The anonymous caller has an ominous tone and an unnerving message about something βreal dead . . . buried in your marsh.β The eco-volunteer on the other end of the phone thinks itβs a prank, but when a young womanβs body turns up in L.A.βs Bird Marsh preserve no oneβs laughing. And when the bones of more victims surface, homicide detective Milo Sturgis realizes the cityβs under siege to an insidious killer. Miloβs first move: calling in psychologist Alex Delaware.
The murdered women are prostitutesβexcept 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 marshβs grim tableau.
Convenientlyβ perhaps ominouslyβSelenaβs blueblood employers are nowhere to be found, and their estateβs jittery caretaker raises hackles. But Miloβs instincts and Alexβs insight are too well-honed to settle for easy answers, even given the dark secrets in this troubled manβs past. Their investigation unearths disturbing layersβabout victims, potential victims, and suspects alikeβplunging even deeper into the murky marshβs enigmatic depths.
Bizarre details of the crimes suggest a devilish serial killer prowling L.A.βs 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 donβt come easy, but the darkest of drives and desires may fuel the most devious of foes.
Bones is classic Kellermanβ 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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