The Bone Man [Audio CD]

Vicki Stiefel (Author), Read by Andrea Bates (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2008

THE BONE MAN is Vicki's fourth novel in the Tally Whyte homicide counselor series. A tale of suspense and mystery, The Bone Man takes Homicide Counselor TALLY WHYTE from Boston and Martha's Vineyard to New Mexico and Chaco Canyon in search of a dead friend's murderer and a carving known as The Blood Fetish.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Grief counselor Tally Whyte is back, this time taking some well-deserved time off to deal with her own grief, having lost her mother (who's also her boss) in her last adventure, The Grief Shop. When Tally returns to work for a visit, though, she finds herself unable to keep away from a highly unusual case: an ancient Anasazi clay pot with a contemporary human skull trapped inside—a skull Tally suspects belongs to her friend. When another friend of hers really does get murdered, and the pot and skull are stolen, Tally swings into action. Despite boyfriend (and cop) Hank Cunningham's attempts to stop her, Tally sets out for the southwestern site of the pot's discovery, determined to unravel the mystery. Unfortunately, tedium takes over early; besides the predictable everything-she-thought-she-knew-was-wrong plot twist, the narrative is short on conflict. Even as the body count grows, Stiefel roots Tally in place for much of the story, endlessly bickering with men trying to stop whatever course of action she's decided on; the resolution, when it comes, is entirely contrived to thwart reader's attempts to follow the clues, which will leave mystery readers frustrated. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Review

The Bone Man by Vicki Stiefel "Intensely satisfying thriller!"

Reviewed by Morgan Chilson Posted August 15, 2007

Tally Whyte has spent the past year avoiding her old life where she counseled the grieving family members of homicide victims. It was a year ago that her foster mother, Veda, died and Tally took the money she inherited and traveled. But her life feels hollow, even purposeless, and she finds herself back in Massachusetts, entering the building that houses the Massachusetts Grief Assistance Program that she started.

But, of course, she's not planning on getting involved again. Really. Only there is that pretty amazing mystery of a skull found inside a clay Anasazi pot. Curiosity pulls her into the office of her friend, Didi, who's doing the facial reconstruction on the skull. Shocked, Tally finds that it looks just like someone she knows. But it can't be, because that pot is very old and it had to have been formed around the skull.

It's too late for Tally to escape. She's pulled into the mystery and trying to find her friend to make sure it isn't her skull. Then another friend is killed and Tally's own life is in danger.

Three words describe the Tally Whyte series: Intense. Addictive. Chilling.

Tally's personality will draw you in as surely as the mystery does in this series. Supporting characters are multi-layered and intriguing, building a world you'll want to know. My best advice is to set aside a week and read all four books (THE BONE MAN, BODY PARTS, THE DEAD STONE and THE GRIEF SHOP). -- Fresh Fiction (freshfiction.com) --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Books In Motion; Tally Whyte edition (November 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605481548
• ISBN-13: 978-1605481548
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Idiot heroine ... idiot plot, July 28, 2010

By 

L. E. Cantrell (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bone Man (Mass Market Paperback)

I heartily recommend the foregoing one-star reviews. They provide a pretty good feel for the flaws and foibles of this book.

One reviewer refers to the heroine--for want of a better word--as a "dingbat." I cannot find such kindness in my own heart. She is a complete idiot who, on her best day, could not rise to the commonsense and gravitas of Lucy Ricardo. Her closest female friends seem no smarter. She regards herself as in love with a man who seems to drag his knuckles on the ground. This love manifests itself purely as physical lust. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it does not lead to sparkling, Noel Coward-like dialogue. That particular light-of-her-life, by the way, when he is not running most of the way across the continent to save her, periodically displays fits of jealousy. This is partially explained by the fact, as she herself acknowledges, that she has two-timed him with another man--one with whom he continually finds her playing footsie, or apparently worse. It's all quite innocent, of course, or so she must repeatedly explain to us.

Now, as to the plot, it's totally plausible if we only assume that everybody in Boston, the States of Maine and New Mexico and various points in between is a complete doofus.

This is my first encounter with the author and her character. It is also assuredly my last.

One star for plumbing the Dan Brownian depths.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst in the Series, June 6, 2011

By 

Kalikokat (Washington State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bone Man (Paperback)

Sorry, but Tally is such a complete idiot in this book it is more frustrating than exciting as the action goes. Everything she does just makes the whole situation worse and gets someone else hurt or killed. It's written so that it is completely clear to the reader that she is an idiot - yet over and over again she runs from every "protector" and into someone's fist/gun/whatever...chapter after chapter of the same irritating pattern. Totally not recommended - kind of liked the previous books too. Bummer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, September 4, 2010

By 

Gizmo "Dan" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bone Man (Audio CD)

Very disappointing. From a horrible narration to a flimsy plot, I'm not sure which was worse. Stiefel evidently ran out of ideas for plot suspense so she substituted suspense with an unending smackdown of her heroine. I'm not sure many people could have take the abuse Tally did and live to talk about it. The magic/supernatural aspect of the book was ill conceived and poorly developed. As far as the narration, I'm not sure I've ever heard a narrator speak so slowly, she must have added at least 3 hours to the book with her plodding narration. Won't buy another audio book narrated by Andrea Bates.