Glad that I got to read this early. While a bit farfetched at times, it was more exciting than some of her other recent books. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

And Then There Were None meets The Secret History and In My Dreams I Hold a Knife in this campus-set dark academic thriller about writers slowly being killed off.

I had such a good time with this one! The twists were fabulous, the ensemble cast excellent and easy to keep track of, and the atmosphere/setting of a snowed-in mountain university was so perfect.

Abounding gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for this one—I’ll be ordering a copy!

-A

My thanks to William Morrow, Carol Goodman and Netgalley.
I'm kind of torn between loving this story or the opposite!
I liked how the story played out and there were definitely a few great twists along the way that I didn't see coming. I love that!
But some of these characters annoyed me so much that I would probably have had to kill them too!
This is only my second Goodman book, but I really like the way she writes.

And here I loved The Disinvited Guest! But I really enjoyed The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman. I always get excited when I see a new Goodman release. Because I know I’m going to be losing hours reading her stories.

I just loved this author’s writing style. It’s captivating and Goodman has a way that just sucks you in and holds you there till the very last page.
The plot and characters were really good.
It's smart, dizzyingly twisty, well-plotted, resonant, and just brilliantly done.
Every chapter is more addictive than the last, leading to a stunning ending that you won't see coming.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The Bones of the Story was a twisty thriller about the dark side of academia and what some people will do to win. Even "stabbing" their best friends in the back. (Not literally in this case) The story is set on a picturesque college campus and switches from past to present told from the MC, Nell's, perspective. I'm careful not to give spoilers, so we will just say the deaths are very inventive!

I look forward to reading more from this author. I enjoyed her writing style and the shorter chapters kept the story going at a fast pace. Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC!

Bones of the Story is a campus cold case, emphasis on cold. Liberal Arts students reunite to commemorate the disappearance of a student and Professor years ago. The competitive students and twists in the story make this an entertaining read.
Thank you William Morrow for the digital copy.

3.5 stars rated up to 4. Classmates slowly trickle in to campus 25 years after tragedy struck them all. Keeping their secrets hidden, they slowly begin to unravel after one of their own falls victim. The obligatory snowstorm keeps them guessing who amongst them is the culprit. This book took a lot of character building and far too much unnecessary detail along the way.
Thank you NetGalley and Carol Goodman for this ARC.

This book was great! I couldn't put it down! The premise was fresh and new, which is hard for me to say as I read so much each year! Sometimes it feels as though I keep reading similar stories, but this was a so original!

The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman is about a group of former classmates trapped on their college campus—with a murderer among them.

The Bones of the Story is a thrilling mystery with credible characters. Plenty of false clues and twisty scenes. I really liked the Nina character. I didn't see the culprit coming, and the story had a satisfying ending.

This is the first book I've read by this author. I would be interested in checking out more books by Ms. Goodman.

A solid, page-turning locked room mystery. I rate this a 4 out of 5 stars.

#TheBonesoftheStory #NetGalley @WmMorrowBooks

I really enjoy books with a college campus setting and the (sometimes creepy) college vibe was done well. However, it was really obvious "whodunit" early on and so it felt like it took a long time for our main character to figure things out. There was a twist at the end that I didn't expect though, so this went from "okay" to "liked it" as far as ratings go.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a slow story and it took me a while to get into it and get interested. Though the pacing was slow, I enjoyed the whodunit. A thrilling locked room mystery that is clever and will keep you on your toes trying to solve the case.

Thank you to NetGalley, Carol Goodman & William Morrow for an arc of The Bones of the Story in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own & may not be reproduced.

This is my first Carol Goodman novel & I am super excited to review this novel especially since she is the winner of 2 Mary Higgins Clark awards. Huge MHC fan right here!

25 years after a female student disappears as does the creating writing professor looking for her, the President of Briarwood College brings together faculty, alumni & donors to commemorate their lives/deaths. A winter storm because and everyone begins to leave except for a group of alumni who were the last taught by the professor who disappeared. They gather together to wait out the storm and share stories and memories of their time in college & in the professor’s class. Then, one of the alumna dies in a very similar way to a story she wrote in the professor’s class and then the same happens with another. Now the remaining alumni must figure out who is behind this to save their own lives. And boy do the secrets they’ve been holding come out!

I recommend you RUN to snag a copy of the stellar thriller from Carol Goodman on July 11, 2023, when it publishes! It is one of the better thrillers I have read so far this year.

I love the feel of books set in colleges. It was very atmospheric, dark, chilling and ominous. The twists & turns are fabulous. The characters were well developed and the pacing was on point. You will fly through this one as you won’t be able to stop flipping the pages the see what happens next.

5/5 Stars

This was a highly entertaining locked room mystery with a little bit of added eeriness to it. This author never fails to create a suspenseful, well told story and she did it once again with this one. The protagonist in this was a bit of a pushover to me and I found myself screaming at her in my head to grow a spine at times but this honestly wouldn't have worked any other way had she been just a little more bold. The ending could of been expanded on but otherwise this was yet another great mystery from this amazing author.
Four Stars.

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for this ARC.

Carol Goodman is one of my favorite authors so I was eager to read this new mystery. Atmospheric, tense, and delicious, "The Bones of the Story" does not disappoint. It is one of her stronger novels. Former classmates hiding a terrible secret meet on their old college campus, and a murderer is on the loose. So enjoyable to not know what to expect next. I wish I could read this again! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A highly selective literary honor society at the Briarwood school in upstate New York. An even more selective senior writing seminar with a famous writer. A group of students who would do anything to get into both. What happened then? What is happening now, 25 years years later? In this eerie, academically oriented, psychological thriller, Carol Goodman explores themes of vengeance, retribution, guilt, and the impact of one’s “minor” misdeed on the person who feels wronged. Lots of literary references for me, plenty of action and Agatha Christie style “pop em off one by one until you suspect absolutely everybody,” and a surprise ending. I did have a little trouble keeping track of all the characters — my advice is just to write down the names as they are introduced so you don’t forget any :-)

This book kept my attention, some books really do not. I'm a librarian and read a lot of books and this one kept me coming back to it. I found myself invested in the characters and I needed to know what happened. Switching back and forth between the past and present just built up the tension. The twist at the end...I don't know how plausible it really was...could that have really happened? So I reread the book and decided yes, that twist was awesome!!

“The Bones of the Story” by Carol Goodman is a mystery thriller set at the small private college of Briarwood in Upstate NY. Nell, our protagonist, is the Liberal Arts Dean at the school and also attended as a student 25 years earlier. Briarwood is having an alumni event and Nell and her former classmates all get snowed in. Then the murders start happening…
I thought the book was exciting, the plot wrapped up maybe a little too neatly, but still enjoyable.

Locked room meets dark academia meets the Big Chill, but it works! I always love Goodman’s cold and eerie rural thrillers and this is one of her best.

A super slow burn, locked-room mystery. Clever, twisty, oh-so-vengeful & fun to read!
Big thanks to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

i have been reading Carol Goodman for years and The Bones of the Story is one of her best. I love a locked room mystery , and books that show the past and present. The ghost stories were so imaginative and wonderfully creepy!
Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC.