Customer Reviews

Song of the Bones: A Chantalene Mystery

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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.

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

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.