Song of the Bones: A Chantalene Mystery [Hardcover]

M. K. Preston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2003

Acclaimed mystery writer Marcia K. Preston returns with her second Chantalene mystery. Filled with mistaken identities, waking dreams of a strange, lost girl, a bogus oil company, robbery, murder, a crazy hermit, and a handsome cowboy, Song of the Bones is sure to thrill Preston's growing fan base.

Tetumka, Oklahoma's friendly postmistress, Thelma Patterson, and Chantalene Morrell's surrogate aunt, -retains Drew Sander's legal services-with Chantalene as his assistant. Billy Ray Patterson, the younger man Thelma married thirty years before, disappeared soon -after. And now Thelma needs to find him. An oil company wants to lease Thelma's land for exploration, but Billy Ray's name is still on the property and she needs to clear the title. They assume he's dead, that is until a handsome cowboy claiming to be Billy Ray shows up in Tetumka and moves in with Thelma. After a few days, Thelma is convinced the man living in her house is not her husband.

Meanwhile, Chantalene has problems of her own. -Personal items are missing from her house, and she's haunted by waking dreams of a strange, lost girl she doesn't know. Is she losing her mind? Chantalene has mounting suspicions that someone is stalking her.

Chantalene learns the story of Thelma's once-in-a--lifetime romance with her handsome younger man and follows his cold trail to New Mexico. Once Chantalene comes to the conclusion that the man in Thelma's house is not Billy Ray, but his long-thought-dead brother Donnie Ray, things turn sinister. And the danger is just beginning . . .

Marcia K. Preston grew up on a wheat farm in Oklahoma, near a town not too different from the setting of her mystery series featuring Chantalene Morrell. The first book in the series, Perhaps She'll Die, was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award for suspense fiction, and for Macavity and Barry awards in the Best First Mystery -division.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Preston's follow-up to Perhaps She'll Die (2001) returns readers to tiny Tetumka, Oklahoma, where feisty protagonist Chantalene Morrell, still enjoying a passionate relationship with her lawyer boyfriend, Drew, is drawn into a complex situation with her surrogate aunt, postmistress Thelma Patterson. When an oil company approaches Thelma about leasing her land, she must find her long-missing husband, Billy Ray Patterson, to clear the title. Patterson, who disappeared 30 years ago, has not been heard from since. Yet, almost immediately after Chantalene and Drew agree to look for Patterson, a man claiming to be Billy Ray walks into their office. After initial doubts, Thelma and Chantalene accept the stranger--but Thelma soon becomes convinced that he is an imposter, prompting Chantalene to travel to New Mexico to investigate the supposed death of Billy Ray's brother, Donnie Ray. Is the man staying with Thelma really Donnie Ray? The unlikely pair of Chantalene and Thelma make engaging sleuths in this appealing southwestern mystery. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

M. K. Preston grew up on a wheat farm in Oklahoma, near a town not too different from the setting of her mystery series. She still lives in central Oklahoma, where the rivers run red in springtime and the cottonwoods lean toward the North Star. By day she edits and publishes Byline, a nationally distributed trade magazine for writers.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Intrigue Press; First Edition edition (December 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890768545
• ISBN-13: 978-1890768546
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,407,837 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 A Fabulous Oklahoma Mystery!!!, December 18, 2003

By 

Craig T. Case (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Song of the Bones: A Chantalene Mystery (Hardcover)

Song of the Bones is the second title in the Chantaline Mystery series. This time out Chantalene's friend, Thelma, enlists her aid (and Chantalene's love interest, Drew) in finding out what happened to her husband, Billy Ray Patterson, who disappeared decades ago. Thelma has no particular interest in finding him; rather, her purpose lies in getting his name off of the title to her property. When a man appeaars on the scene claiming to be Billy Ray, Thelma takes him back, but in less than a week has serious doubts about his identity. Billy Ray's untimely death sets off a series of events resulting in Chantelene's being drawn into a tangled web of double crosses and murder that extend back to the days of Thelma's marriage to Billy Ray. And let's not forget a third party who is stalking Chantalene, convinced that she is a shapeshifter.

The book concludes with a very clever twist concerning Billy Ray's identity. Do you want to know how good this book is? I had to ration the pages, only 50 per day because I wanted it to last. This is a must read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strong amateur sleuth tale, November 26, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Song of the Bones: A Chantalene Mystery (Hardcover)

The small rural town of Tetumka, Oklahoma is home to Chantalene Morrell. After a hard adolescence in which the townsfolk though her father was a murderer and she was a witch Chantalene has finally made a place for herself. During the period the locals thought her father was a killer, Thelma Patterson was the only person to really stand by Chantalene who feels indebted to her.

When Billy Ray Patterson shows up in town after walking out on Thelma twenty-eight years ago, she immediately takes him back. Three days later she confides to Chantalene that the man in her house is not her husband. A concerned Chantalene investigates. While returning home with evidence, a car deliberately runs at her. She is knocked out. When she comes to, the evidence is gone and so is Thelma. While the man who was supposed to be Billy Ray is dead with a bullet in his body someone has kidnapped Thelma and wants the stolen money from a casino robbery over two decades ago in exchange for the kidnap victim. Chantalene doesn't have a clue where the money is or who is holding Thelma.

The heroine of SONG OF THE BONES is a brave and independent woman who will put her own life in danger to save her friend. M.K. Preston is a talented writer who makes a backwater town in rural Oklahoma seem so real, readers will feel they have visited Tetumka. The protagonist marches to her own drummer but endears herself to the audience who sees her as a colorful friend turning this amateur sleuth tale into must reading.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful second novel!, February 20, 2005

By 

April Burk (Archer, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Song of the Bones: A Chantalene Mystery (Hardcover)

While set in Oklahoma, this mystery ventures into the spirit world a bit, too. Many writers have tried this, some not so successfully. Preston pulls it off beautifully. SONG OF THE BONES is a fantastic follow-up to PERHAPS SHE'LL DIE. The protagonist, Chantalene, is a fiesty, complex, intriguing heroine that you'll come to care about very much.