Written in Bone

British mysteries have an appeal for me challenged only by a good tale involving forensics. Combine the two and you have me hooked. In this, his second novel, Simon Beckett fulfilled my prescription for a must-read mystery. Okay, it's not set in Britain proper but on a remote island in the Outer Hebrides, off Scotland. Close enough. And the protagonist is a Brit. Dr. David Hunter, a forensic anthropologist, has just completed an investigative assignment in the Grampian highlands and is hurrying to catch a flight back to London and his girlfriend who dislikes his profession and would prefer him going back to general practice. Before he can make his flight he receives a call asking for his help. A badly burned body has been found on the island by a retired detective inspector. It's uncertain whether the death is accidental, suicide or foul play. Police are tied up with a rail accident which may be terrorism and don't have men to spare. Hunter is asked to go to the island, determine cause of death and file a report--a matter of a few days delay, he's assured. Nature intervenes and a savage storm isolates Hunter on the island with a drunken police sergeant, a rookie constable and the retired DI as his main allies--all of them "incomers," met with suspicion and truculence by the close-knit island natives. Hunter soon determines the body is a murder victim. Beckett ratchets up the tension with multiple suspects, colorful characters and plenty of twists and turns. I succeeded in identifying the killer before the end but Beckett threw in a final surprise that caught me off guard. Now I've got to read his first book.

This is the best book I've read in a long time. I loved the suspense and the fact that all my guessing on who the murderer was, was absolutely in vain. I never saw the ending coming. Very cool book and definitely worth it!!! In fact, I was longing for the book every time I was forced to leave it!

Excellent exceptionally atmospheric thriller. This definitely deserves best-seller status. May Simon Beckett give us many more David Hunter books!

Easy to read style. Enjoyable dialogue. Good plot development. I'm surprised more readers haven't found this book yet. I enjoyed it so much, I now plan to take a look at the author's first book. I hope we see more work from this author.

"Given the right temperature, everything burns. Wood. Clothing. People. At 250º Celsius, flesh will ignite. Skin blackens and splits. The subcutaneous fat starts to liquefy, like grease in a hot pan. Fuelled by it, the body starts to burn. Arms and legs catch first, acting as kindling to the greater mass of the torso. Tendons and muscle fibres contract, causing the burning limbs to move in an obscene parody of life. Last to go are the organs. Cocooned in moistness, they often remain even after the rest of the soft tissue has been consumed. But bone is, quite literally, a different matter." Beckett certainly knows how to draw the reader in from the first page. He never reduces himself to writing gore, instead he fascinates us with fact. I enjoyed the story, the characters and the setting. Beckett's descriptions of the remote island and the weather conditions conjur up a wonderfully realistic image and an ideal setting for a thriller. Throw in some red herrings and a couple of twists and he's cracked it again. Not only that but we get an excellent cliff hanger too!! Recommended!!