The Bone Clock by author Andrew James Greig is fast-paced, intense, exciting and thrilling, and a good start to the DI Corstorphine Scottish Crime series. Someone has committed a gruesome series of murders and there’s no sign they will stop soon. Detective Inspector James Corstorphine discovers a connection between this first current murder to a journalist who died at the same hanging tree twenty years earlier. It’s not much to go on, records are scarce, everyone he interviews is uncooperative and seems to be hiding something. Each death is different which leads Corstorphine to believe there is some (crazy) method to the murders, but his staff is small and inexperienced at investigating this level of killing. Add in the fact that the instruments of death are made of human remains and clock mechanisms and you’ve got quite the baffling mystery.

Author Greig does an excellent job of maintaining the suspense level throughout the book, and of providing clues and red herrings to keep you guessing again and again. Corstorphine is still grieving the death of his wife and the side story of his efforts to reenter the world of friends and dating and activities is compelling. The ending was just open enough to make you wonder what Corstorphine’s life will look like going forward. I received an advance copy of The Bone Clock from Storm Publishing via NetGalley. It was very entertaining and I am eager for the next book in the series. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

The Bone Clock
by Andrew James Greig
Pub Date: Apr 17 2025

The Bone Clock is the first book in the DI Corstorphine Scottish crime series. It takes place in the Scottish Highlands.

It's a unique story about murders with clockwork details. There is some sexual abuse but the author did not get graphic about it which I appreciated. The main characters were very likable, the writing style was excellent, all in all a great mystery read!

Synopsis: The young oak tree with freshly budding leaves seemed unremarkable until his eyes travelled down to the wooden plaque set into the ground. The words sent an icy chill through his They shall remember you. In the Scottish Highlands where secrets settle like mist in the glens, Detective Inspector James Corstorphine is summoned to a macabre scene – a gamekeeper hanging from an ancient oak, ensnared by an intricate trap of wire and bone.

Thank you #TheBoneClock #NetGalley and #StormPublishing for providing me an E-ARC of this fantastic 1st book in a new series!

I loved the book. It is a very, very well-written mystery story. I am sure you would also love to read it.

A promising start to a new series with a compelling lead character. The plot is intriguing and offers plenty of potential, though it took me some time to settle into the setting. At times, the story felt a bit scattered, which made it hard to stay fully focused. However, the pacing and structure improved noticeably toward the end, making the last stretch especially enjoyable. I'm definitely interested to see where the story goes next and will be picking up the next book in the series.

When a man is found hanging from a tree where a woman had hanged herself years ago the police are called in. The death is ruled a murder and police begin to wonder if there's a connect to the woman's suicide, or was it suicide. All the clues are pointing to a group of children who were put in an orphan's group home.
The story is based on dark subjects of abuse and may upset some people. I found the story dark and a little too long for what it needed to be but I was pleased at the outcome.

This was a good book! 1st in the DI Corstorphine series and it felt like a good starter. It was slightly slow to start with but when it picked it up, it really picked up. We get introduced to the characters and hopefully we learn more about them in the next book. Plenty of twists and the chapters were a good length. For me, the ending was such a disappointment (even though it does lead on nicely to the next book) and I had been hoping for more. Will I read the 2nd book? Probably!

This is a re-release of the book originally titled Whirligig and then released in March 2020 - not the best time !! So it has a new name and cover and for me, one which probably suits the book more as most people would associate the previous title with a modern day dryer and not the original 15th century one. AJC introduces us to his detective called Corstorphine who like most modern detectives has his own personal woes to deal with. The rural Highland setting is very atmospheric and adds to the mystery surrounding the deaths. Well worth a read. Overall 4.5*

Thanks to Netgalley/Storm for the ARC to review.

The Bone Clock is an exquisite masterpiece like no other. Murder mystery lovers will rejoice with this intricate, spellbinding story.  How can you catch a killer that is never there? 💫💫💫💫💫

Oscar is found hanging from the old oak, famously known as the Hanging Tree. The tree is famous for a hanging that occured many years ago. It was believed that June Stevens, a reporter, hung herself there. Detective Constable Frankie McKenzie and DI James Corstorphine will head this investigation after Reverand Simon McLean, retired DI Brian Rankin, the sheriff and Lord Lagan are dead or their lives are threatened.
The Bone Clock will have you guessing from the start and you will never see the twists coming!

Thank you Netgalley and Storm Publishing.

A woman is hung from a tree and claimed as a suicide attempt. Decades later another man is hung in the same spot, which sets off a chain of murders and secrets uncovered in a sleepy Scottish town.

*****

This is my first book by this author, and I loved the writing style. His voice is clear, there were twists and turns, strong leads, and corrupted humanity woven into each of them. It was very graphic in terms of morbidity (but thankfully not abuse), which enhanced the book with how detailed the killer is enacting their revenge.

I do wish we had a little bit more secrecy into who the killer is, as the way it was included felt very obvious to me right out of the gates. The red herrings were almost highlighted as they were brought up, and it led me to seeing the lead detectives as a bit slow, when everything was right in front of their faces. Despite this, it was still a great read, and I was up late into the night finishing it to finally get the resolution I was searching for - which was genuinely so good!

I can't wait to be brought back into these detectives lives again for the next book in the series!

*****

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the digital ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

THE BONE CLOCK - An extremely interesting and intriguing read that had me immersed in the pages until the end. It was easy to figure out the killer but the MOs are unique, at least for me. Good characters, interesting story lines and a variety of reactions and hindrances to the investigations. Source: Netgalley. 5*

THE GRAVEYARD BELL - An improvement over Silent Ritual with the wordiness. Interesting story lines, a variety of characters, a steady pace and interesting descriptions of the locale and people. Source: Netgalley. 5*

SILENT RITUAL - An interesting but wordy book with good story lines and good characters. While an interesting story, the wordiness made it hard to keep my focus reading, too easy to set down. Gruesome crimes but not graphically gory. Source: Netgalley. 3*

Great start to a new series. Believable characters with interesting back stories that I am looking forward to seeing the developments in and a brilliant main plot.
Murder by a very clever means executed by a villain who was hiding in plain sight, from both the characters in the book and you the reader too!

What an amazing start to a new Detective Corstorphine series. It was a great unusual premise. Exceptional writing keeping you gripped the whole book through. Enough twists and turns for a rollercoaster ride. I really enjoyed this novel and definitely looking forward to the next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

I really enjoyed the first read in a new series featuring DI James Corstorphine. The setting of the Scottish Highlands just added to the allure of the book. The characterisation was excellent, although Margo was very irritating, and the unique plotting had me spellbound. This is such a good read, which I am sure readers will thoroughly enjoy, but beware trigger warnings of sexual abuse and violence. I do hope we won't have too long to wait for a follow up. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

DI James Corstorphine is based in the Scottish Highlands and he commands a small team that deal with routine crimes. However, James is called out to a terrifying scene of a man hanging in a tree snared in a trap. Who is he? How did he come to be here? Why did it happen? What is the connection between this body and the one found of a reporter called June Stevens? All of the questions will be answered as you will need to read this book. It was fast paced, full of grit and twists and turns. The characters were well written and the setting was very descriptive. I stayed up all night to finish the book!

I was wrong; dead wrong about whodunnit. And I’m not mad about it. 😂

The Plot: I did not know where this was going when I started reading this book. At first, it seems like a horrible tragedy: a guy hangs himself on a tree known as “The Hanging Tree." But it doesn’t stop there. When another man turns up dead, DI Corstorphine and his colleagues are not prepared for where this case takes them. Heck, I wasn’t prepared either. I mean, my mind was blown as I read what horrible things happened in the small town. I was going through the list of suspects I curated in my head, trying to figure out who was killing these people. Did I blame the murderer? No, and you’ll understand where I am coming from if you read the book. And the ending! Ho-ly cow! I was shooketh. I think some might find the ending too abrupt or unsatisfying, but I think it ended brilliantly.

The Characters: I need to get this out of the way: Margo was annoying. I really disliked her, to the point of hating her. I guess I don’t blame her for being the way she was and the distrust she harbored toward the police, but still, she pissed me off. So much so, that my brother was a little worried. 😅 I’m probably overreacting, but man, she made the detective's life difficult, all for money! Why, why, why? I do not understand her, but thank God she wasn’t the main focus or I would’ve lost it. 😂 But everyone else was great. I liked James and Frankie, who both struggled with a sense of loneliness. The former was a widower and the latter was divorced. There wasn’t any character development, besides James going on a date even though he felt like he was betraying his beloved wife, which is a big step since he likes to keep to himself. But the plot made up for the lack of growth and change in the characters. But maybe there will be some in the second book. 😉

The Writing: Greig is a fantastic writer. I was hooked right from the start and the book just got better and better. I gasped, I got angry, and I got excited when Corstorphine and his colleague, Frankie, were close to solving the case. It was easy to read, the dialogue was engaging, and everything flowed well. I wasn’t confused one bit about the characters or the plot. He did a great job. 👏

Overall Thoughts: This was such a good book! It’s been a while since I’ve read a good mystery novel that kept me guessing to the very end. I will warn you, though, that it is gory and there are mentions of abuse that I will list in the content warnings. That was horrible. Before returning to read the book, I had to step away to keep from crying. Am I going to read the sequel? You better believe I am, and I hope it’s as good as this one. ☺ I highly recommend this book to all mystery lovers!

Content Warnings: violence, domestic abuse, child abuse/pedophilia, excessive swearing, murder, blood, animal death/cruelty, torture, suicide

Pub Date: 04/17/25

Thank you to Storm Publishing for gifting me an arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and statements are my own.

#TheBoneClock #NetGalley

Originally published in 2020 under the title Whirligig, The Bone Clock is a rerelease of book one in Andrew James Grieg’s Detective Corstorphine mystery series, and it was captivating read that left me wanting more. There is a second book in the series, and I’m hopeful that with this new edition, more books are planned.

Set in the highlands of Scotland, The Bone Clock is a dark mystery full of secrets, deception, and intrigue. It opens with a disturbing scene set in 1997, then jumps around twenty years, although the exact year is never specified that I can recall.

Soon the reader is drawn into the mystery of what the locals refer to as The Hanging Tree, and we follow Detective Inspector James Corstorphine as he and his fellow officers try to find a killer before more people die.

This is one of the best mysteries I’ve read lately. It captured my attention and kept it throughout the story. The characters were interesting and felt real, dealing with some of their own personal issues as well as the mystery at hand.

The mystery was quite dark, and there were a couple of scenes that were pretty gruesome in their detail but I think necessary to understand how disturbing the deaths were.

If, like me, you are a lover of mystery series (or shows) like Vera, or Shetland, I think you will really enjoy this book as much as I did. I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series and hope for more.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is brilliantly written. It is dark, ruthless and a fantastic crime story.

The novel is set in a quiet Scottish town where a gamekeeper is found hanging from a tree. It appears to be a suicide but on closer inspection a mechanism had been setup and cause this death.

I was invested in the characters, the story line and in finding out the truth behind the murders.

~Thank you NetGallery and Storm Publishing for the ARC.

The gamekeeper is found hanging from a tree, the same tree a young reporter hung herself from over 20 years earlier. DI Corstorphine is not convinced its suicide and when bits of bone carved to form wheels and gears are found in and around the tree it is obvious this was an elaborate murder. Then the minister is crushed by his church bell, another elaborate murder? The murders are linked by the remnants of the bone gears, but by what else?
DI Corstorphine and his small team race against time to solve the mystery.
Well written and had me gripped from the start, my thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

Thank you so much for this arc. this is a very intreresting premise. with crimes that spands decades, dark, fast pace, good characters. really good scottish mystery.

This book is already a classic for me. It is packed with clever references, and ideas and weaponry which were a delight to read and discover more of. This book mixes the cruelty of death and murder out in the world, alongside abuse and hidden secrets alongside an almost cosy feeling of friendship and colleagues in the police environment in a strong way. The book is fast paced almost to the point of breathlessness and yet there is something tender about it, through the police officers and their words and the police interviews and techniques,
I am moving on straight to the second book in the series!