In Her Bones

In Her Bones by Kate Moretti
Atria Books: 9/4/18
eBook review copy; 320 pages
ISBN-13: 9781501166471

In Her Bones by Kate Moretti is a highly recommended mystery/suspense novel about a woman on the run trying to uncover the truth.

Edie Beckett, 30, is just trying to live her life out of the spotlight. Fifteen years ago, her mother, Lilith Wade, was convicted of murdering six women, and sentenced to death row. The media frenzy continued after the release of the unauthorized biography by an unknown author. Edie is a recovering alcoholic who keeps to herself, has a co-dependent relationship with her brother, and an unhealthy obsession with the surviving family members of Lilith's victims. She keeps notebooks on their personal information, stalks them online (and in person if possible).

Edie's current obsession is Peter Lipsky, whose wife was fatally stabbed by Lilith. She's stalking him online, through a survivor's message board, and collecting information about him and his late wife, Colleen.  Colleen's murder is the one that doesn't fit the profile of Lilith's other victims. When Edie meets Peter during one of her reconnaissance missions, she ends up drinking too much and and goes home with him. She leaves before he wakes up, but is later found murdered that morning. She doesn't remember much of the night and now she is the prime suspect for his murder. Edie goes on the run while trying to uncover what really happened and who killed Peter.

Edie is a sympathetic, fleshed-out character and the main narrator in the book, although there are also excerpts from the biography of Lilith included and a few from Gil Brandt, the detective who caught Lilith, but also helped Edie. As the novel unfolds, Edie reminisces about her troubled childhood with Lilith while dealing with her current situation. Edie is also clearly a damaged character, and much of this began in her childhood with Lilith.

While on the run rather than talking to detectives, she does make some questionable/interesting choices along the way and has a few stumbles. In her own way, she is a resourceful, smart, and street savvy character. She is clever enough to evade being caught while trying to ferret out the truth about Peter's murder, which also requires her to look back at his wife's murder. Was Lilith responsible for it or is there another killer running loose out there and could Edie now be a target?

I found this to be a well-written, compelling mystery (rather than thriller). The pace is even, rather than fast, until the end, but the steps Edie takes and her reasoning is interesting enough to keep your attention. In Her Bones held my attention throughout. Although I had all manner of guesses and suspects, I didn't have a clue about the ending until just before it happened. Nicely played Moretti!

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books via Netgalley.