Great story with a strong female lead who is very sure that there is more to the death of a local. This story shows that you can’t trust small town folk unless you’re part of them and then it’s still up for debate.

"The Liar's Bones" by Morag Pringle is a fast-paced, entertaining 5-star read! Rachel McKenzie is a lawyer working for the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit. Her job is to decide which deaths require further investigation and which can be filed away. A death on a remote island raises questions that she needs to see answered. She gets approval to visit the island to look for answers but just keeps uncovering more secrets.

The first thing I really appreciated about this book is all the authentic language from that region. I am from the US, so I found myself looking up a lot of the words and phrases, which I really enjoyed. The story was interesting and kept me engaged throughout. There are a lot of characters in the book, but it was easy to keep them all straight. There are plenty of twists, and right up until the end, you won’t know the truth. If you are planning to read this book, I would skip the description and just jump right in. A portion of the description isn’t revealed until 70% of the way into the book, which was a bummer to know about going in.

Thanks to Storm Publishing, Morag Pringle, and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest review.

Interesting beginning of a new series. I really enjoyed Rachel. There is a large cast of characters and no one is who they seem which kept things interesting. Then there was twist after twist that had my head spinning. I never could have guessed how things would turn out. I'm definitely reading the next one!

I didn’t know what to expect from The Liars Bones as it is the first of a new series but I really enjoyed it. The story is interesting and full of twists, turns & red herrings to keep you guessing & Morag Pringle manages to weave a very atmospheric tale. I liked Rachel’s tenacity she’s a woman who just won’t give in & there is definitely scope for more tales to come & I look forward to reading more.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley. First book by this author.. Great police procedural book, I like the authors indepth descriptions of the scenery and how fierce the weather can really be in remote places.. Rachel Mckenzie is looking into the death of Ellen Hargreaves who is found on the rocks., she lives on her own In The middle of nowhere. Rachel's colleagues think the death isnt worth investigating, but rachel has other ideas........ rachel takes it upon herself to find out the truth. Everyone knows everyone on the island, but do they know rachel has a secret of her own? Lots of twists, just as I thought I had solved it, up came something to make me change my mind. Definitely worth a read, looking forward to the next book. ....

The Liar's Bones is a gripping crime thriller which takes place in the Scottish Highlands. I enjoyed this mystery of a drowned woman found in the water, featuring the local inhabitants, and an investigator with a traumatic past.

Rachel McKenzie has returned home to where her estranged family lives. Her father murdered her mother, and she has dedicated her life to seeking justice for others. When newcomer Ellen Hargreaves is found dead in the water, Rachel is called in to investigate. The locals seem friendly, but are the members of this tight knit community telling Rachel the truth?

I was fully invested in not only Rachel's investigation into Ellen’s death but also into what happened to Rachel's mother as well. Can you imagine having one parent kill your other parent? Rachel is dealing with some trauma in her life while working hard to bring justice. I admired how Rachel was unwilling to give up and was determined to solve the case even when it became clear that not everyone was on her side.

I found this to be a riveting police procedural which kept me on my toes. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions, the writing, the atmosphere, the tension, the location, the mounting danger, the secrets, and the trapped feeling that the storm created in this book.


This is the first book in a new series, and I look forward to reading what comes next. I enjoyed Rachel and Selena who proved herself to be an intelligent asset.

A Gripping and hard to put down crime mystery thriller.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mystery and twists make for a perfect combination! I could not put this down. I had never read anything by this author so I was definitely pleasantly surprised. I will definitely be checking out more books by this author!

'The Liar's Bones' is an excellent read, one that I am glad to hear will be a start of a new series. Set on an island in The Hebrides with an
oncoming storm fast approaching the plot is fast paced. Rachel McKenzie, a lawyer for The Crown Office Procurator and Fiscal Service, is a great character with a troubled history, one that I look forward to reading more about. Morag Pringle has captured the scenes and remoteness of the western isles of Scotland so well and delivered a great 5 star read. Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for an arc.

Book Title: The Liar's Bones
Author: Morag Pringle
Publishing Date: May 20th, 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)

Review:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Liar's Bones. The book has a great cast of characters and is packed with mystery. The author's beautiful and detailed writing made me feel like I was there in Scotland Islands. I even had the Google Earth app opened to locate the places Rachel went to and to understand the places better. 😆 Although it could benefit from some polishing up, it's understandable as this was an ARC and not the final copy. The first half of the book felt a bit slow to me, but it was worth it in the end!

I'd like to thank NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and the author for providing me with this ARC.
Also posted on Goodreads.
#TheLiarsBones #NetGalley #StormPublishing #MoragPringle

I felt like I was in Scotland reading this book. Morag Pringle hit a home run with this book. So many well written characters. I thought the plot was a little hidden at first, but it came out swinging. Well done.

Excellent! A very well crafted murder mystery, well, several murders actually! Rachel McKenzie is a lawyer working for the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit. Her job is to go through files of fatalities and decide which cases need to be handed back to the police for further investigation. If a case is deemed an accident, natural causes, etc, the file is closed. However, one file that's about to be closed, deemed to be an accident, catches her eye. Something tells her this was no accident. This triggers a chain reaction of events that leads to Rachel personally going to Uist in search of answers. As the case unfolds, it gets bigger and bigger. It was nice to have a murder mystery where the investigator wasn't police although Rachel does work closely with them. A great story, well written and quite exciting as the reasons for the murders becomes clear and old secrets are revealed. I look forward to more of Rachel's 'adventures'.
Thanks to Netgalley, Storm Publishing and Morag Pringle for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The story begins with a teenage girl discovering a body of Ellen Hargraves by the cliffs in the sea on Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Rachel McKenzie from the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit North in Inverness takes an interest in Ellen's file and feels something in her gut is wrong about the unascertained verdict. Rachel speaks with her boos, who grudgingly agrees to her going to investigate it further. One thing leads to another as DI Du Toit is sent from MIT in Inverness to investigate the goings on. All in all, I found it to be well written and very descriptive in particular the locations. All the strands of the sub plots lead to a satisfying ending! I will be recommending this book. Really hoping there will be a book 2.

A excellent start to what seems to be a strong new series with a good female lead who has an interesting backstory, more of which we find out about along the way.

Set in the Scottish Highlands, Rachel McKenzie is a lawyer working in The Procurator Fiscals office, deciding which deaths warrant investigation. She has a gut feeling that Ellen’s Hargreaves’s death isn’t a straight forward accident, and is determined to get justice for her. She just didn’t expect to get sent to the island to make enquiries in a place where she has her own past firmly set.

It’s an atmospheric read, you get such a sense of community on the island, how news is carried so quickly through word of mouth, how overbearing it can feel, whilst still feeling isolated as an incomer.

Interesting characters without them feeling like caricatures, you feel the tension ramp up as more information comes to light, and how frustrating it is for Rachel and Selena, a keen young police officer, with ambitions of being a detective, to have little support, bad communications and trying to contend with an approaching storm. An intense but highly entertaining read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a great little mystery! Taking place in the outer Hebrides, Rachel McKenzie sets out to look into the death of Ellen- a lady who died on the island. Everyone thinks it was an accident, but Rachel sees some things that do not add up. As a lawyer for The Crown Office Procurator and Fiscal Service, she was part of a group that reviewed deaths and determined if a deeper investigation is needed.

Rachel has her grandfather on the island, but has been estranged from him for many years after the murder of her mother. This is not the main mystery- but is alluded to, and hopefully there will be a sequel.

The description of the setting makes the reader feel how isolated this community is. You also see the importance of knowing the signs to read what the weather will be! It plays a significant part in the story. As I was reading the last fourth of the book, I was racing to get through it- feeling like I was trying to outrun the storm that was happening in the story!
I really liked the characters, especially Rachel and Selena. I was able to see who the “bad guys” were. However, the last twist/reveal of who was involved really surprised me.
My only problem, and reason for 4 stars, is that Rachel sometimes made decisions that were careless, and she failed to recognize danger in some people around her (even though it was clearly hinted at!).
The story was atmospheric, quick paced with interesting characters. I cannot wait to see where the next chapter in this series takes Rachel!

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm publishing for my copy of The Liar’s Bones by Morag Pringle.
Rachel McKenzie is attached to the Crown Office Procurator and Fiscal Service working in the Fatalities Investigation Unit North.
The Scottish equivalent of the English Coroners Office.
When a case comes across her desk she thinks it’s suspicious enough to take a second look. The boss gives her a couple of dats to look into it and she’s off to South Uist. A place he hasn’t been back to for years.
Will anyone remember her?
A great book and I hope the first in a series. I was rooting for Rachel all the way through. Very engaging and readable.
A lead t looking forward to the next book.

Rachael McKenzie is called to the Scottish Highlands to investigate a string of suspicious murders. Emily Hargreaves was found drowned on the island and the local police sergeant insisted that it was accidental. Rachael was determined to prove otherwise. Spurred on by a troubled past of her own, in a town where her estranged family lived, she is faced with the task of proving that the woman was murdered.
Ellen loved archaeology and spent her time going on digging expeditions in the area. She kept careful notes of her findings in a book. When Rachael finds out that Ellen found a human bone before her death, she suspects that her finding may have led to Ellen’s death. Rachael goes on a hunt for the book but is unable to find it.
Rachael is immediately alarmed when a teenage girl that she interviewed goes missing. The entire town goes on a search for the girl fearing the worst. Can they find her alive?
A gripping, edge-of-the-seat, must-read crime thriller that is a true prize winner!

"The Liar’s Bones" by Morag Pringle is a captivating journey that immerses readers from the very first line. With vivid prose, the author skillfully transports you to every scene, making you feel like you can smell the water and sense the crunch of rocks beneath your feet. At the heart of the narrative is Rachel, a character whose struggles with family dynamics and the challenges of growing up resonate deeply. Pringle’s storytelling is both evocative and relatable, drawing readers into Rachel’s world with emotional depth and authenticity. As you follow Rachel’s journey, you can’t help but fall in love with her as she navigates life’s complexities. "The Liar’s Bones" is a must-read for those who appreciate beautifully crafted narratives that touch the soul.

I simply could not put this book down until it was finished, and that is something I rarely say about a book. The setting was so dramatic—the islands of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. The characters were very well written with engaging dialogue and distinct personalities. The story began when Rachel refused to accept that former librarian Ellen’s death was an accident and insisted that it must be investigated. Once Rachel arrived on the island and began asking questions, she became even more convinced that Ellen had been murdered. The plot continued to build in intensity, keeping me on the edge of my seat as the body count began to grow. Amidst it all, Rachel was forced to confront her own history with her family on the island years ago, especially her mother’s disappearance and murder. It’s a great story that kept me guessing and thoroughly engrossed right up to the end. I highly recommend it!

This was a great start to a new series. I enjoyed the characters and the intricacies of the plot. Had a lot of suspects, but took awhile for the motive to come out. Looking forward to the next book.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What an excellent start to a new crime thriller series this is. The setting of the islands of North and South Uist is perfectly described with a wonderful sense of atmosphere. I loved the characterisation, Rachel is one gutsy lady and I hope we can read more of her soon. The plotting was full of twists and turns, as soon as I thought I had it all figured out, off it went in a different direction. It kept me guessing and interested until the end. Everything you could want in a crime thriller and it's an easy 5* from me. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.