections to the case and how the author eluded to something happening in Rachel’s past. It kept me wanting to read. As for the actual case it took me a while to get interested in that. I felt like once things started adding up it was almost like a dump of everything happening at once. Over a good book.

I liked this book on the whole, though I found the writing and plot a bit up and down. I loved the setting in the Hebrides and the descriptions did capture the atmosphere and the community well. Rachel, the main character was OK, some of the other characters could be rounded out more and the interactions are in places a bit hit and miss. I don't really understand Rachel's involvement in the case (the role of a fiscal) and her investigation, sometimes giving out information to all and sundry and berating the police for not looking into some leads. There are also parts of the book where there is less action though that picks up towards the end and there are twists in the plot.
Rachel's own story is interesting and I definately want to read more . Not a bad read
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC