Book & Audio Review: Crowbones by Anne Bishop

Crowbones
Author: Anne Bishop

Narrator: Alexandra Harris
Series: World of the Others (Book 3)
Publication: Ace & Penguin Audio (March 8, 2022)

Length: 351 p,; 11 hours and 17 minutes

Description: In this engrossing and gripping fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, an inn owner and her friends must find a killer—before it’s too late.…

Crowbones will gitcha if you don’t watch out!

Deep in the territory controlled by the Others—shape-shifters, vampires, and even deadlier paranormal beings—Vicki DeVine has made a new life for herself running The Jumble, a rustic resort. When she decides to host a gathering of friends and guests for Trickster Night, at first everything is going well between the humans and the Others.

But then someone arrives dressed as Crowbones, the Crowgard bogeyman. When the impostor is killed along with a shape-shifting Crow, and the deaths are clearly connected, everyone fears that the real Crowbones may have come to The Jumble—and that could mean serious trouble.

To “encourage” humans to help them find some answers, the Elders and Elementals close all the roads, locking in suspects and victims alike. Now Vicki, human police chief Grimshaw, vampire lawyer Ilya Sanguinati, and the rest of their friends have to figure out who is manipulating events designed to pit humans against Others—and who may have put Vicki DeVine in the crosshairs of a powerful hunter.

My Thoughts: Vicki DeVine didn't know what she was starting when she mentioned Trickster's Night to her terra indigene employees. Now, they are all trying various looks for their disguises and Vicki is trying to keep them from choosing something too scary.

Vicki has a full house at The Jumble for the holiday too. Her guests range from a couple of almost newlyweds, to some Intuit acquaintances of Julian's, to a mixed-bag of college professors who want to learn more about the Others. 

Things start to go wrong when a trick-or-treater comes to the door dressed as the Crowgard bogeyman Crowbones which scares the feathers off Vicki's Crowgard employees. When the trickster is found murdered and gutted, it soon becomes clear that something more than disapproval of a costume is going on. 

Crowbones is real - an elder and a hunter - who has come to Lake Silence on the track of contamination that is spreading to some adolescents of the Sanguinati and the Crowgard. When the Elementals conspire to block all access to the area, it is up to Vicki and her friends Chief of Police Wayne Grimshaw, bookstore owner and Intuit Julian Farrell, and her vampire attorney Ilya Sanguinati to find out what is going on and stop it before they are all doomed.

The story gradually unfolds through the viewpoints of a number of different characters. And the suspense builds with every page. I enjoyed the chance to catch up on the lives of the beings in and around The Jumble. Alexandra Harris does a wonderful job narrating the story.

Favorite Quote:

She nodded. "I'd better get these groceries up to the house before my guests start thinking nibbling on dead donkey is a good idea."

Even for a human, she said the most peculiar things. That's why he found her appealing.

I got this one on publication day. (Actually, I preordered it on September 21, 2021,) You can buy your copy here.