This review was originally posted on <a href="http://booksofmyheart.net/2022/07/10/old-bones-lie-by-marion-todd/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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<i>Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

3.5 hearts

I've really been enjoying the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/272107-d-i-clare-mackay" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em><strong>DI Clare Mackay</strong></em></a> series.  I bought the first one,  <strong>See Them Run</strong>, as a audio deal on Chirp.  When the next few in the series went on sale I thought I should see if I liked the first one before I bought more, but then I found the next ones on audio at Hoopla.   The audio was interesting because the author narrates them herself, which is something I normally like,  and I could hear all the regional type accents of Scotland.  So when <strong>Old Bones Lie</strong> came available I was just caught up to current and ready.

The series is a police procedural and that is the primary focus. We get everything from Clare's point of view and she leads her team.  Often a DCI comes in and never seems to provide support, only wants reports and to take the credit.  There are layers in her relationships with her co-workers and her personal life.  Clare spends a very high percentage of her time on work, so she doesn't put much effort into her personal relationships. This may be why they don't always work.  However, she does seem to be settling into one at the moment.

I appreciate many things about Clare's work life.  There is her skill and strategy at tackling an investigation, knowing what is important and what steps to take.  She also has to deal with victims and families of victims with some care.  Her mentoring of her team and best utilizing their skills also takes some efforts.

The current events seem like a straightforward case where things connect up.  The events do connect up but not in the way expected.  Really things seemed obvious, except the unavailable DCI, until they weren't.  The whole thing turned on its head with lots of people firmly believing things which were not reality.  Clare and her team do figure things out, but it's a little unsatisfying because some people can't be charged as there isn't enough evidence.  That is quite realistic though.

This is the first book I’ve read in this series but I enjoyed it so much I’ve purchased all the previous ones. After a robbery at a jewellery store it’s discovered things weren’t quite as they seemed and the girl found murdered in the shed wasn’t who we thought either. I loved the twists and turns. I thought I’d sussed it all out at one point only for it to be dismissed almost on the next page. I loved it and can’t wait to read the previous ones

4.5 stars. This is the 6th book in the series and just as good as the others. I do recommend reading them all in order to benefit from all the characters and their relationships with each other. It had a unique storyline with great twists that all tied together nicely at the end. Love this series and look forward to the next one.

My review: 3 1/2 /5 stars
There’s certainly a lot of love in the crime fiction fan world for Marion Todd’s books & DI Clare Mackay. Old Bones Lie is the sixth in the series, and there are some characters in there who certainly have back stories that many readers will be familiar with. I personally haven’t read any of the others but I didn’t find this a problem and I enjoyed the story, the conflicts that the investigating team felt between personal loyalties and police responsibility when trying to discover what happened to the missing officers and their families.
I enjoyed the love of Scotland’s landscape and people that came through loud and clear; it certainly made me want to go back and indulge myself in the beautiful countryside around St Andrews.
Its an easy page-turning read with some clever twists and turns to keep you questioning where the story is going

This series just gets better with every book! ‘Old Bones Lie’ is a gripping tale with twists and turns aplenty! I was completely engrossed by this book and flew through it in one day. This is the 6th book in the series but you can pick it up as a standalone very easily! I feel the series is coming into it's own now and when I visit St Andrews I will be imagining Clare striding down the beautiful streets and nipping in Toppings to update her own tbr pile!

It's Saturday night and a group of friends have gathered for a takeaway and some drinks. There is a knock on the door and armed men push their way in and kidnap the women. Their husbands are prison officers and are told they have to break out a prisoner or their wives will be hurt. Clare picks up the case when the prisoner and the prison officers go missing. When the woman who identified the prisoner during his trial is murdered Clare has to look into the past to try and solve this one.

I love DI Mackay and her team, which now includes the newbie DS Max Evans! Gosh, I bet I come across like him to new people, far too eager to please and full of random topics of knowledge. Loved him so much! Please keep him in the series Marion 🤞

The story in ‘Old Bones Lie’ was fascinating as it was so multilayered and there were some twists I did not see coming AT ALL! I particularly liked the thread about Maggie and her murder. I loved the determination of Clare to solve her cases, even though one of them is no longer technically her case when a DCI is parachuted in to lead the missing prisoner case.

This is a brilliant addition to the series and I can't wait for the next book to be released!

show me someone who does not enjoy a nice glass of wine and a good thriller ..So much thanks and appreciation to the author and her team i enjoyed this book. i could barely put it down i mean who would anyway

Old Bones Lie is the next in the DI McKay police procedural series, which has been one of my personal favourite series in recent years. Marion Todd manages to give us a different spin each time, with the action still remaining realistic and engaging.

The story this time around centres on a prisoner who has gone missing with two of his prison guards. The complication is that the wives of the prison guards have also gone missing, so the police face a race against time to find everyone safely. A second storyline, involving a mysterious colleague, a murder and a jewellery heist bubbles under the surface too. Are the two crimes connected?

This is another great installment in the series, which is great for loyal readers but also those reading Marion Todd for the first time.

I’d like to thank Canelo and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Old Bones Lie’, the sixth in the Detective Clare Mackay series written by Marion Todd, in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Friends Kim and Debbie are having a Chinese take-away with their husbands Alan and Gavin when hooded men burst in and drag the two women away before throwing them into a van. As they’re kept locked up in a secluded building, their prison officer husbands disappear while taking a convicted jewel thief to a funeral. DI Clare Mackay is leading the investigation when she’s told to hand it over to DCI Ben Ratcliffe who she’s not met before and has been brought in to take over while Clare concentrates on another case. But Clare isn’t happy that he’s keeping secrets from her.

‘Old Bones Lie’ is a thoroughly enjoyable police thriller set in Scotland where we once again meet DI Clare Mackay and her hardworking team including the new DS Max Evans who makes the best coffee in the station. The story is involving with two threads running simultaneously as Clare has to decide whether the cases are connected. The plot has been well thought-out with plenty of drama, suspense, intrigue and twists and turns, the final twist making Clare re-think the evidence. I’ve enjoyed reading this thriller that has been entertaining and is one I can recommend.

When a report comes in that a van containing two prison officers and a convicted jewel thief Paul Devine is missing, the police in St Andrews work quickly to locate the vehicle. Their efforts prove in vain when no trace is found and they realise the wives of both officers also appear to have left the area. DI Clare Mackay leads the team but has to do without her right hand man; DS Chris West is a cousin to one of the missing prison officers and must not be involved in the case. With a new sergeant Max Evans at her side, Clare’s people skills are pushed to the limit. Especially once she realises her boss is keeping her on the sidelines.
This is the sixth outing for Clare & a well written mystery but not my favourite of the series, it started & ended well but the pace faltered in the middle & I must admit I skimmed some pages until things picked up. There are lots of twists & turns & the way things were tied up not as I expected. I do like Clare & really enjoy the series & look forward to many more
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

This is the sixth book in the series but the first one I have read. I felt that the book stood up well on its own as the focus of the story was the crimes rather than the detective's personal life. There were a number of strands to the plot that were interwoven but weren't necessarily tied up neatly at the end. I found the murder strand the more compelling mystery and this had plenty of twists. The robbery strand got a bit muddled at times.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read with a promising start, although I felt rather disappointed by the end. The characters were mostly just names and lacked personality. Entertaining but nothing special.

I absolutely loved this book.

Just when you think you know what's happening the plot takes a completely different turn. I was gripped from the start and even got up at 6am so I could carry on reading!

A brilliant 5 🌟 police thriller that will keep you hooked.

Already looking forward to the next one.

This was a quick read. So many different mysteries and suspense. Exactly my kinda book! Well written page turner!!

Another great police procedural from Marion Todd. I have read others from this series and they are all very good. I like the characters of the detective and there are a couple of new detectives in this book. The plot twists and turns and kept my interest . Not too bloody, but enough action , certainly believable and I loved the developments in Clare's personal life.
Thanks to Net Galley, Canelo and the author for another great read

I would like to thank Netgalley and Canelo for an advance copy of Old Bones Lie, the sixth novel to feature DI Clare Mackay, set in St Andrews.

When a prison van, two guards and a prisoner disappear Clare and the team are on high alert, especially when there is also no sign of the guards’ wives. To make matters worse her DS, Chris West, is related to one of the guards and is off the case so she has to work with a new sergeant and a new boss who appears to have his own agenda.

I thoroughly enjoyed Old Bones Lie, which weaves several crimes into its fabric, leaving the reader guessing about how related they are. It helps that St Andrews is a smallish town, thus eliminating the suspicion of overly coincidental events.

I feel that the novel covers a lot of ground. On the crime front there are the disappearances, a murder and even tractor crime (worth much more money than a townie like me could even guess at) and they all seem to have links to a historic crime, note the seem. It’s well done and absorbing because there is so much going on, meaning developments at every turn.

If an all go criminal investigation weren’t enough Clare is dealing with a new DCI, parachuted in to help with the workload. He’s a strange one, laid back about what she sees as priorities, keeping secrets and cutting her out at critical junctures. What he’s up to is another mystery and the answer doesn’t make for pleasant reading.

I like this series and Old Bones Lie is another successful addition so I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.

Old Bones Lie is an engrossing and completely gripping police procedural. I haven't read the previous books of this series but I had no trouble following the recurring characters' side stories.

The mystery behind the missing prison officers, the jewelry heist and convicted thief, and Maggie's murder kept me guessing till the end. Clare wonders if these three crimes are connected. If so, it might mean that Maggie (who was a witness in the heist) was in cahoots with the thief. Hmm! That doesn't sound right. After all, it was her statement that put Paul behind bars.

I absolutely loved the writing. Excellent character portrayal. Without any doubt, I will say Clare is my favorite character in the story. At the beginning, Max was a tad annoying like but as the story proceeded, I changed my opinion about him - he had his own way of getting suspects and witnesses to talk freely with the police.

If you are looking for a riveting police procedural, I recommend you to give Old Bones Lie by Marion Todd

Very good but not my favorite in the series🤔

I am a big fan of Todd's DI Clare Mackay series. Love the St. Andrews, Scotland location and the principal characters, especially Clare who's dedicated but not obsessed with her job. Clare's a whiz at organizing her resources and she's got a very capable team who seem to love her as a leader.

That said, this book did not have me so quickly hooked as the previous in the series. It's still a good police procedural and covers investigation of a number of crimes suspected of being connected to a jewel heist. An aloof supervising DCI whose method of operating challenges Clare's idea of how the investigation should be run adds some mystery to the case. Clare has a decent home life and is not one of those detectives whose personal problems compete with the investigation. All to the good. I could have done with a bit less coffee making, though. And I found the twist regarding the jeweler's assistant a bit contrived.

Thanks to Canelo and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

DI Clare Mackay has a team of officers she values and respects. They work well together and, more importantly, get results. When Clare is notified about a missing prisoner who seems to have disappeared without trace, along with the guards accompanying him, as he returns from a funeral, she knows her new case will be testing from the start.

Clare soon has everyone working together to discover what happened but unfortunately changes are afoot and things don't go quite to plan. Instead she has to break in a new DS and share her investigation with a very secretive DCI and the case itself is made even more urgent when a dead body is found.

With far more people involved on both sides of the investigation than she’d like Clare keeps pressing forward until a totally separate discovery brings her the breakthrough she's been waiting for. Maybe now the clues will fall into place but then information which changes everything comes to light and Clare begins to doubt just how much authority she actually has.

This is the sixth book in the wonderful Clare Mackay series and Marion Todd nails it from page one. Told in daily installments the investigation shows both the urgency and waiting around that goes on and has just enough of Clare's private life to keep her as rounded a character as usual. Added to this are problems with a key team member and the introduction of a new DS, both of which worked brilliantly.

If I were to offer any criticism it would be that, after a book full of action and discovery, the end was more low key than I'd expected. It wasn't however, enough to lessen my enjoyment of this excellent book.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. This addition to a brilliant, must read, series is highly recommended.

Marion Todd has done it again, written a taut thriller based within St. Andrews that moves at a pace. Great characterisation of Mackay coupled with her relationship with Chris and DI Gibson, the arc she encounters with new colleagues as well as struggling to solve this difficult case is ably handled.

Another brilliantly written edge-of-the-seat case in the DI Clare Mackay series, utterly unputdownable! I was kindly allowed to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this gripping book

marion todd has done it again...book 6 in this amazing series and its action all the way...

with the abduction of two women
with the escape of a prisoner...clare mackay and her team have their work cut off for them

but their hands get further tied when one of her team is a relative of the missing women

two new officers are introduced to the team as they start to investigate and its not long before things start to unravel

brilliant book to this series and i for one couldnt put it down....

cant wait for the next book in this brilliant series