The Prayer of the Bone [Paperback]

Paul Bryers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2000

There seemed to be no other conclusion to draw: injuries to the young woman's face appeared to be consistent only with a mauling by a bear. So why did Calhoun stay on the case as if it were a manhunt?

Maddie had been working as a field assistant on one of New England's most important early colonial sites-a place where French pioneers had settled and perished in 1604, and English Quakers followed in 1655, their fate a deeper mystery.

For Jessica, sister of the deceased, arriving in Maine from Oxford it was a heartbreaking journey to collect the remains of the willful little sister she had watched over since their mother's death so many years before. Currently Maddie had traced their mother's Native American roots to this remote spot in Maine, and Jessica now also had to prise Maddie's daughter Freya away from the Souriquois reservation where she seemed to be transforming into a very different nine-year-old altogether. What Jessica finds in New England is a police investigation which is not only tracking bears and picking over 300-year-old settlers' bones, but also is soon to be finding its way through tribal traditions and shape-shifting shamans

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Jessica Ross, a young English historian, learns that her sister Maddie, a free-spirited young woman who's been working on an archaeological dig in northern Maine, has been killed by what appears to be a marauding bear, her first concern is for Freya, Maddie's 9-year-old daughter. Sure enough, when Jessica arrives at the site of the slaying, she finds her badly traumatized niece overcome by fear as well as grief, responsive only to the ministrations of a taciturn Souriquois woman. The woman may in fact be the child's only other living relative, through a kinship to Jessica and Maddie's dead mother, whose Native American heritage has always been shrouded in mystery. Rumors of shape shifters, shamans, and Native American bear cults shroud the truth about Maddie's death. Police inspector Michael Calhoun, lately returned to his childhood home, believes it may be connected to a 300-year-old colonial massacre, evidence of which has surfaced at the dig with the discovery of remains bearing wounds remarkably similar to Maddie's.

The love story between Jessica and Calhoun takes second place to the murder mystery, but both are handled with skillful writing and strong atmospherics that surpass the genre. Paul Bryers's writing style is spare and controlled, his characters complex and interesting, and the result is a tautly suspenseful story with supernatural overtones and enough of a chill to keep the reader shivering after the final page is turned. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

In a surprising departure from his last book, the comic novel In a Pigs Ear, British author Bryers delivers a remarkable mystery about two characters who are trying, futilely, to escape their past. The morning after the first snowfall of the season in Bridport, Maine, the mauled body of Maddie Ross is found near an archeological dig where excavators are researching the possible massacre by Souriquois Indians of the areas European first settlers. Maddie had been an assistant on the dig and had used the opportunity to delve into her own past as well: her mother was part Souriquois. Though the five slashes on the corpses face have everyone convinced Maddie was attacked by a bear, former Boston police detective Michael Calhoun suspects murder and begins investigating a connection to the local Native American folklore about bears. Maddies older sister, Jessica Ross, a student of ancient religions, arrives in Maine, having come from Oxford to bury her sister and take charge of the nine-year-old daughter Maddie left behind. Jessica and Michael bond over their unsettled pasts: he is disturbed by the contradictions between his perception of himself as a rational, ethical man and the moral ambiguity of his past in Boston; she resents the distance her repressed, responsible manner placed between her and her maverick sister. As the two protagonists close in on the reasons for Maddies death, shamans, shape-shifters and bear cults tinge the straightforward detective story with elements of supernatural horror. The complex characters, vivid writing and serious themes make up for a slow start. Bryer imagines a world where superstition and science intertwine until, finally, in the books chilling climax, they merge.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (April 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582340757
• ISBN-13: 978-1582340753
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,455,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent NewEngland Historical & Cultural Mystery!, September 13, 2004

By 

S. Henkels (Devon, Pa United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Prayer of the Bone (Paperback)

PRAYER OF THE BONE is a really fine, well done book with a lot more thoughtfulness than your average mystery. When the body of an anthropologist is found near the remote Maine coast, we're off to find the killer. Along the way, there are nice detours through local colonial and Indian history going back to the early 1600's,vanished old settlements and very old bones, some interesting locals, all in today's world of casinos and longtime family grudges. The writing here is near perfect, as we glide through this tale. My only complaint is that I figured out the killer early in the book, and the resolution did seem a little far fetched, but that's a minor comment in a most excellent mystery, far above most in this crowded field.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It was ok, but that the author isn't from around here showed, February 18, 2003

By 

elfkin4772 "elfkin4772" (NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prayer of the Bone (Hardcover)

It was fairly interesting, and I liked it despite its portrayal of Maine (the state closest to here) being deep in the dark woods, buffeted by the harsh sea; Maine is actually fairly civilized, but you wouldn't know that if this book was your only window into the state. A lot of authors have oddly romanticized views of life in northern New England, so I guess if you have to forgive one, you have to forgive them all.

What's harder to overlook was the strange reference to one of the protagonists and a friend - both Maine natives- cooking grits over an open flame. Since it was presented in a matter of fact, people there do it every day, tone it makes me wonder if the London born author learned about the US from watching westerns.

Anyway, the story is about a murdered woman, her sister and daughter, and the state cop investigating it. It's also about bears, the Souriquois, and settlers who have been dead for 300 years. It didn't have as much to do with the supernatural as the book jacket would have you believe, but it was a solid story that integrates the varying themes quite well.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Prayer of the Bone-Almost, but not quite!, December 7, 1999

By 

"wingdalereader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prayer of the Bone (Hardcover)

The Prayer of the Bone has a similar feel to "Snow Falling on Cedars" and also to Tony Hillerman's books. It captures your interest and maintains it, but, regretably, fails on delivering the total suspense that it merely suggests instead. The potential for a truly outstanding book are all here. I wish that someone would have proofread this and given some comments for improving a brilliant idea and very interesting possibilities. The characterizations tend to be somewhat weak at times or become entangled in a plot that perhaps was a little too overly intricate on a superficial level and not truly used to engender a real sense of dread and terror. The historical information while essential and fascinating, tended to be handled too much like a lecture. There are other ways that it could have been presented. Calhoun never fully emerged as a substantial character and the musings of all the characters sometimes seemed in the wrong place at the wrong moment! Don't misinterpret- I really enjoyed this book and read it non stop- but it could have been a top entry in the class that "Snow Falling on Cedars" occupies. Close to the feel of Hillerman's books, it lacks a depth of knowledge about the Native spirit. Occasionally, a real "Britishism" sneaks in which is jarring when not thought by the English character! BUT, It is certainly worth the read! Actually, it would be one of my top choices in books I would like to rewrite!