Audiobook Review: Cover The Bones, by Rachel Amphlett

Book details

When archaeologists discover a skeleton in secluded woodland, the body is first thought to be related to an ancient Saxon settlement.  

Then the torn and rotten remains of another woman’s bones are uncovered, her injuries bearing the markings of abuse and a violent death.

Detective Mark Turpin is tasked with finding their killer, except the forensic evidence is perplexing and the victims’ bodies are proving impossible to identify.   When a third victim is discovered only metres from the first, Mark and his team realise they’re running out of time to find out whoever is responsible.  

Are the brutal murders the only evidence in a case gone cold, or does a serial killer lurk in the shadows, stalking their next victim? 

Cover the Bones is the fifth book in the Detective Mark Turpin series from USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett.

My Review

Thanks to Anne of Random Things Tours, for organising this tour and to Rachel Amphlett for my audiobook of this novel.

I listened to this audio book on my way to Edinburgh. It kept me entertained through four and a half hours on trains, plus a bit more while I walked to my hotel and in my hotel room.

During an archaeological survey, a body is found. And then another. DS Turpin and his team struggle to make any progress until they realise the victims are older women. This narrows the list of potential missing persons. When a third body comes to light during a rain storm, they get another breakthrough – a surgical implant! With the name of the third and first victims they search for a link between the two. With some digging and one or two wrong turns, they find the culprit, race to stop their next murder and discovery just how many murderers there have been.

The theme of this novel is elder abuse; no one realises that the missing people – all vulnerable older people – are victims of a serial killer because no one notices vulnerable older people and social care has been farmed out to private companies.

This was an enjoyable novel to listen to and thought provoking.