This is the first book I read from this author and it definitely won't be the last. I thought that the premise of a mystery within a mystery was very clever. The plot is strong with surprising twists and turns that hold me to the end, and most of the characters are likable. Overall it was a very enjoyable reading.

This was a great book. Eerie and unputdownable. Thoroughly enjoyed this read, full of toxic characters and any book which has a dysfunctional family always keeps me interested.

It was slow to start but I'm glad I carried on with it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release date: September 1st 2022

Pages: 512

Representation: Lesbian side characters

Trigger warnings: Drug use/abuse, alcohol use/abuse, death, child neglect, child abuse, sexual abuse, grooming, addiction, death, infidelity, stalking, eating disorder, COVID mentions.

Summary: Nell churcher has had her entire life controlled by her fathers picture puzzle book, whether she’s running from it and its hordes of fans or chasing its secrets. When the 50th anniversary calls her back to her family home, no one is prepared for the new puzzles that risk not only their family, but also their lives.

Rating: 4 stars

The skeleton key is a puzzle of a book that will leave you chilled to the bone.


It was refreshing to read a book about a 40+ year old protagonist. In the start of the book it almost feels like an adventure story or a grand quest. Unfortunately this leads to one of the main issues of the book: It feels disconnected at points, which almost leaves you feeling like the book you’re reading in the end isn’t the book you started.

It’s a medium paced book with a few moments of quiet, evenly matched by the moments where you can’t put the book down because you need to know what happens next.

Everytime you think you have something figured out, you learn new information that has you questioning it all again. It’s a constant game of guess-who and you feel as part of the story as the main character, learning with her and being able to piece it together as she does.

At times everything that happens seems almost unnecessary and over the top, but when you lay all the pieces out in front of you it creates a finished puzzle that leaves no stone unturned. Motives and intentions are clear, and every action and character is seen in a new light. The characterisation from the beginning to end of the novel is so believable and consistent, that you almost feel betrayed by people you personally know when things start to go wrong.

The dual timelines and perspectives of the book help to sell the story, and gives you information as you need to-just enough to keep you intrigued but never enough to dump it on you. They’re written so smoothly that there’s no detachment between them, and they all blend almost seamlessly. It’s easy to get lost in them instead of being disoriented by the change, which speaks a lot to Kellys writing.

Overall, it’s definitely an exciting, constantly moving read that lends itself to the author creativity and genius.

Its shining glory: The webs are so intricately weaved that everything takes you to where you need to go, without ever telling you that’s where you’re going. It’s just what you need from a mystery book.

Its fatal flaw: The 2 main plots feel almost disconnected, like the first and second half of the book are two different books pieced together by a few interconnecting threads.

Read this if: You want a mystery that keeps turning on its head so you never know where it’s going to end up. You like books full of family drama and conflicting characters. You like both plot and character driven books with a large supporting cast.

Skip this if: You like simple, easy to solve mysteries that don’t have cogs of moving parts. You prefer a smaller cast of characters. You don’t like trauma, and lots of it.

This is a slow burn family saga. There are lots of characters. The pace is fast and very intriguing. It is a very good mystery. It is multi layered

f you feel nervous about picking up The Skeleton Key based on the book description, you are not alone. There is no short way to describe the plot, so the description is by far the book’s weakest point.

The novel itself? Is worth the five-hundred-and-something pages.

Bear in mind that as The Skeleton Key commences, the reader is not only being introduced to a dysfunctional family and a whodunnit plot, but also to a book (which the reader, of course, has never read). If you don’t know MASQUERADE (which I don’t), this might take some time to wrap your head around.

If you feel annoyed with all the drama in the first 25%, I think you are supposed to: I am sure that kind of “over it” feeling is exactly what Nell feels.

I won’t lie and say the pace picks up (it is on the slowish side), but it becomes more gripping, giving hints of what is to come - but never giving so much away as to bore. Initially only staying for Erin Kelly’s beautiful prose, I did end up invested in (and shocked by!) the outcome.

This was almost a five-star read for me, but Nell’s absurd holier-than-thou stance in the finale, with no real purpose or resolution, continues to frustrate me. It almost feels out of character for her.

People with slightly messy family dynamics may well see themselves reflected in The Skeleton Key, and will probably have a few wry chuckles interspersed. I’m not saying you should have your therapist on speed-dial, but have a notebook or journal nearby.

Content warnings for alcohol abuse, domestic abuse, and sexual assault - all handled with sensitivity.

P.S: I NEED Netflix to make this a series!!!

This was a really unique gothic treasure hunt of a thriller. I always love a multiple pov in thrillers and the back and forth timeline in this one was very well done and helped this to be an excellent character driven novel as well as one with a fantastic plot. This is one I always recommend to customers in our bookstore as it is just so unique and appeals to a plethora of tastes.

This book was really enjoyable. It was quite a different type of book to the ones I usually read but I wanted to try something different. I try not to judge a book by it's cover but when it's this beautiful it's hard not to.

There is turmoil and questions in this book and the family is on a knife edge. There is a lot going on and I was excited to find out the outcome. I would definitely read more by this author.

I absolutely fell into this dark, twisty spellbinding book full of magic, secrets and art. I have watched programmes about those treasure hunting books and how people get obsessed with them, and so I was hooked on the premise from the start. The characters are amazing, the plot was so gripping and complicated, and my jaw was on the floor at so many points. There is so much heartbreak too, it’s so emotionally gripping, and so atmospheric. A book I won’t forget.

I think people who enjoy being immersed in a puzzle-mystery for a long time will be satisfied with this book, because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the quality of the writing, and the premise was intriguing, but I have to admit I found it almost unbearably slow and long. I felt like I was reading for hours and hours one night after reading on and off for a few days and just as I went to shut off my Kindle, I noticed at the bottom it said I was at 9%! Eventually, I started skipping hundreds of pages at a time out of sheer impatience at how the entire first 20% of the book was basically the same event.
Ultimately, I jumped in huge chunks to the end and honestly after skipping about 50% of it, I didn’t actually feel I’d missed anything because the ending made perfect sense. I think there was one character whose name, I didn’t recognise it that point.
All of the characters seemed to me to be abhorrent narcissists and I felt myself fervently hoping they would all die soon and I could just start a new book. It was such a weirdly negative reaction considering she clearly isn’t a bad writer at all, and I’m normally quite a tolerant reader. It might be that I’ve recently been immersed in a lot of ancient Greek and Roman historical fiction, and this was just too much of a pull out of that world, so take this review with a pinch of salt if you like dysfunctional family dramas, combined with a lot of mystery

Gorgeously gothic, this book was so visually descriptive that I could fully immerse myself into the pages. I loved the plot and the writing!

This book really kept me going right up until the end. I had no idea where it would end up and certainly wasn’t expecting the reveals. All characters felt very real and the plot was very well thought out.

'The Skeleton Key' is a captivating read to get stuck into as there is so much going on and so much for you to discover along the way. I loved the premise of this book - Frank Churcher created a treasure hunt in a book years ago and it has never been completed. As events come together, there will be a final showdown and a final attempt to solve the treasure hunt. As well as this main plot thread, Kelly throws in a lot of extra plot threads that only served to keep my attention and interest in the book. I adored the plot for this and I was lost in the world of the Bonehunters and trying to discover the truth.
Kelly's characters are just as important in this book and the Churcher and Lally families are two fascinating families that were entertaining to get to know. I liked how they have individual plots, particularly Nell, as well as the main plot. All of them were interesting and I just enjoyed getting to know them.
I absolutely enjoyed 'The Skeleton Key' and the mystery at its heart. This may be a little bit too long but I enjoyed every page and every event that Kelly throws in.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy.

Nell has come home at her family's insistence to celebrate an anniversary. Fifty years ago, her father wrote The Golden Bones. Part picture book, part treasure hunt, Sir Frank Churcher created a fairy story about Elinore, a murdered woman whose skeleton was scattered all over England. Clues and puzzles in the pages of The Golden Bones led readers to seven sites where jewels were buried – gold and precious stones, each a different part of a skeleton. One by one, the tiny golden bones were dug up until only Elinore's pelvis remained hidden. Now the book is being reissued, and skeletons are definitely coming out of the closet, and long kept secrets will be uncovered that will tear the family apart.

This book was amazing. It was such a beautifully written book. I would definitely say this is a slow burn, and it took me a while to read this one, but it was so worth it ! This is one of the most unique mystery thriller books I have ever read. Highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Erin Kelly for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Skeleton Key is a lengthy narrative with several subplots and a clever viewpoint change in the middle. With so much going on, it doesn't exactly maintain the same pace the entire time (I found some of the aforementioned subplots a bit monotonous, and I found myself vehemently disagreeing with Nell's moral viewpoint towards the end! ), but it's wonderful at being a narrative about a lot of different things. It was most successful for me in how it portrayed a terrifying, strong individual who cast a shadow over far too many people; I have a feeling that various readers would interpret it differently.

I DNF'd this book twice - First around 30%, then again at 50% - but I kept thinking of the story and wanted answers. That says something, I suppose. But am I glad I went back to finish it? Not really.

I love the concept of the treasure hunt and the obsession of those that follow it. But it's actually much more about the two families at the centre of the story and their betrayals, secrets, and feuds, and unfortunately I didn't care about them enough to easily engage with the story. Because of this, it felt incredibly long and mundane, to me, which is why my interest waivered so often.

I enjoyed the darker, gothic aspects of the story and lied Kelly's poetic and descriptive writing, so I will definitely give her other books a go. But this one definitely wasn't for me, as much as I love the cover!

A solid family saga/thriller with an eclectic cast of characters and a plot that drops truth bomb after truth bomb.

I will be honest I found the first 100 pages slow at first while the author was setting up our players, their connections to one another, and the backstory to the infamous Golden Bones story. But once all that is established the plot moves at breakneck speed and I found myself struggling to keep up (which I loved). I enjoyed watching the family members interact with each other and I came to appreciate those first 100 pages with each new revelation. There were many times I had to put the book down and walk away.

I just wish the pacing of the book had been quicker.

From the author of Watch Her Fall comes a thriller about a decades-old literary treasure hunt and the sinister passions and obsessions that are reignited when a cult mystery picture book is reissued.

What starts as a book about a decades old book called The Golden Bones it winds its way towards becoming more of a book on family drama, dynamics and the inevitable fall outs as a result of keeping secrets.

The story is predominantly told from Nell’s perspective but I find myself never fully gelling with her as a character. I did love Billie though which was a surprise as she is a side character. The two families? Didn’t gel with many of them.

However, much like the book within the book (The Golden Bones) this drops hints and clues throughout and leads you on a journey that will undoubtedly keep a lot of readers guessing which is a hell of a skill from the author.

Unless you really pay attention to what you are reading you might find yourself going huh?! a few times.

Whilst it is a thoroughly decent book it just didn’t grab me and keep me engaged. But that could be down to the pace and lack of thriller elements for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC and the chance to read this book.

The Skeleton Key is an original story with an interesting cast of characters and twisty storyline. When a book is released encouraging the readers to take part in an elaborate treasure hunt things take a sinister turn. The fallout then continues on the anniversary of the book’s publication decades later.
I found this book interesting but the pace was far too slow to hold my attention in parts. It needed to be much shorter to engage the reader and move the story along.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this ARC
I really liked the premise of this book but wasn't sure it was for me and wow - it thrilled me.
I have read other books by Erin but have to say this is the best yet.
Absolutely brilliantly written and great storyline - more please!

An excellent dark thriller. The main character Nell returns home to take part in the 50th anniversary of a book The Golden Bones written by her father. Lots of intrigue this was a thoroughly enjoyable read and one to be recommended.