Twisted Bones by Helen Phifer
English | 2025 | Mystery & Thriller
Moonlight shines over the cottage by the river, casting a shadow over the frozen water. Silk fabric rustles in the reeds, moving ever so slightly to reveal five thin bones…
When Detective Morgan Brookes is urgently called to her Aunt Ettie’s cottage, hidden in Covel Woods, she rushes to the scene. Panicked Ettie is shaken having discovered the chilling remains of a woman in the river, one skeletal hand reaching out from the deep water.
The unknown woman was dressed to walk the rugged trails of the Lake District, so Morgan’s team assume she fell in the water and was taken by the current. But thin diagonal bruises on her neck suggest something far more sinister. A faded red rose tattoo helps Morgan identify her as a homeless woman named Martha who went missing seven years ago, and Morgan is horrified to discover Martha stole nappies and baby formula just before she disappeared. Did she have a child? Where is the poor baby now?
Desperately searching through cold case files, Morgan discovers that schoolteacher Aria Burns went missing from the same busy area. But her horror quickly turns to hope when she sees the autopsy results from Martha’s frozen remains. She was killed recently; if Aria was taken by the same killer, she could still be alive.
Morgan is certain a twisted individual is stalking Rydal Falls, and Martha’s body was dumped to signal the beginning of his cruel game. But just as she finds a clear suspect in a visitor with links to the area where Martha and Aria went missing, another body surfaces. Can she uncover the truth about Martha, and find Aria alive? Or is she already too late?
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