With a family lineage full of psychopaths, Olivia Eriksen has always been worried the “Eriksen twitch” would find her. Olivia has dedicated her college years trying to answer if nature or nurture plays the bigger part in making a psychopaths

For years she’s carefully kept distance between herself and her family but when an invitation to the family reunion appears how can she say no? This seems like the perfect opportunity to interview her grandfather for her dissertation and introduce her fiancé to her family.

But when a violent storm traps them at the resort and bodies start showing up, Olivia starts to question everything. Then to add to the mayhem, true crime pod caster Birdie has traced her latest case right to the Eriksens.

A family trapped at a resort by a violent storm? Sign me up, I am a complete sucker for locked room mysteries! However with locked rooms there’s always the tricky balance of having enough suspects to keep it interesting but not so many it gets confusing. The Family Bones borders on too many characters but having the family tree in the front made it a perfect balance in my opinion. Being able to go to the front and reference the tree made it easy to keep track of everyone and kept me guessing!

The story is told in dual POV with both Olivia and Birdie. I found myself preferring Birdie’s fiery attitude (I would love to read a whole book from her POV), but Olivia’s chapters are where most of the action was happening so I enjoyed both. Between the chapters there were also articles and journal entries which added cool elements to the story that I loved!

While some of the twists were a little predictable, there were a few I didn’t see coming and the story itself kept me engaged and interested.

This oddly felt both different and similar to other novels. A family of psychopaths, a reunion, no phones, and murder all add up to a novel that others likely will enjoy more than I did. I DNF. Oh, and a pod caster. It's a mash up. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A pass from me.

This was like a big game of clue. With more than one murder. The pacing was great, with no lulls, plenty of action. I liked having more than one viewpoint, and seeing how everything came together. Quite a lot of characters to try and keep track of though.

A bit uneven, with shifting timeline and viewpoints as well as a large cast of characters, all of which made it more challenging to understand what was going on. Based on the blurb provided I expected to like this much more than I did.

The Family Bones is a tense psychotic thriller. Psychology student Olivia Eriksen’s family is notorious. Most of her family has presented signs of being psychopaths in their early twenty's. As her 23rd birthday approaches she is desperate to discover whether her family legacy of psychopaths is genetic or learned behavior. She is writing her dissertation based on her family's infamous legacy.

Olivia opens her mail to find she has been invited to the Erikson Family Reunion. Afraid to go she feels she has no choice and brings her fiancé with her hoping he will be a protective buffer and they can announce their engagement to the family.

But nothing is as it seems with the Eriksen family. Olivia’s favorite cousin is found dead in a nearby lake the next morning after they arrive. Fingers start wagging in Olivia's direction since she was supposed to meet him last night to go to the wine cellar together. Family members start to disappear one at a time with Olivia being to blame. A violent storm isolates the group, and the police cannot assist.

A guest arrives that follows the clues for a missing woman that leads her to the Family Reunion site. A shocking twist is revealed that Olivia doesn’t see coming.

The story is told from two points of view Olivia and Birdie, also with a journal being read by Birdie with clues as to what happened to the missing woman.

A family of psychopaths attending a family reunion at a remote mountain retreat isolated by storm damage. What could possible go wrong? This was a fun read and a unique and fresh take on the locked room mystery and I read this in one day! Olivia is working on her dissertation for psychology and wants to speak to her grandfather about the “family twitch”. So she accepts the invitation to join her family reunion bringing along her fiancé Howard, who surprisingly, is not at all intimidated by the idea of spending the weekend with a group of psychopaths. But when a storm rolls in, isolating the group from the outside world and someone ends up dead on the first night, it might get a little hairy trying to survive. Thank you Netgalley, Thomas and Mercer, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on March 7, 2023.

An interesting read, but felt the pace was quite slow. I did enjoy the storyline and the character development.

Psychology student Olivia has been studying what makes someone a psychopath: nature or nurture? She knows first hand, from her family, that both can play a role and she has kept her distance for years. But when she is invited to a family reunion, she reluctantly agrees to go.

A reunion in the middle of no where with a family of psychopaths: what could possibly go wrong?! I loved the premise of this book - one individual studying about mental disorders that just happen to run in her own family. We also get the perspective of Birdie, a podcaster studying a cold case she believed to be connected to this family, and there is a third perspective of journal entries by another individual. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I found the psychological thriller aspect of this spot on too - I had to reread one part to make sure I didn’t as understanding it correctly! I had an inkling of where it was going to go, but that did not stop me from enjoying it in the slightest. Another solid story from Elle Marr - she is quickly becoming one of my favorites!

Thank you to Netgalley, Elle Marr and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC! “The Family Bones” releases March 7th.

This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly 😊

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy I’d this book.

Olivia Eriksen is a graduate student. She is studying psychopaths, and more accurately the issue of nature or nurture.
When she receives an invitation to her family retreat 10 years after the last one she is reluctant. Strange, but Olivia’s family are famous for psychopath traits.
Persuaded by her mum, Olivia and her fiancé Howard decide to attend. There is a murder the first night, and the dead bodies keep coming. Why is someone trying to set Olivia up?

This book had lots of twists and turns in it. Honestly I found there was a few too many characters so keeping track of them and their relationship to Olivia was difficult. There were also chapters from Bridie a true crime podcaster, investigating a missing woman.

This was definitely worth a read, but I found it a wee bit too long for me.

Dual storylines. A family of psychopaths. An isolated retreat. You'd think this would be the perfect book. It almost was.
The chapter alternate between Olivia and Birdie a true crime podcaster. Throw in a mystery person's diary and you have the makings of a very intense edge of your seat thriller. This book keeps you turning the pages until the end. The twisted ending was great.
The only thing that made me a little hesitant to give five stars was that Olivia was just not that close to her family yet she's writing a story about them. Though that can happen and cause lots of possible hard feelings. This book truly is good. It's almost excellent.

Well done.
Thank you #NetGalley and #Thomas&Mercer for this ARC.

With THE FAMILY BONES, Elle Marr delivers another smart and shocking thriller that will have you frantically flipping pages all the way to the end.

Psychology student Olivia Eriksen hails from a family of well-known psychopaths and through her university dissertation, hopes to prove she doesn’t have to resign herself to the same fate. When Olivia receives an invite to a family reunion in a remote mountain resort, she sees it as her best chance to interview relatives who have, so far, been avoiding her calls. But when a storm cuts the resort off from the outside world and family members start turning up dead, Olivia begins to wonder if she’s made a terrible mistake.

In another state, true crime podcaster Birdie Tan is searching for answers in a decade-old missing person case. A case that ultimately sets Birdie on a path towards the dysfunctional (and deadly) Eriksen family reunion in search of the truth.

As the novel progresses, Marr expertly weaves Olivia and Birdie’s storylines together with journal entries and newspaper articles, leading readers towards a dramatic climax you know is coming but still won’t believe.

THE FAMILY BONES is a locked room thriller that feels new and different. Deep and poignant themes like mental illness, racism and the challenges of motherhood are handled with care as the threads of the story come together.

Marr is one of my favourite suspense writers and I absolutely devoured this novel. THE FAMILY BONES is out on March 7.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for the advance reading copy.

What’s the worst that could happen when a family full of psychopaths end up stuck together in an isolated retreat? Wow. This book was a wild ride from beginning to end and I was absolutely hooked. Elle Marr’s writing was brilliant and I loved how the chapters flipped between people / news articles / diary entries.

The Family Bones is a psychological thriller by author Elle Marr.
This one is a twist filled mystery which asks the age of question about nature vs nurture. Murder and psychopathy runs in Olivia's family, and as she nears her next birthday she starts to wonder if murder runs in the blood. Attending a family reunion with her boyfriend, what follows is a locked room style murder mystery as Olivia and her relatives are stranded on an island where the bodies start to pile up. Alongside this we also get chapters from another character, Birdie who is investigating a missing woman and has her own podcast. As well as interspersed journal entries from an unnamed woman. It's not initially obvious how these three plots intertwine but as the story progresses you will be treated to some mindblowing twists and reveals. I didn't love the character of Birdie and felt this plot line was quite slow and not as interesting as Olivia's. I liked how it all wrapped up. Overall I really enjoyed this one and will keep an eye out for new releases by this author.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an arc of this book.

Read this book!! This was a crazy ride and I loved every minute. I enjoyed the characters as crazy as they were. Compelling and suspenseful

A tale of a family riddled with psychopaths plotting a reunion. Who is to be trusted and what secrets will be revealed. As the days unravel it only a matter of time before blood is shed and the past creeps up again. In the meantime, a podcaster stumbles on the disappearance of a young mom and quickly discovers not everything meets the eye. It was a slow burn at first but quickly descends into a chaotic outcome with a few twists to keep you interested. 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

This was such an interesting book! It had me hooked as soon as I started it! I really enjoyed the twists and turns!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the author for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

Expected publication date: March 7, 2023
Olivia Eriksen is a psychology PhD student, studying psychopathy and whether or not psychopaths are a result of nature or nature, and she has the perfect research subjects- her own family. Known throughout true crime circuits, the Eriksen’s have been plagued by psychopathy for generations- from her uncle, the renowned but narcissistic surgeon, to her own father- now behind bars for murder. When Olivia receives an invitation to a family reunion, she is cautious but curious and decides to interview her relatives in person for her dissertation. Unfortunately, when a massive storm knocks out the power, Olivia finds herself surrounded by a growing pile of dead bodies—and the evidence points to her as the killer.
Elle Marr’s newest novel, “The Family Bones”, is a twisted examination of the deepest, darkest parts of the human psyche, and what role genetics play in the recipe.
The Eriksen family is extensive, with aunts, uncles, cousins and their partners, and it is difficult to keep track of who is related to whom (Luckily, Marr helps by adding a family tree at the beginning of the novel). Olivia narrates her side of the novel, of course, but we also hear from true crime podcaster, Birdie, who surreptitiously becomes involved with the Eriksen’s while researching the disappearance of a young woman years ago. Oh, and there’s also some very cryptic journal entries from an unknown source close to the Eriksen clan- but that secret isn’t revealed until the final pages (of course).
So, with three separate narrators all connected by thin thread, among generations of family members (some psychotic, some not) the plot can get overwhelming. But it is also captivating and deliciously creepy! Marr delves deep into what makes a psychopath tick, and how to recognize one (even among those you love), all with the backdrop of a family reunion at a secluded wooded estate.
Marr’s novel is a must-read for psychological fiction fans (stress on the ‘psychological’). Although “Bones” is similar to Marr’s other novels, “Lies We Bury” and “Strangers We Know” in that they both revolve around solving family-related murders, “Bones” is unique in its own right- and is worth a read!

I really wanted to love this book. It fell a little short for me.
It is told between old newspaper clippings and present time. Lots of family drama and issues, which did prove entertaining. I read it quickly, but felt it could have been a little deeper to make me really invested.

Thankful for the ARC

i love Elle Mars books and this one was just as great. the writing was great, she made her characters come to live and i loved the twists. such a rollercoaster story. a definite recommend.

thanks netgalley and Thomas and Mercer

all thoughts and opinions are my own and arent influenced by anyone else

I didn't really connect with the characters in this book. I am sorry that I didn't enjoy it more, and hope it was just me and other readers like it more.