The anonymous caller has an ominous tone and an unnerving message about something โreal dead . . . buried in your marsh.โ The eco-volunteer on the other end of the phone thinks itโs a prank, but when a young womanโs body turns up in L.A.โs Bird Marsh preserve no oneโs laughing. And when the bones of more victims surface, homicide detective Milo Sturgis realizes the cityโs under siege to an insidious killer. Miloโs first move: calling in psychologist Alex Delaware.
The murdered women are prostitutesโexcept the most recent victim; a brilliant young musician from the East Coast, employed by a wealthy family to tutor a musical prodigy, Selena Bass seems out of place in the marshโs grim tableau.
Convenientlyโ perhaps ominouslyโSelenaโs blueblood employers are nowhere to be found, and their estateโs jittery caretaker raises hackles. But Miloโs instincts and Alexโs insight are too well-honed to settle for easy answers, even given the dark secrets in this troubled manโs past. Their investigation unearths disturbing layersโabout victims, potential victims, and suspects alikeโplunging even deeper into the murky marshโs enigmatic depths.
Bizarre details of the crimes suggest a devilish serial killer prowling L.A.โs gritty streets. But when a new murder deviates from the pattern, derailing a possible profile, Alex and Milo must look beyond the suspicion of madness and consider an even more sinister mind at work. Answers donโt come easy, but the darkest of drives and desires may fuel the most devious of foes.
Bones is classic Kellermanโ relentlessly peeling back the skin and psyches of its characters and revealing the shadows and sins of the souls beneath. With jolt after jolt of galvanizing suspense, it drives the reader through its twists and turns toward a climax as satisfying as it is shattering.
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