This is such a great thriller! I'm normally a romance reader, but when romance authors branch out into other genres, I try to follow them and this did not disappoint! I was surprised at the murderer at the end, but I generally stink at solving the whodunit! So good and kept me on the edge of my seat!

This is the first thriller I've read by Singh. Though at times, the pace was a bit slower than I prefer, I enjoyed this book.

It's one of my favorite genres, and I liked the unreliable narrator. The story unfolds via the use of past and present tense, which does keep the reader guessing about what happened to Nina. The writing was solid, and I really enjoyed the setting. I haven't read many books set in New Zealand. I also appreciated the Hindu language references, as well as the delicious foods! Some plot points were a bit farfetched, and there were a few lulls, but there were enough twists to keep me interested and sleuthing along.

"I smiled my best sociopath smile, charming and warm with nothing behind it."

I've read this author's Psy-Changeling series. Why? Because I'm obsessed with werewolves. In any case, I know she can world-build like a goddess, so I was immediately interested when I saw she wrote a standalone domestic thriller. I read those, too...

The entire story is steeped in paranoia and a sense that even the narrator has no idea what's going on sometimes. Not only that, he's got some brain damage. Oh, and he's a self-described sociopath. Watching him struggle to figure out who killed his mother along with his current family (and neighborhood) dynamic? Solid and enjoyable.

It's excellent because as the narrator suspects others (including himself) you are swept up in his race against the clock-which isn't really a real clock, but something's got to give, right?! As the book progressed, so too did the suspense. I found myself completely unable to set it aside during the last third of the story.

I'm pretty excited to let this one settle and see what my future reflective thoughts will be. Great characters!

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchage for an honest review.

This is a truly difficult book to rate because although I found it to be a little left field of 'perfect,' I also felt so completely compelled that I couldn't seem to stop reading the pages. The writing is top tier, the lush New Zealand woodlands so beautifully described that I could almost feel the misty air and imagine the greenery, a sensation I truly enjoyed, especially since given the cost of a plane ticket, something tells me that I'm never going there! The characters were fascinating and so thoroughly unlikeable that it's almost...endearing (not sure what that says about me, but please don't judge.) Given the state of our dazed & confused unreliable hero/anti-hero (recovered alcoholic with a brain injury and on a complicated cocktail of drugs to say nothing of his fragmented, possible falsified memories) there's an awful lot going on here and as I reader, my brain became as muddled as his. Not sure if I enjoyed that, but I guess I must've because as I mentioned, I read it in one go. I haven't read any of the authors fantasy novels and I probably won't because I'm not a fantasy girl, but if she takes another stab at the domestic thriller genre, I'm there.

I do like this author’s books. Well written, at times confusing but it fits with Ari's messed up memory/brain. Almost went to the end to find out who had killed Nina, still not sure as to the why she was killed, might have to read it again and it will be worth it.

Novelist Aarav Rai is back living at his childhood home after a car accident the damaged his foot, lungs, and brain. He's not happy to be there. His mother Nina disappeared ten years earlier and his childhood was filled with fights between his parents. He seems to remember hearing a chilling scream when she left home that night but doesn't remember anything else.

Then the unthinkable happens, his mother's car is found off the road in the bush and her bones are in it. Aarav is determined to find out what happened to his mother that night and has a wonderful pool of suspects in the rich enclave where they live. But his injuries which include memory loss and migraines don't make his investigation easy. And he's also supposed to be working on his second novel...

The Cul-de-Sac where they live is filled with people who knew Nina and some of them had reasons to hate her. Nina Rai was a loving mother but she also drank too much and could be quite cruel. Aarav is having nightmares that seem like shards of memory that make him think that he might have had something to do with his mother's death though he isn't willing to believe that.

The story was an intriguing thriller made even more complex by the memory issues the Aarav is having which include hallucinations. Since he is the viewpoint character, we share in his confusion as he looks into the lives of his neighbors to try to discover who murdered his mother. We also gradually learn about his car accident and other events in his life.

Fans of atmospheric thrillers will enjoy this intriguing story. I especially enjoyed the scenery and culture of New Zealand that were essential elements of the story.

I liked the setting but the story just did not catch me. Nalini Singh's paranormal series are much better.

Life in a gated community within a dark regional forest is perfect for the uber-wealthy people who live in the Cul-de-Sac. The quirky neighbors get on well enough. Their idyll is shattered when the car of a long-missing wife and mother is discovered deep in a ravine, along with her remains. This twisty, brooding tale will keep readers guessing right up to the shocking conclusion.

"In this gripping thriller set in New Zealand, New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes you into the twisted world of an exclusive cul-de-sac located on the edge of a sprawling forest.

My mother vanished ten years ago.
So did a quarter of a million dollars in cash.
Thief. Bitch. Criminal.
Now, she's back.
Her bones clothed in scarlet silk.

When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband. But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that’s housed the same influential families for decades.

The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago. Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he’s determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance...but no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.

Even the dead aren’t allowed to break the rules in this cul-de-sac."

New Zealand. Thriller. That is all I need to know.

Loved this one. Singh always writes amazing books and this was no different. Her thrillers are new for me but still quite enjoyed. Four stars.

Ten years ago Nina Rai vanished. Taking nothing but some money and her car, she left everyone, including her beloved son Aarav, behind. It's something that has had a huge impact on Aarav growing up and now, as a best-selling author, the themes of loss and abandonment are prominent in his works.

Everyone, even Aarav, had put her disappearance down to an unhappy wife leaving her unhappy and toxic marriage behind.

Except now, Nina Rai has been found, and it's not on a calm and sunny beach somewhere, she actually didn't make it much farther than her own home before her car veered into the brush.

Aarav immediately knows that this wasn't some unfortunate accident. He knows his mother was murdered. Now, he'll stop at nothing to unearth the secrets from the past. But can he rely on his own memories about what happened all those years ago when he's held so much grief and anger towards his mother and father? But if he is right, there's still a murderer on the loose, and secrets that someone wants to leave buried.

Nalini Singh is a must-read author for me. Even when she moved from her fantasies and romances into this mystery/thriller genre I knew she wouldn't let me down.

This is her second foray into mystery following A Madness of Sunshine, but I loved how different the two books are. Nalini Singh takes readers in a completely different direction, but obviously still retains the murder mystery aspect.

This time around readers are taken to the affluent gated community Aarav calls The Cul-de-Sac where everyone knows everybody else's business. At least, they think they do. Behind closed doors everyone has their secrets. Aarav is newly returned to the community returning to his childhood home after a vehicle accident left him with a broken leg.

The entire story is told from Aarav's point of view, and I feel like Nalini Singh was very calculating in how she framed everything. You at once feel bad for the child Aarav once was, losing his mother, but then some of his actions as an adult make him kind of easy to dislike. The same goes for the rest of the people in the neighborhood. But then you stop and think that ALL of this is from Aarav's perspective, and then you begin to question how much you can take at face value and how much is a distorted point of view.

Without another more reliable character to balance things out a bit, Quiet in Her Bones wasn't always an easy read. But as I said before, this is all so calculated. It's meant to cause the reader to get pulled in and question everything just as Aarav does. So even we feel this kind of isolation. Who do you trust? Who can you believe? Nalini Singh pulls this aspect off to perfection.

There was a very Hitchcockian feel to the story especially the idea of this idyllic close community, these neighbors that smile to your face on the outside and seemingly have it all, yet pretty much everyone harbors some kind of secret. It's something that kind of carries over from the her previous book. The secrets that hide beneath the surface of a community.

I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers, but suffice it to say, Nalini Singh has never let me down no matter what she's writing. I'm really loving her new Mystery/Thriller direction.

Hang on tight book friends we are jumping right in! With a knock on the door from cops, the mystery has already begun. Quiet in Her Bones is rich storytelling and a phenomenal premise. I was utterly absorbed and transported to New Zealand.

I can smell, see, and taste the forest, the dirt, and the trees. I think that's such an incredible tribute to the author. It's why I am, and will always be, a fan of Nalini Singh. She makes me want to visit this lush vastness of earth filled with scenic views and pounding surf and Black sands.

5 Cola filled stars!!
~Tanja

Quiet In Her Bones is a twisty and atmospheric slow-burn read that will have readers eager to figure out who is telling the truth and what really happened on that fateful night ten years ago when a woman and a quarter of a million dollars went missing.

Singh is a new-to-me author and I loved that she set her story in her native New Zealand. Throughout the book, she provides vivid descriptions of its beautiful landscape and I appreciated how she scattered tidbits of its different cultures into her plot.

This thriller has a lot going for it. Singh takes her time to develop her diverse cast - including secondary characters, giving readers a wide selection of potential culprits, all with convincing motives. No one is without a vice, a secret or a dark past. That said, there are a lot of characters on this little cul-de-sac who are introduced within a short period of page time. This made it somewhat difficult to remember who was who (I ended up making a cheat sheet which helped, particularly with those that don't play a big role in the story).

The plot, at times, felt a bit farfetched and the pacing lags a bit in the middle, but overall, this was a delightfully dark read. Singh excels at writing a main character who readers will get behind. Aarav's devotion to his sister is touching but he has a dark side and is unreliable enough to make readers suspicious of his motives, his murky past and his dubious memory. You just don't know who to trust and that wonderful uneasiness is felt throughout the book leaving readers to be kept guessing until the very end.

Look for this book in February 2021!

Disclaimer: Thank you to Berkley Publishing, the author and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

When a body is found in the New Zealand jungle, Aarav, the local police and many others in their pretty cul-de-sac neighborhood re-investigate his mother's long-ago murder. With heavy painkillers possibly affecting his memory, Aarav tries to uncover what really happened the night his beautiful, angry mother disappeared. This is already the recipe for a twisty murder investigation, where everyone's got something to hide, but what makes this more than a typical unreliable-narrator mystery were all the surprising well-developed minor characters.

A very wealthy young man recovering from a badly fractured leg and a severe head at the home of his emotionally abusive father. 10 years earlier his beautiful and vivacious mother disappeared after yet another fight with her husband. His father's story was that Nina had run off after stealing 150k from him. When her bones show up at the bottom of ravine, the police determine she's been dead since the night she left. Ari is determined to figure out what happened to his mom that rainy night in their wealthy enclave.

This story was well paced. Ari's instability and possible dissent into a psychotic break keeps the readers on edge. Does he know more than he thinks? Are his memory lapses more than a result from his head trauma? Do neighbors know more than they're saying? Readers are kept guessing until the end!

Ten years ago, Nina disappeared after a vicious argument with her husband. Aarav remembers hearing her scream. And the front door closing. Twice.
His mother's remains are found in her Jaguar - a tomb in the bush. Still healing from a recent car accident- Aarav has a broken leg and a hard hit on his house. Living with his dad to aid his recovery, Aarav becomes obsessed with solving his mother's murder. Vague memories emerge, Aarav begins to question the events of that night.
Wealthy families live in the Cul-de-sac. What are they hiding? Gambling issues. Infidelity. Domestic violence.
This plot is a slow build. Amazingly lyrical descriptions of the New Zealand bush - plants taking over, lush foliage, black beaches. Neighborhoods and their dark secrets. Traditional family roles. This is a very complex look at those we trust and love.

I love a book where EVERYONE is hiding secrets! I am all for it you guys!!! Ok so we meet Aarav who is a famous author, and rich, thanks to his book sales, and a movie, and also because his family is rich too. Anyway, he suffers a huge accident so he has to stay with the one person he really dislikes and it’s his dad. Aarav believes that his dad may know what happened to his mom 10 years ago. And let me tell YOU, what Aarav uncovers about everyone in his town will leave you with your mouth open!

Aarav’s mother Nina went missing, it was said that she just up and left with a crapload of money and in her Jag. But then we find out that non of that is true, unfortunately Nina won’t be coming back, and the secrets behind her disappearance towards the end fell short, a little but leading up to it? OH EM GEEEE!

This book had so many twists, even about Aarav himself. Even though it’s about finding out the mystery of Nina’s disappearance and why? And also her death, I felt more intrigued with the whole towns secrets, I was way more interested in those stories. I actually liked the flow of the book and it kept me on edge, I didn’t know what was going to happen next and I guess that’s why I gave it a 4 star.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

What a fabulous read! Singh is a fantastic writer, so, even though, I'm not the biggest thriller fan, I knew I was going to give Quiet in Her Bones a read. I loved this book much more then then first thriller she wrote. The main character is very layered, which I've found doesn't happen a lot in stand-alone thrillers. He's manipulative, short-tempered, and one bad day from having a mental crisis, while also incredibly intelligent, and kind, and protective, to those he believes deserve it.

The plot was twisty, and suspense filled, as the trope of the unreliable narrator plays a heavy part in the plot line. There are a lot of suspects, as Aarav's mother was not the most well liked woman in the world, and Aarav takes it upon himself to figure out what happened to his mother 10 years ago, even as his mental state starts to deteriorate. I honestly only half figured out what was going on in the last 50 pages of the book, and there was still a curve ball thrown in right at the end for that one final twist.

If you are in to more emotional thriller, with a well fleshed out main character, and a lot of twists, then give Quiet in Her Bones a read. You will not be disappointed.

Aarev Rai's family lived in an exclusive cul de sac in New Zealand, but regardless of how much money the family had or how beautiful Aarev's mother was--family life was a battle ground.

When Aarev was sixteen, his beautiful mother disappeared and so did a quarter of a million dollars. His father believes Nina Rai left him and stole the money. Aarev can't believe his beloved mother would have left him behind.

Ten years later, Aarev is temporarily back home after an accident, and Nina Rai's remains are found.

Nina was not a perfect mother and several people had reason to hate her, but Aarev has to know what happened and who was responsible even if....

An unreliable narrator, good writing, and a little outside the usual formulaic pattern all worked to keep me turning the pages.

NetGalley/Berkley Publishing
Crime. Feb. 23, 2021. Print length: 384 pages.

I have not read any of prolific writer Nalini Singh's paranormal romance novels but thoroughly enjoyed her previous mystery set in New Zealand. I really wanted to like Quiet In Her Bones as much but this book fell flat for me. I missed the sense of place that was almost an extra character in her previous thriller. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and did not particularly like any of them. That being said I think Ms Singh is a gifted writer with a wonderful way with words. Because of that I am rounding up my 3.5 stars to 4 and look forward to reading her next book