Boney Creek is a mystery that takes a bit of time to develop and to become clear. It is repetitive - taunting the reader with reference upon reference to “that night” in the main characters’ past. Perhaps I wasn’t the target for this book as it was a bit irritating and juvenile. Please read other reviews!

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Everyone in this town of Boney Creek seems a little off to me. When more people start winding up dead, former journalist Addie can’t help herself but dig in to find out if they are connected. I enjoyed how I couldn’t trust anyone and loved the unpredictable ending!

A quintessential Aussie noir, Boney Creek (2025) by Paula Gleeson begins with a young couple fleeing the city to move on from their own tragedy. Addie and Toby arrive in Boney Creek as a funeral is underway. They quickly learn that many locals have died recently, under mysterious circumstances. Addie decides to use her journalist skills to investigate and start a blog, so she can learn more about the small town and its inhabitants. She discovers the recent deaths make locals believe the serial killer, known as The Highway Reaper, may be at work once again. An intriguing crime mystery tale with unexplained deaths, building tension and climatic finale that is a four and a half star must-read rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement. With thanks to Thomas & Mercer and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes.

In the past year, I have been exposed to so many great books and authors, and Paula Gleeson is definitely one of them!

This was a great mystery with a fantastic main character. This exemplifies how great writing and well developed characters can take a book to the next level.

I can't wait to read more my this author.

Loved it

I love books with quirky small towns and people, and this was perfect for me ..I also really liked the short chapters ,great for an impatient reader like me ,I tend to lose the will if a chapters are too long and ramble on. The story was good ,and the characters were well written. ,and the book kept me interested. Good read I would recommend it.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Paula Gleeson, and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Always excited to get my hands on authors whose work I have not read, I eagerly grabbed this novel by Paula Gleeson. In a small town where nothing happens, Addie and Toby settle in to run the general store. Boney Creek has suffered seven losses to its 217 residents over the last few months, leaving a pall over the townsfolk, though Addie is not ready to let that rest. She is an aspiring journalist and nosey by nature. However, she learns that there were other events of a sinister nature decades ago and is left to wonder if things are connected. Paula Gleeson piqued my interest from the outset and never let go!

Boney Creek is the perfect place for Addie and Toby Clarkson to relocate after their personal tragedy. The sign on the outskirts lists 217 residents, but this is doubtful, as there have been a rash of deaths over the last while. Having purchased the General Store, Addie and Toby hope to make the best of it in this dying town. However, it will be a bit of a quick learning curve, especially since many of the locals are impatient and wary of new faces. That said, some make comments as though they know Toby already, which confuses Addie to no end.

An aspiring journalist, Addie begins sleuthing around with the help of a local teenage girl, looking into the deaths and trying to connect them to a handful of others from decades ago. While she looks, Addie begins blogging about what she learns, in hopes of sharing her discoveries with the outside world. She begins to wonder if the seven past deaths might not be as accidental as they appear on the surface. Addie also learns from a reluctant Toby that his uncle might have spent time in Boney Creek years ago and disappeared into thin air. All this comes out as mention of the Highway Reaper, a mysterious serial killer who is blamed for a slew of disappearances years ago, and whether they might have resurfaced to kill again.

As Addie posts more, she is warned by anonymous comments to stop or Boney Creek will face new deaths. She cannot ignore her gut or the chatter around town, hoping that it will help her locate the truth and determine just what's been happening in this town. The random deaths and disappearances may not be as uncalculated as some would believe, though it will take determination, something that Addie Clarkson has in abundance. That is, if the Highway Reaper does not get her first. Paula Gleeson does a great job with this piece, which I devour as swiftly as I could!

I enjoy new authors and all they bring to the reading journey. Paula Gleeson delivers a great piece of writing that keeps the reader engaged and guessing throughout. A strong narrative guides the story along and provides needed momentum to keep things clipping along. Great characters show Gleeson’s abilities to flavour the story with various faces and personalities. The plot serves as a decent foundation to keep things on track, while also surprising the reader from the outset. I am happy to see this story worked so well and am eager to see more of Paula Gleeson’s work again soon.

Kudos, Madam Gleeson, for a great thriller, told in a unique style.

Full of small town drama and dark family secrets, Boney Creek quickly captured my love and attention. You see, there was no end to the pluses in what was a solid two-part whodunnit. A complex storyline well beyond this armchair sleuth’s solving ability, the two plot lines twisted and turned around one another, keeping me happily on the back foot throughout. After all, said storyline—constructed much like an onion—left me constantly wondering when a new mystery popped up as soon as I solved a well-crafted question. Suspenseful and compelling, Addie and her amateur detecting drew me right in.

Despite the addictive plotting, however, the characters were easily the special sauce in this unguessable novel. Fresh, eccentric, and memorable, they brought the small town of Boney Creek to life. They were also thoroughly suspicious. Not once could I pick out who was innocent or who was guilty. Were they working together—or was all but one in the dark? Addie, though, was most definitely my favorite. Strong and determined, she also had plenty of humanizing flaws. All told, she—and the rest of the cast—made this character-driven plot into the winner it was. So much so, in fact, that I’d love to see them all on a screen one day soon.

All said and done, with a remote setting that fed into a vibe which was both claustrophobic and haunting, I was unsurprised how much I loved Gleeson’s sophomore novel. After all, I felt as if I was physically there in the sweltering heat of a seemingly deserted town. Atmospheric in the extreme, the plot, setting, and characters hit the nail on the head and, due in part to the short chapters and mixed media format, I found myself unable to put the book down. So be sure to order this one as soon as you can. I mean, all of us at Thriller Book Lovers: The Pulse loved it, so I have no doubt that you will as well. Rating of 4 stars.

Thank you to Paula Gleeson, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for my complimentary physical and digital copies. All opinions are my own.

I really like the small-town feel of the book and also the characters. It took me a minute to get into but after that I really got caught up on who done it. The ending was a little underwhelming for me but I enjoyed it.

I almost quit reading due to foul language. However, it did slow up and by then I was invested on the secrecy of why Toby and Addie had moved to Boney Creek and what on earth why were people dropping like flies in Boney Creek?

What secret is Toby hiding for this sudden move? What secret is Addie hiding from Toby? What secret is the town of Boney Creek hiding?

There are so many twist and turns in this book. The journalist in Addie put herself and her husband in danger as she investigates past murders and present mysterious deaths. Just when you think you know who did what, another plot comes to light

Enjoyed this mystery novel. One I could read again just to see what I may have missed the first time.

Thank you Thomas and Mercer PaulaGleeson for a digital copy of this book. The opinions are my own and freely given.
Addie and Toby move to Boney Creek to start over after a traumatic event in the city. But secrets abound and mysterious murders have occurred lately and Addie is trying to connect them and discover why they were killed.
Toby moves to the town to search for the murderer of his uncle from years before unbeknownst to Addie.
I loved this story. Kept me guessing what was really going on and I figured it out the same time Addie did.

I loved Paula Gleeson’s book, Original Twin, so I was so excited to read this one!

Boney Creek is a dying town where not much happens. It seems like the perfect place for married couple, Addie and Toby, to move to in order to escape their own personal tragedy. However, once they arrive and learn about the many recent, strange deaths that have occurred, Addie starts to doubt whether they made the right choice. All of the deaths were determined to be accidental, but Addie isn’t so sure. Being an aspiring journalist, she becomes determined to find out what is really going on and ends up digging up secrets that many of the locals don’t want revealed. She must figure everything out before she becomes the next target.

I loved the small town setting where everyone knows each other and they all seem to have secrets. There were many characters, which made it hard for me to predict what who was behind the killings. I enjoyed the short excerpts from Addie’s blog as the story developed and I constantly felt like she was in danger and anyone she spoke to could be a threat. It kept me turning pages and I did not predict the ending. There were some questions that were not resolved, and I hope that means there will be more to come!

I really enjoyed Gleeson’s previous book Original Twin, and was excited to read Boney Creek. It did not disappoint, with a suitably creepy, off putting setting, and a cast of characters equally as strange, Boney Creek is a perfect domestic thriller for those times you question being home alone on a dark night.

I don't know if I'm the target audience for this. I found the characters grating, and the narration felt annoying to me personally.

The small town, atmospheric setting of Boney Creek, was the perfect locale for this story with its dark history and distinctive cast of characters. Hoping to escape a tragic event in their past, Addie and Toby buy the general store and move to Boney Creek. Both of them have secrets they're keeping from each other, which works considering the residents of Boney Creek have a ton of secrets of their own, connected to a string of tragic so-called accidents. I appreciated the character-driven aspect of the intricate plotting that is mostly resolved, but left me with questions that I suspect might be addressed in a sequel.

I enjoyed this book and Addie and Toby's story. I enjoyed following Addie as she unraveled the mystery of Boney Creek and seeing how she solved these murders. Once she got in so deep and things started unraveling, it was hard to put this book down. I really enjoy this author and this was another great book by her!

Boney Creek is a masterfully crafted slow-burn thriller that pulls you into its eerie, isolated setting and refuses to let go. What starts as a quiet escape for grieving couple Addie and Toby quickly spirals into a chilling tale of secrets, suspicion, and sinister patterns hiding beneath the town’s weathered surface. With moody atmosphere and razor-sharp tension, this novel delivers a pitch-perfect blend of psychological suspense and small-town claustrophobia.

The pacing is tight, building layer upon layer of unease as Addie digs deeper and the town’s secrets begin to unravel. The beauty of Boney Creek lies in its ability to maintain an atmosphere of quiet horror, where danger feels ever-present but never obvious. Every encounter is loaded with tension, every casual conversation might be hiding a lie, and every corner of the town seems to whisper, you don’t belong here.

The novel also excels in its emotional depth. Beyond the mystery, Addie’s personal grief and guilt are woven seamlessly into the narrative, giving her journey urgency and heart. Her unraveling, both internal and external, is deeply human—and it makes every revelation hit even harder.

Fans of Sharp Objects, The Widow, and The Last Thing He Told Me will find much to love here. Boney Creek is a dark, intelligent, and beautifully written thriller that proves the quietest towns often have the loudest secrets—and sometimes, they kill to keep them buried. Highly recommended for anyone who loves atmospheric suspense with a deeply personal edge.

This was a really good mystery. Kinda odd but kept me turning the pages trying to figure out what happened in this small town full of secrets.

I was a little disappointed that there wasn't 100% closure. But, I loved the small town creepy vibe of Boney Creek and all its residents!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing this ARC for my honest review!

#NetGalley #BoneyCreek #PaulaGleeson

Took me a bit to get into this, but I ultimately enjoyed this read. Please, give it a chance. It seemed to be slow to start with what seem like a couple different narratives going at the same time, but about half way, I was hooked and couldn't finish it fast enough.
Thank you NetGalley for my ARC!

This was a pleasant enough read, though I didn't feel totally captured by it. The initial premise is interesting, but almost from the jump I really didnt' like Addie as a main character; the "amateur reporter" thing got on my nerves in a way that made me not really want to root for her. I know this is partially intentional since she acknowledges her naiveté as well as her desire to get a story at almost any cost, but still. <spoiler>The "I'm here to find out who killed my father" thing made me giggle with the cliche of it all, and I didn't feel as though this actually was well developed as a plot point. I'm also confused as to the whole "Walter and Frank might be evil" subplot, since later we find out it was (probably) just her being pregnant and feeling dizzy/drugged? But also sort of teased that it might not be? Also the reveal about Addie's secret was so underwhelming (like girl, we kind of saw it coming a mile away), especially since it caused them both so much trauma and Addie STILL didn't learn her lesson... did it go wrong? what was the intention? what about the miscarriage? We spent so much time leading up to it that I honestly just expected more from it. </spoiler> Though I was interested in where the story was going to go and to see who was at the center of the mystery, none of the reveals felt particularly satisfying. I'd say this is a pretty standard thriller, definitely not bad but also not the most groundbreaking. It has an interesting setting and the plot moves quickly, so if you're in the mood for a fast-paced read this could be your thing.

I loved the small town vibe to this novel, the reader really got to delve into the characters lives and all their secrets. I will definitely be looking for further novels by this author.