This was an "ok" read. Not the best book I have read this year, not the worst.
I had a hard time getting into it, but it did pick up about half way through for me.

I really loved this book!! ❤️ Our FMC is a forensic odontologist while working on one case, gets entwined in another and discovers a long history of racism along the way. 😢

This book makes me wish I would have gone into forensics, I’m such a nerd!! 🤓 The genealogist side of me is really intrigued with the concept of forensic genealogy too, which this book touches on briefly. 🤔

I had not read the first 4 books in this series, so I read this as a standalone and it worked out well!! 🙌 Now I need to go get the first 4 books!!! 😅

Highly recommend it if you enjoy forensic mysteries!!! ❤️

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Sara E. Johnson for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



✨ New Zealand
✨ Suspense Thriller
✨ 5th book of the series but can read standalone .
✨ Two timelines



✨ Alexa was the focus on this story. The plot was mix into two different timelines so be aware of some confusions .
Alexa is a forensic odontologist. She discover a skull sets of the chain and started to re open a cold case .
✨ apart from the story being fictional , it’ actually gives us an open eye for someone happened before. The refreshing feeling too of writing what New Zealand to offer is a good touch to remove any burden with a wide eye topic.



✨ I got to admit that the story was not my cup of tea. But I enjoy it.
It is a 5th book of a series but can read standalone.



Thankyou @poisonedpen press for the arc copy of this book for a honest review .




🫶🏼shaye.reads

I saw this book on Netgalley and thought it sounded interesting and I love most everything that Poisoned Pen Press puts out there.
Now that I finally came onto Goodreads to write my review I learned that this was the 5 book in the series which I had no previous knowledge of and didn’t read lol. So as for that I’m going to assume you can read these books not in order. I really enjoyed this story. I found the content so interesting. My brother and sister in law are archeologists, so not the same but close enough that I could draw some comparisons. Also I used to look after. Residents whose daughter was a forensic archeologist so again maybe similar. Anyways, I thought it was super cool and interesting and gave great details. I liked learning about things I hadn’t previously known. I liked that there were 3 murders going on at the same time that all ended up kind of connecting.
I enjoyed the characters and learning. More about the ones that were no longer living. It’s sad that such racism ever existed and unfortunately still exists. I’d definitely check out the whole series to see what else is going on in Alexa’s story. I just can’t believe the reasons the murders took place, people are wild.
I’d recommend this read. I’d even buy the whole series for myself.

Thanks you to both Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the copy.

This is such a factual book, that stood out so much I thought it was a standalone as well. What a great read and the historical aspects were well woven into the plot.

Great story with good twists and memorable characters.

I had no idea this was the 5th book of a series but I read it pretty well as a standalone.

I read this in a day. It’s fast-paced and the story really pulled me in, I really want to read the other instalments and meet these characters from the very beginning. One of the main things I enjoyed in this novel is the forensic bits, well explained but not boring. I even learned a thing or two since I never actually read a mystery book where the main character is an odontologist.

Alexa is a great character and her development throughout the story also very nicely thought of. She makes mistakes, she has her personal struggles and doubts about her professional life. It adds depth to the character, making her more likable and relatable.

The storytelling is fantastic. The plot is complex and the writing made me fall into the story completely. I love that its set in New Zealand, making it a nice break from all the mysteries that happen in the US and in the UK.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!

This was a truly fascinating csi style mystery book that I really enjoyed! I found the two cases of Alexa’’s weaving together was crazy but done so well it worked. All the book felt so real and believable and while I successfully guessed the culprits, the story to get there as wildly entertaining. Definitely want to read more from the author.

This was my first book by this author. I’ll definitely have to go back and read the others in this series. This book was fast paced and full of so many good twists. It kept me interested and not wanting to put my book down !

A great book for anyone who likes CSI & murder mystery type books, you had the science behind what they did and why which made it all so much more interesting. We got a lot of history with the Chinese gold miners and what they went through which I had not known and we learned just how much family really means especially to this culture.

A good addition to the series that sees Alexa at a professional and personal crossroads.. She's contemplating taking a position in Scotland, far from New Zealand, because her romantic life has had a blow - and then everything changes when she becomes involved in a murder mystery reaching back to the days of the gold rush. Johnson has a nice way of weaving history with the present and I like that Alexa is a forensic odontologist. Then there's the New Zealand setting. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This might be most appreciated by those who have been following along but it will also be fun as a standalone.

This book was so close to being 5 stars for me and would have been if not for it starting off pretty slowly before finally picking up steam about a third of the way into it. Once the pace picked up, I really enjoyed it. Alexa Glock is working to identify the remains of a Chinese miner for his ancestors so that they can send his remains back to China but when they unearth the skeleton they discover a hole in the back of it. Nearby they also discover another skeleton that appears to have had a violent death as well. While at the police station to inquire about opening a cold case for the 2 skeletons, the ex-husband of the local elementary school principal reports her missing. Alexa is then brought into work that case as well and the story starts to really pick up the pace at this point. And just when I thought I had predicted the ending for both cases early, there were plot twists that I definitely didn't see coming. I really enjoyed Alexa's character and will be going back to read the other four books that came before this one that I didn't know about. With that being said, the book worked perfectly fine as a standalone book and I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not having read the prior ones.
Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this advanced copy to review and give feedback on!

I’m a true crime fan through and through and this book caught my attention immediately, i couldn’t stop reading it. I love that history was involved in this book, digging for clues and piecing everything together really kept me on the edge of my seat. The writing was incredible. 5/5

This book is full of twists and turns but spent too much time on characters I didn’t enjoy. This book is part of a series but I think it’s is fine reading it as a stand alone, I wasn’t confused or felt like I was missing key pieces to understand the plot.

Alexa Glock is a forensic expect specializing in forensic odontology. Originally from North Carolina, she has moved to New Zealand where she travels around the country consulting with police departments who request her help. A skeleton has been found in a former gold rush town that had attracted thousands of Chinese miners back in the 1800's A benefactor believes that the remains belong to her ancestor and she wants to repatriate his "hungry ghost" to China. Alexa is called in to examine the teeth and determine the origins of the skeleton. While working at the grave site near an old cemetery, another skeleton is found that clearly died violently as well. Alexa is working with the police to discover if the skeletons are connected when a local woman goes missing and she is recruited to help with that case as well. This novel is full of interesting background on the history of New Zealand's gold mining era, Chinese funerary practices, local police procedure, and tons of forensic details. All of this is woven into a page turning mystery as Alexa manages to unearth details tying together all of the cases in an unexpected way. #NetGalley #TheHungryBones

It was an invigorating mystery with characters that you can actually relate to. While some thrillers tend to focus more on the plot and the characters are forgotten, this does not have that problem. Extremely well written and a very quick read.

This was a good story. I thought that I would enjoy it more, based on the description. I really enjoyed the ending, but the majority of the book just seemed either bland or choppy with the action. I didn’t really get into it until 3/4 of the way through. Still a decent read though.

I was intrigued by the premise because of my Asian heritage. While I knew about the head tax in Canada, I did not realize other countries also had this egregious immigration policy.

I liked how the author intertwined the historical crime with the contemporary mysteries. The author added scientific background to the methodologies used by the characters which was interesting but, I felt, sometimes cumbersome. The mysteries themselves were twisty and suspenseful.

The only thing I had difficulty with was the writing style. I found it to be disjointed - not a smooth read. There was also one slip with the use of imperial measurement. All the other times measurements were used, the metric system was utilized because New Zealand is a metric country

Five stars!
Alexa Glock is a forensic odontologist who’s requested to accompany a dig within a small old mining town in New Zealand, paid for by an ancestor in China looking to bring the “hungry bones” of her ancestor home. Alexa’s main goal is to examine the teeth of the deceased, determine the DNA match and help them back to their rightful home.

During the dig, things change dramatically when there is another skeleton found nearby…with evidence of a very traumatic death, around the same time frame as the bones she is examining. Alexa takes this information to the police station, hoping to open a cold case and gain further knowledge of whose bones lie in the woods. At the station though, she learns that the school principal in town has been just been reported missing…at the same time as a popular named Murderer in town being released from prison,

Under the dangerous circumstances, Alexa is recruited to assist with the search for the missing principal, slowly uncovering many similarities between the recently MIA Principal and the unknown skeleton from many moons ago. This zeros in on the danger Alexa now faces very quickly, causing her to flip between the need of fighting for the others life in their passing…and maybe even her own.

~I was completely unaware until the very last page that this is a 5th installment in a series, so needless to say, it reads perfectly fine as a standalone without confusion! I absolutely loved the forensic aspects of this novel, along with the character development throughout of the main character. We love a lead lady who can still make mistakes! Overall, this whole novel is a total whirlwind, and I was so sad realizing when I hit the last page that it was over. (Except for the other books in the series I now must go buy!?)
Great characters, great story, great details. Love.
A special thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for granting me the opportunity of reading this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC of this novel! I did not realize going in that this was the 5th book in a mystery/detective series, but it’s not something that caused confusion to me as a reader.

Really loved all the twists and turns, and learned a lot of new things about forensics! Looking forward to reading more of the Alexa Glock books in the future.

Really enjoyed Hungry Bones by Sara E. Johnson. Alexa Glock's character is both fierce and loveable, and the book includes historical and contemporary mysteries that are suspenseful and have scientific interest. The prominence of forensic science was educational and compelling. I appreciated the setting in New Zealand and learning about the history of Chinese miners there. I plan to read other books in the Alexa Glock series. Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the eARC.