he Skeleton Key” has already been acknowledged in the UK as a best thriller/mystery of 2022 and deservedly so. It was released on Kindle Unlimited for subscribers in the US in September, and the hardcover will be finally available in January. Don’t miss this!

It’s a highly original story: imagine your author dad used your mother as the model for an illustrated puzzle book/treasure hunt. It’s based on a grisly fairy tale/folk song about a woman, Elinore, dismembered by her jealous husband, her bones scattered around Britain. Her lover, Tam, believes if he finds all the bones, she will be resurrected. Mom and Dad also fashioned a tiny golden and bejeweled skeleton that they took apart and buried across the country. The clues to the locations are in the book, “The Golden Bones.” Six of the seven troves were found; the final piece, the pelvis, stays hidden. Flash forward: the couple has a daughter named Eleanor, her mom’s doppelgänger. The book has a cult following and “The Bonehunters” are still looking for that pelvis. When Eleanor was fourteen, a deranged Bonehunter decided that the missing “golden pelvis” was inside the teenager, and attacked her in an attempt to remove her hips. Yeesh.

The Skeleton Key starts with a children's book. The authors hid small bits of a fake, bejeweled skeleton at seven landmarks to fit the puzzles hidden in the story, and the riddles hidden within led to a cultish following of clue solvers and treasure hunters. In the 1990s, some of these self-titled bonehunters clamoring after the final, missing piece zeroed in on the authors' daughter, Nell Churcher, as a result of some increasingly wild clue interpretations that convinced them her real skeleton hid the last piece. Teenaged Nell barely escaped a violent attack, and now she wants nothing to do with her family's famous secret. It's 2021, fifty years after the book was first published, and the Churcher family resuscitates the old mystery with a new, digital component. Nell refuses to participate, but she's present as her family-- and the intertwined Lally family next door-- wrap up being filmed in a documentary about the book and its legacy. Nell's father and his best friend, Lal, have promised a big reveal. When they dramatically unveil the location of the last, never found "bone," a real human bone is uncovered in its place, kicking off a murder investigation, a media circus, and a bonehunter frenzy.

Throughout the story, the Churcher-Lally extended family's decades of drama are unpacked in increasingly weighty flashbacks. This isn't a whodunnit with an amateur sleuth. It's about a woman watching her family implode under the weight of all its secrets as they're dug up at this anniversary gone wrong. It's also not exactly a spine-tingling, check that you locked all your doors periodically, thriller. But there's a feeling of being chased and cornered by rabid fans through Nell's understandable paranoia. Through her flashbacks, we dig deeper into the layers of her distrust and her desperation to keep a low profile.

The flashbacks draw in more and more POVs from the two families as the story unravels, getting lengthier and more detailed as key dramatic moments lend clarity to the problems in the present. The mystery pulled the wool over my eyes in a key matter (which I love), but it's a long-winded reveal and one that takes a dark turn. The secret you expect to be most damning (murder) is far from it (not that I'm trying to rank evils here). Of all the nefarious goings on, it was hardest for me to stomach, though the author tried to handle it with compassion. Another moment isn't exactly a twist but involves a surprise arrival that made me literally gasp.

My favorite part of the book was Nell's relationship with Billie, her 15-year-old surrogate daughter. I appreciated Nell's support and thoughtful parenting of Billie in balance with all she still has to learn about the teenager and about parenting in general. It's not perfect, but it's loving. I also liked that it's the central relationship plot with no romance flitting through in the present to take the limelight. It was also cool to see how Nell and Billie live on a narrowboat on the London canals and less cool to see them navigate Billie's government-appointed social worker and absentee father. It makes for a complex picture beyond the central mystery.

While I appreciated the found mother/daughter bond and the elements of surprise, a few parts did make me uneasy despite the author's best efforts. I also felt that even though the biggest reveals come in the last quarter of the book, it was also the slowest moving part of the story as long-form flashbacks take over to try and obscure the real leads in a heap of motives and opportunities. While effective in a sense, the level of detail weighed down the pace and felt like a different story unto itself despite its obvious purpose.

In the end, I was satisfied in some aspects and left with some disappointment in others. I think that's a fine way to tie up a mystery, but sometimes it's hard to separate if the feeling stems from the intended, messy dynamics of a family drama or from my dislike of certain parts of the story. Either way, it's a gripping read with plenty of feints and hidden undercurrents to keep readers on their toes. Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for my copy to read and review!

"Flesh will spoil and blood will spill but true love never dies. Gather the lady's bones with love to see the lady rise."

A few months back, I was listening to an episode of the podcast Criminal. In this podcast, Phoebe Judge discusses a children's book called Masquerade by Kit Williams. The story resulted in a real life treasure hunt which readers could participate in and find an actual prize - an 18 karat gold sculpture of a hare with gems embedded in it. I was immediately captivated by this story - it was the first time I had ever heard about this children's book As a kid who loved mysteries and games like Clue and an adult who loves puzzles and Escape Rooms, this story spoke to me.

When I read the premise of The Skeleton Key I was immediately hooked. The story brought to life how a treasure hunt can get out of control so quickly. While the first half of the book is fairly slow, the second half really kicks up the drama and hooks you in. I found myself picking my jaw up off the floor a few times with the plot twists and turns. Just when you think certain characters can't get any worse - they do.

For the last 100 or so pages had so many emotions. The need for justice to be carried out..... but for who? The level of frustration I had with Frank and Cora Churcher is up there with some of my most hated book characters. These two parents putting the weight of the world on their daughter's shoulders and simultaneously making their son feel inadequate makes the reader dislike them from the beginning of the story. I found myself rooting for the kids to band together and end the hunt for the golden bones!

Overall, I enjoyed the Skeleton Key and found it evoked a lot of emotion which, to me, is the hallmark of a great book! 4/5 stars.

In the 1970s, struggling artist Frank Churcher created a worldwide sensation: a picture book/fairytale based on an old folklore melody that contained clues to the locations to pieces of a small golden skeleton, each part covered in precious stones. The book set off a frenzy, and within years each part was found, except one. But when a man died trying to retrieve the last bone, Frank put an end to the search, locking the pelvic bone away and never revealing its final resting place, though his announcement never quite quelled the “Bonehunters” enthusiasm for the hunt. Now, during the 50th anniversary of the book’s publication, Frank is finally ready to reveal the bone to the world. There’s just one problem: someone seems to have sabotaged his big reveal. And in its aftermath, the disappearance threatens to bring to life some long buried family secrets.

I would. Classify this book as a domestic thriller, as the central mystery of the book is not only what has happened to the final bone at the reveal event, but also what has led the Churcher and Lally families, the Lally family being both business partners and familiarly entwined with the Churcher and living next door, to their breaking point. It’s like the missing bone sets off an explosion and we need to figure out why and how. And the answer is just as big an explosion that goes back years. I loved how it all tied together. It really was just amazing how the author pulled all the threads together.

However, I did have a question about the epilogue, if you would like to discuss, please reach out in the comments. I have a theory, but I can’t ask without spoiling it.

Nell is the main character, though we see the story from many points of view. Toward the end, when it be me obvious how everything was going to work out, I felt like Nell got a little obnoxious with her self-righteousness, but whatever. I can’t say how I would feel in that situation. That was my only quibble.

Overall, this was a good, interesting and original read, though now, I wish there was actually a copy of the Golden Bones I could read!

I sadly put this book down the first time I decided to read it and then gave it another try.
I unfortunately found that the story was all over the place and I did not like the characters at all. I was confused from beginning and I must give my honest opinion and not recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read/review this book.

an intriguing read! Lots of characters, treasure hunt clues and suspense. Not a quick read, but if you enjoy stories about books, family secrets and treasure-read it!

A lot of fun, I can see why this won so much acclaim. Fast paced enough to stay fun, slow enough I could process what I was reading to enjoy, I loved it.

I was drawn to The Skeleton Key by the gorgeous cover and stayed for the gripping and suspenseful story contained within. I love the characters and found them to have strong character development and I really understood the decisions they were making. The world and story were very engaging and I lost myself in the story to the point I finished it within one sitting. I adored the writing style and highly recommend this one!

Captivated right from the start! This is such a multifaceted book with multiple timelines, a treasure hunt, and a book within a book! This was my first Erin Kelly book, but it will definitely not be my last!

Overall I thought this book had such an intriguing concept. The characters were so well written. It was creepy, it was suspenseful, it was vividly described. The family dynamic really sold the book. All in all I have no words to describe this book because it was just such a different read. Would definitely recommend to read during October and Spooky Season!

Thanks to NetGalley & Hachette for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a tough read for me, which was odd because I normally love Erin Kelly. The writing is great, but the structure is complicated: we go back in time to the early days of the Churchers and Lallys; additionally, the chapters shed light on whether Frank Churcher or "Lal" Lally is up, or down in their endless rivalry. There are SO MANY characters that it's difficult to keep track and remember names, and it was hard for me to lock in to the story. I was unfamiliar with the phenomenon of Masquerade by Kit Williams, which this story was evidently based on.

The most interesting parts, for me, were the family dynamics, although some of these seemed to exist in a vacuum - why was Cora so out of it and such a washrag with Frank? We don't really get an answer despite what feels like a deep dive into the families' origins. At any rate, the interplay between Ellie (oh, and I have a beef with Ellie having essentially the same name as dead Elinore from the book) and Dom rings true, as does Ellie's tetchy relationship with her mother. Her displaced affection (if that's the right word?) for her father is another matter, and her insistence on trying to protect his legacy, the legacy that ruined her life after she was attacked by a crazed Bonehunter and the legacy that essentially tore apart their family, is puzzling.

Ultimately, this is a very ambitious story that I think Kelly just tried to cram too much into, perhaps in order to distinguish it from the actual Masquerade story. I would have preferred a leaner approach with fewer characters (trying to remember various Bonehunter names and then potentially match them to their online handles was exhausting), but I really enjoyed Ellie's relationship with Billie, and I learned a bit about narrowboats. I will keep reading Erin Kelly and hope for a more spare story next time.

I don't even know where to begin with this book. I wanted to love it so bad. The blurb that I read before starting the book had me sure that I would love every minute of this read. It promised a book about a book, obsessive treasure hunters, mystery, and complicated family dynamics. That’s all I really need in a book. To say I was excited, was an understatement.

That excitement turned out to be very misplaced. Was it a book about a book? I suppose. Was there a mystery? For a small portion of the book, yes. Did the obsessive treasure hunters take the stage? Barely. The only element that really came through from all those promises was the complicated family dynamics. And let’s face it, complicated family dynamics were the lowest on my “excitement list”.

The cast of unlikable characters was about a mile long. I can only think of one, possibly two small characters that I even remotely liked. The rest of them were selfish, contrived, and overly negative. There were no moments of joy to balance any of the fighting or pure dysfunctionality of two families that connected themselves forever. I spent so much of the book waiting for something, anything, to give me hope that the book would become more interesting. It was a long wait.

There was never a point in the story where I felt a connection with what was happening in the book. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that the first half of the book felt like an entirely different book from the second half. With very little connecting the two stories other than the same characters and personalities. Everything about it felt disjointed and awkward.

⅖ stars

Make sure to check for trigger warnings, there are a lot of really heavy topics in this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hatchette Book Group for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique enough that it didn't feel like anything else I've read.

The Skeleton Key was kind of...bulky...as a book. Premise was promising (say that 5 times fast), but it got bogged down in some of the details.

This book started off strong and I thought I was going to fly through the 500+ pages but then it became a little slow. The family drama was kind of not needed, could have skipped.

"It ends in blood and shattered bone but it does not start that way.

3.5 stars

The Skeleton Key is an intriguing mystery/family drama about a treasure hunt, family drama, and the consequences of fame.

The premise is intriguing and revolves around Frank Churcher who created a treasure hunt in the 1970s in the form of a picture book filled with clues to find the bones made of gold and jewels belonging to the skeleton of the mythical main character, Elinore. Upon the book’s publication, devotees of the book became “Bonehunters,” some of whom were so obsessed with finding the missing bone that they harmed Frank’s daughter, Eleanor, aka Nell. The fame of the books leads to trauma, tragedy, and bitter rivalries within the two families.

The novel starts with a bang but slows down and covers years of family history and drama. The pace is slow, and it takes time for the central plot to emerge. It is also long and comes in at 512 pages.

The first half focuses on Nell, but the second half of the book concerns her brother Dom, her father, Frank, her mother, Cora, and her parent’s closest friends, Bridget and Lal. Nell is a dynamic character and narrator. Dom, Frank, Cora, and Bridget have equally intriguing stories, with Frank’s being the most uncomfortable to read--he is vile in all ways.

While there is much to enjoy about this novel, the characters are less than likable. Nell is the saving grace, but her obsession with The Bonehunters possibly harming her became annoying.

The chapters alternate between the past and present as well as in non-linear order, which wasn’t too confusing, as they all have headings. The structure of Frank and Lal’s chapters was interesting in that they are labeled “Frank Up/Lal down” or Lal Up/Frank down, which is symbolic of their relationship and who is on top in terms of achievement not only in critical success but also in petty instances.

I always enjoy Kelly’s novels--they unfold slowly and turn in unpredictable directions. This book was no exception. However, there are times when the plot is circular and doesn’t seem to progress. The premise is fascinating, especially the myth of the book and Bonehunters but as a reader, I wanted to experience the lure of the treasure hunt and finding the bones. Instead, the focus is on dysfunctional and destructive family dynamics.

I received an ARC of this book from Hachette Books in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a very interesting premise. The idea of a children's book with hidden meanings, treasure hunt clues, and a cult following was exciting! The backstory of the children's book in the 1970's was also a fun story. Less fun was the present day aspects - whenever these came up, the story would start to drag. Overall, it was a fun read!

Super creepy and very dysfunctional mystery! A great read! This book kept me intrigued the whole way through!

The Skeleton Key is about the 50th anniversary of a book that is about a murder and a treasure hunt all wrapped into one. Shocking what people went through to find bones that were actually made of gold scattered throughout the countryside. of England. Now there is a new treasure hunt and you will not believe what happens! This book will keep you reading to find out what could possibly happen next!

I found this book beautiful and complex and typically everything I look for in a great novel. Unfortunately I felt like there was so much going on and back and forth between timelines and characters that I couldn’t really form any type of connection or love for anyone in the story and I was not truly invested in the outcome. I started out strong and couldn’t put it down, but somewhere in the middle I found it dragging and it took me quite some time to finish. Despite this, I would definitely love to see something else from the author.