ARC Review: The Unquiet Bones by Loreth Anne White

The Unquiet Bones
Author: Loreth Anne White
Publication: Montlake (March 5, 2024)

Description: A shocking discovery of human bones reopens an almost fifty-year-old cold case―and rips apart the lives of a group of friends―in a riveting novel by Loreth Anne White, the Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of The Maid’s Diary.

When human bones are found beneath an old chapel in the woods, evidence suggests the remains could be linked to the decades-old case of missing teen Annalise Jansen.

Homicide detective Jane Munro―pregnant and acutely attuned to the preciousness of life―hopes the grim discovery will finally bring closure to the girl’s family. But for a group of Annalise’s old friends, once dubbed the Shoreview Six by the media, it threatens to expose a terrible pledge made on an autumn night forty-seven years ago.

The friends are now highly respected, affluent members of their communities, and none of them ever expected the dark chapter in their past to resurface. But as Jane and forensic anthropologist Dr. Ella Quinn peel back the layers of secrets, the group begins to fracture. Will one cave? Will they turn on each other?

The investigation takes a sharp turn when Jane discovers a second body―that of the boy long blamed for Annalise’s disappearance. As the bones tell their story, the group learns just how far each will go to guard their own truth.

My Thoughts: In THE UNQUIET BONES a cold case is finally solved after bones are discovered under a chapel at a ski resort. 

Sargeant Jane Munro has been transferred to Cold Cases after an emotional outburst at work. She's dealing with a fiancé who went missing while hiking and an unexpected pregnancy. She feels that she is in limbo and can't move forward or back. 

The bones prove to be those of a fifteen-year-old girl named Annalise Jansen who went missing Labor Day Weekend in 1976. The body was preserved in such a way that her torso wasn't skeletonized leading to the information that she was three months pregnant at the time of her death. There's the possibility of getting fetal DNA to help identify the father. 

As Jane reopens the almost fifty-year-old case, she begins to reinterview witnesses from the time Annalise went missing. Jane also learns that a young man named Darryl went missing the same night. It was thought at the time that they ran off together. Darryl's reputation had been trashed at the time leaving only his father and sister to mourn him. His disappearance didn't get as much media play since a black young man wasn't as interesting as a cute and perky blond girl. 

The story talks about the aftereffects of an unexplained disappearance on those who were left behind. Annalise's parents seem frozen in time fearing even to leave their house lest they be gone should Annalise return. Her best friends, who are all keeping secrets of varying kinds, have built successful lives that could be destroyed if their parts in her disappearance are ever discovered. And the young, ambitious news reporter who is eager to capitalize on the discovery of Annalise's remains also has her life changed by the experience.

This was a fast-paced thriller told from multiple viewpoints. I was intrigued by the story.

Favorite Quote:

Perhaps a part of each one of them has always been locked in the autumn of 1976. In the amber of time. A limbo - or prison - for their lies. Neither heaven or hell. All waiting in one way or another for that knock to come on their doors. Waiting for justice to finally find them. Fearing it.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.