The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman

If you love a campus novel, this is a good option for you. I've seen it billed as dark academia, and I would say it's on the lighter side of that genre. In my opinion it's not the best in the genre, but it was a story worth reading.

With dual timelines, we're following a group of friends and former classmates in the present that are haunted by something that happened in their past. This is a classic locked room (or campus) mystery/thriller with several turns along the way. The pacing picks up in the second half once the characters and background are established. I had pieces of the mystery figured out, but not everything, and I enjoyed the ride.

Thank you to #NetGalley and William Morrow for a free copy of #TheBonesoftheStory by Carol Goodman. All opinions are my own.

I have been a longtime fan of Carol Goodman. The Bones of the Story has reminded me once again why I love her books. This story is about a group of friends that head back to their college years after graduating but they all have a secrets and now don’t know who they can trust. Told in the then and the now, readers become immersed in a mystery that has spanned time.

What is the secret that binds a group of college students for 25 years? Although each has lived their separate lives, they have all come together back on the campus of a small private northeastern institution. Unraveling what becomes an ending filled with fast-paced twists and turns begins very slowly and depends on near-impossible actions and stereotypical characters that stretch readers’ imaginations. The ending redeems the book and fans of Goodman’s work will be more than satisfied. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

When she first came to Briarwood, she was a girl in way over her head. Now as a Dean, Ellen “Nell” Portman is just able to tread water. Haunted by a past she can’t escape from, Nell tries to find ways to atone for her sins by guiding students to independence, handle Briarwood’s finances, and most importantly keeping her boss, Hotch, firmly in line. But one night sends everything she’s built crashing straight to the ground.

The ghost from her past is back, seeking revenge for what Nell did to her all those years ago. Now Nell has no choice but to dig up the darkest secret she’s ever buried and pray for forgiveness she’s not even sure she’d deserve.
•
•
•
I loved this one! Filled with lots of chills, macabre literary quotes, and beautifully written gothic themes, this is definitely a delight for anyone who loves their psychological thrillers with a dash of blood-soaked horror. Think in the vein of “Sorority Row” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” but with a much better twist. This kept me guessing until the last chapter and terrified right up until the end. Don’t miss this one!

A very strong 4 star!

When an old body is found on the campus of Briarwood College, former student now dean Nell Portman has a lot to reconcile with. Not only was she on campus when a girl went missing 25 years ago, but she was apart of an esteemed group of students part of a writer's group where the professor in charge died searching for that same girl. When her fellow students come back to celebrate the reopening of the writer's house, which was the home of their senior writing program, things continue to go wrong when each of them start dying off. Things feel even creepier when Nell realizes their deaths resemble the stories they wrote in the same program.

I was so excited because I love a locked room mystery and an academic setting for a mystery. I really love In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, and the back and forth between the "then" and "now" chapters were reminding me of that and I loved it! My biggest gripe was that I did feel like I knew what was going on the majority of the time, but the writing was so good and I enjoyed the literary references a lot. I would definitely recommend and I will be checking out Goodman's other books!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Elaine Portman couldn’t believe she was accepted into Briarwood College and she was even more surprised when she made friends with the top girls at the famous riding school, Lye, Doedy and Chillian. She was even more surprised when she got into the raven society a class that was lucky enough to be taught by the professor who was also a famous author Hugo Moss. That was 25 years ago however and today thanks to her good friend Lye, she now goes by Nell except to her students she’s called Dean Portman. This weekend is the commemoration and they’re opening Wilder house again Thousand urban legend that’s around the school about the ice cades they pass during the commemoration they do every year while holding candles and walking up the mountain but it seems this year the legend may become reality. When a student accidentally falls into one of the caves and is pulled up with a story about a dead body she saw bülow the cops are called. One of the cops is a prior student that Nell not only went to Briarwood with but had a relationship with as well. He is just the first of many of her classmates she will see that weekend the girl whose body was found in the cave it’s just the beginning. It’s a ghost killing the former classmates or someone out for revenge? This book was really good and although I’m not over the moon about it I still found it hard to put down and was totally totally shocked at the ending did not see that coming at all! It’s also touted as a locked room mystery but… Are you don’t believe that to be true at all. Having said that this is still a really great book and it has really great moments where are you like OMG and then you’re like oh OK that that’s what that is but the OMG moment is worth reading the book for it it’s really good and I highly recommend it. I want to thank net galley and William Morrow publishing please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

✨New review!✨

The Bones of the Story
By Carol Goodman
Published: July 11, 2023
Genre: thriller/mystery

This book was classic Carol Goodman. If you’ve read her other books, you’ll instantly recognize her voice and style. Her books are comforting to me, because I’ve been reading them for a long time. I really appreciate and enjoy the dark academia vibe and mystery that is so often central to her novels. I did kind of guess “who done it”, but there was a decent twist toward the end. I would give this one a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Recommended if you like…
✍️ Carol Goodman’s other novels
🏫 college campus setting/academia
🌄atmospheric setting (trapped/isolated)
⏳ dual timeline (then/now)
📝 writing in the writing
📚 references to books/authors
😶‍🌫️ mystery and suspense
💁‍♀️ popular it girl (and her clique)
🦴 skeletons in the closet (old secrets come to light)
🎯 revenge
🌪️ decent twist

Thank you @williammorrowbooks and @netgalley for the ebook of this novel! I did buy myself a physical copy on @pangobooks though,because I’m a book hoarder. 🤣

#carolgoodman #williammorrow #netgalley #thebonesofthestory #mystery #thriller #july2023book #newbook #bookreview #bookrecommendation #bookstagram

I really adore Carol Goodman’s academic mysteries, and her latest is no exception.

The Bones of the Story hits all the right notes for a campus mystery, immersive and full of atmosphere and long on slowly building dread, all set against a backdrop of academic politics and competition.

This book just feels like being on the campus of a small northeastern college, equal parts cozy and bleak, forbidding and enthralling, and all packaged with an intricately plotted murder mystery that is creepy and dark without being icky or salacious. I loved the academic nature of the motive for the crimes, and the fact that in the end, this really is about what ambitious academics will do to get ahead and succeed.

The plot is sort of a spin on And Then There Were None and its ilk, but it has some truly original elements, an absolutely fantastic atmosphere and sense of place, and a truly excellent surprise at the end that I didn’t see coming.

Carol Goodman is one of my favorite authors. I did not read her last book because it was too pandemic adjacent. But The Bones of the Story is giving me a great reset with her and the lovely way she tells a story with interesting characters and great twists and turns.

4.5 stars, rounded up

The Bones of the Story, by Carol Goodman, is a thrilling suspense novel and complex locked-room mystery set on the campus of a small private college in the Northeast.
The occasion is a gathering of elite writing students, returning to campus to commemorate a tragic event that occurred when they were students 25 years ago, and to honor the first writer-in-residence. Elaine, one of the former students, is now Dean of Liberal Arts at the college, and much of the story is told in her present time first person POV.
Bones are found, the police arrive, and a blizzard traps all on the campus. In classic Agatha Christie-fashion, murders occur, and the motivations and relationships of all involved are convoluted and often, dark and devious. All the characters are well-written, with Elaine/Nell the principal protagonist.
The world of small town New England, small college academia, and artistic competitiveness is well represented. I especially liked the frequent references to works of literature and famous authors. The author’s skillful prose builds a suitably menacing tone and sense of impending doom, such as “…curdled dark clouds pressing down as if the sky has lowered.” And character insights, such as “I’ve become my own ghost, dragging my past behind like a cheap suitcase.”
This is an exceptionally well-written, locked room thriller with a slow build and a tangled web resulting in an intelligent, satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to WilliamMorrow/Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC. These are my honest opinions.

What a fun ride! It combined two of my favorite, subject matters, which is dark, academia and writing about writing. I felt the characters interacted with each other in a way that keep me guessing. The twist at the end was a bit predictable, but overall a super entertaining read!

Wow what a journey this book took me on.
I almost DNF’d this book because the beginning felt a little boring but half way through when all the tiny details began fitting into place the story really took off. It became a page turner and a true murder mystery having me guess what came out of Laine and why her necklace was found in the cave with the uncovered bones.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to really use their brain power to figure out who was doing all the killings because I for sure was not expecting that ending what so ever! What an amazing story and I am glad I came across it!!

This was a slow read. Story goes between past and present.

A professor dies looking for a missing female. I didn't sympathize with the characters. Ending was a twist that I did not see coming, I will give that.

Overall if you love a good thriller, college campus theme, suspence, I would suggest this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this modern gothic tale. The writing sets a dark and moody tone, the plot is derivative (in-joke once you've read the book) the best of Edgar Allen Poe, Agatha Christie, and probably many other classic authors I have not read. Set at fictional Briarwood College at the start of winter break, a fundraising event brings alumni back to Wilder Writer's House for a weekend of events commemorating the death of Hugo Moss, a distinguished Creative Writing professor who died 25 years ago while out looking for a missing student. Skeletal remains have just been found in one of the ice caves near campus, presumably those of the missing student. Alumni who were part of the last, select group mentored by Moss return to Wilder House for the weekend, with hints that they are gathering to face a secret they share about the events surrounding the girl's disappearance. As a major winter storm rolls in, all but shutting them off from help, one of the alumni dies in a manner eerily similar to the protagonist in story she wrote 25 years ago as part of a horror story assignment ("write about your biggest fear"). When another alumnus meets their death, also as described in her horror story, the rest start to realize their is a killer among them, determined to exact revenge for what happened when they were students. Told in then and now installments from the perspective of Nell Portman, one of the students 25 years ago and now Dean of the college. I highly recommend this tense, twisty, well written and perfectly paced "locked room" mystery.

I really enjoyed the dark academia setting. Go out and get a copy of this now, I will sure be checking out other books by Carol Goodman. The setting is eerie and dark, and it takes place over the past and present timelines. There were a few good twists, just for the campus setting alone it was worth the read. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
4 stars

Sadly I did not finish. I didn’t enjoy the characters, none of them enjoyable let alone likeable, not the very slow pace of the book.

3. stars/5 stars. (It's good. I'm glad I read it, but I wouldn't re-read it)

I saw this on booktok and was lucky enough to get an ARC. It was a dark academia thriller and was told in past and present timelines.

A group of college students reunites after 25 years and get snowed in. Slowly, they start getting picked off and murdered. It was pretty clear that this had to be an act of revenge of some sort. There's no way they were just randomly getting murdered. Everyone has secrets and who is going to be left to live. We certainly get a lot of twists and turns and I found the present timeline more interesting, but that simply is because that is where all the action is happening.

Certainly is a take on the "And Then There Were None" trope that Agatha Christie did so well. While I read this as an ebook, I have a feeling I would have enjoyed it more as an audiobook as the narrator would have been able to add to the suspense of "whose next?" and "who did it"

Carol Goodman (a favorite) returns following The Disinvited Guest with her latest spine-chilling brilliant locked room campus suspense mystery, THE BONES OF THE STORY —when the past and present collide in this dark academia thriller infused with literary elements.

A tragic event occurred at the small Briarwood College campus in the Catskill Mountain area twenty-five years earlier with a death of a legendary teacher and an aspiring student. It has urban legends, caves, and stories.

Hotch, the college president, brings the tragedy from the past to the present by commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of Hugo Moss, the first writer-in-residence and the last—with donors, faculty, and alumni to honor the victims.

In addition, Moss's last class of students is invited to stay at Wilder House for the weekend. They gather on campus in the same rooms from years ago.

It is a cold, snowy December weekend after the fall semester has ended. But as a storm descends, people begin to depart, leaving a group of alumni who were the last ones taught by the esteemed professor. They share chilling horror stories they wrote about their fears.

Then an alumna dies in a shockingly similar way to the story she wrote, and then another succumbs to a similar fate; they realize someone has decided at long last to avenge the crimes of the past. Will the secret of what they did twenty-five years ago be revealed? Who will make it out alive?

Could the killer be among them? What about the body in the caves? Is it revenge, or what is happening?

Who doesn't love campus mysteries? They are nostalgic, dark, and mysterious with the claustrophobic atmospheric settings, the brick facade, the quads, the libraries, and in this case, the caves, the bones, snow blizzards, secret societies, spirits, with Agatha Christie and Edgar Allen Poe literary references.

As always, Goodman is a pro at twisty locked-room mysteries with this group of former classmates trapped on their college campus with a murderer among them. A dangerous twisty cat-and-mouse game where decades-old secrets collide with the present.

From past to present, a chilling whodunit that keeps you guessing with jaw-dropping twists and turns and a satisfying conclusion. Goodman fans will enjoy this one, as well as new fans!

Thanks to William Morrow for a gifted ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: July 11, 2023
My Rating: 5 Stars
July 2023 Must-Read Books

It all comes down to the bones!

Twenty-five years ago, a student went missing and a professor died while looking for her at Briarwood College. Now the college president is holding an event to honor the victims of that tragic incident. Alumni and donors have gathered for the event as has a winter storm! Many depart before the storm gets worse, but the alumni decide to stay not knowing that amongst them is a killer!

The cold snowy setting set the stage and brought on the atmosphere and trapped feeling that I enjoy in books. I enjoyed the past and present sections of the book. This was a nice touch and I enjoyed reading about the characters during their college days. The mystery of the bones and whodunit was enjoyable but not as chilling as I expected. I didn't connect with any of the characters so when things began to happen, I was apathetic. As I mentioned, I did enjoy the atmosphere and I always enjoy doing my own super sleuthing while reading. I was not even close to figuring out whodunit, so the reveal was a nice shock at the end.

Atmospheric with a great reveal.

Thank you William Morrow and Netgalley for providing me with the ARC!

You know those books where it’s like, “This has to be read in one sitting because I’m not going to be able to function properly if I take a break”? This was one of those books for me. This book had all the right vibes: a gloomy, dark academia/gothic feel mixed with the impending doom of Christie’s “And Then There Were None.” I literally couldn’t put this one down - even when I thought I’d figured out the plot twist (keyword: THOUGHT). And when the plot twist happened, I let out a startled “Whaaaat??? I mean, it makes sense, but whaaaat???” and then sat staring at a wall for about fifteen minutes to process it. I stayed up until 3am to finish this book, and that plot twist made it SO worth it.
As I mentioned before, the entire ambiance of this book was so well-crafted. The little ghost stories and horror stories that the characters wrote really intrigued me, and the deaths weren’t your average murder mystery deaths. The one thing I personally wasn’t super keen on was the romance. I just wasn’t interested in the love triangle that was going on. Then again, maybe the romance will add some relief from the dark material for other readers.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, and it’s one of the best murder mysteries I’ve read in a while!