The Bone Mother

by Suzy Aspley

When reporter Martha Strangeways is summoned to investigate the discovery of body parts on a remote railway track, she’s drawn into a strange case, as her own past comes back to haunt her… The atmospheric, chilling series continues…

Rituals
Secrets
A killer who will protect them at any cost…

Martha Strangeways has settled into a quiet life in Strathbran, after the horrific events that traumatised the village a year earlier. But all this is turned upside down when her friend at Glasgow CID, DI Derek Summers, calls on her to help with a disturbing case: a human ear, with an unusual Celtic earring, has been found next to a railway line in the Highlands.

When the body of a young woman wearing matching jewellery turns up at a landmark church shortly after, the mystery deepens. Why has she been laid out in a ritualistic fashion? Does her trek along the little known Cailleach Way have anything to do with her death? And who is running the Facebook group where she posted details of her journey to the shrine of the Bone Mother goddess?

As Martha tries to unpick the threads, she finds herself entwined with a ghost from her own past, and in conflict with the owner of a project that threatens to destroy the goddess’s sacred land.

With Halloween approaching, and someone determined to protect the goddess at all costs, can Martha and Summers catch the killer before they strike again, and this time much closer to home.

Reviews of The Bone Mother

‘A gripping thriller steeped in Scottish folklore… weaves ancient legend with a tense, modern story that kept me turning the pages’ – Lilja Sigurðardóttir

‘A chilling gothic mystery… building to a breathtaking and seriously unnerving climax’ – Eve Smith

‘Another brilliant offering from a writer fast making a name for herself’ – Mari Hannah

‘Absorbing and terrifying… highly recommended’ – Lin Anderson