This book was a bit of a slow burner at first and I wasn’t exactly sure where it was going but….
Once it got it’s hooks into you there was no going back. The story of how rivalries and obsessions can become imbedded in a family and that they can destroy lives. The ripples of past events, and ‘sins’, can become all engulfing waves years later.
The suspense kept growing and kept you guessing right to the end.

This is a brilliant and originally book, I have found Erin Kelly's work (in the past) really hit and miss. I found this book gripping, especially as I love puzzles in my day to day life so a frantic treasure hunt that costs sanity, and marriages with super high-stakes gripped me from the off. What a stellar book and I shall be recommending it to everyone!!

Something a bit different, I was gripped from the start and there were many twists and turns along the way.
If you love a bit of mystery, you'll enjoy this.

As a long time Erin Kelly fan, I wanted to love this more. After taking a long time to get into this, I did go onto to enjoy it, but the faults still made it a slow and average read for me.

The plot is fascinating, the first chapter very good but so very slow afterward, and at times much more descriptive than necessary. There is however a switch in the middle of this novel, and that is where I truly connected with this, but to read to half way through hardly caring either way...

But the latter part - the deepening deceptions and tangled web of secrets throughout the two families lives over the course of generations - was truly something. And the enjoyed, I enjoyed. That said, the somewhat tedious subplots and Nell's constant, infuriating decisions do still let this down.

3 stars from me - some great, some good and some not so good - certainly not as enjoyable as Kelly's other novels but I'll still watch out for her next.

I’m getting to that age, and I may be getting to it prematurely. No, not the menopause. That age when the relationship of responsibility between parent and child switches. All my friends are having to deal with aging, cantankerous, increasingly conservative parents. But for some of us, this balance of responsibility has been skewed almost their entire lives.

Enter Nell, the protagonist of Erin Kelly’s latest novel. Nell, like me, comes from a bohemian hippy family where the parents grow their own pot and aren’t particularly discrete about their extra-marital sex. Unlike me, Nell’s family is also at the centre of an international treasure hunt, prompted by a picture book her parents wrote in the 1970s.

I had come into this book expecting something of a treasure hunt for the reader, along the lines of Alexandra Benedict’s The Christmas Murder Game or Janice Hallett’s The Twyford Code, but to the best of my knowledge this is not the case (Although it’s perfectly possible this book is full of acrostics that went right over my head!). What I got instead is what I was so badly wanting from Eve Chase’s The Birdcage: a properly twisty family story, spanning generations and delivering plenty of shocks along the way.

In this, Kelly absolutely delivers. There is a mystery at the heart of the story that has both Nell and the reader reaching down wrong turns almost all the way through. But at the same time, the narrative darts back and fore into the past, laying context on key moments, giving deeper insight into Nell’s family. And let me tell you, some of it is not pretty! This is a warts and all look at family interactions, and the quiet neglects and traumas of those of us who were brought up ‘to be independent’.

At the same time, we’re presented with kids who fell into (or through) the system. The hardships faced by those with no parents, whether that be because of absence or death. Kelly doesn’t seem to judge one side as worse-off than the other, but rather reveals the myriad ways in which we are all, as Larkin has it, “fucked up” by Mum and Dad.

Besides the brilliant twists and heart-breaking secrets, the book is a really nice read. Nell is an easy character with whom to spend the majority of the novel, and the writing is very smooth – I got through the book quite quickly.

All in all, one of my favourite books of the year. Definitely come to this book if you’re looking for a mystery that will keep you on your toes, and an authentic and sympathetic look at that true step into adulthood: realising your parents are the real kids!

I really enjoy Erin Kelly’s books so I was delighted to receive an advanced copy of #TheSkeletonKey, with thanks to @netgalley and @hodderstoughton.

It’s Summer 2021 and the Churcher family have gathered for the filming of a documentary about the book “The Golden Bones”, a part-folklore-picture-book, part-treasure-hunt, written by Sir Frank Churcher, the patriarch of the group. The book was a global success and resulted in rabid fans traveling across the UK and looking for the seven sites where jewels were buried; each one with a tiny golden bone that would eventually add up to a full skeleton.

Only the pelvis has been missing..until now. Frank uses the extra spotlight from the documentary crew to finally reveal where the last bone is, but to everyone’s shock and horror, it’s a real pelvis, and the family find themselves embroiled in a much more sinister mystery than they could ever have anticipated.

This was a slow starter. I’ve always flown through Erin Kelly’s books so I was surprised at how long it took me to fully immerse myself in The Skeleton Key. The author is a master of world building and I truly believed in the hysteria around The Golden Bones; it felt very real. The characters, although all terrible people bar one or two exceptions, were well-developed and complicated. I also thought the mystery itself was clever and I hadn’t guessed the reveal.

I think this works well for an Autumn book to cosy up with, but be aware that it’s a longer read that might take some time to get into.

Content warnings for child grooming and abuse, murder, alcoholism.

I really enjoyed this book – it’s got a fascinating premise which is built upon with layers of family secrets, power struggles and complex relationships. Although this is a mystery novel rather than fantasy, there were plenty of magical and colourful elements to keep a wide range of readers interested.

There are some really carefully thought-through elements at play in this novel. I enjoyed the involvement of the parallel families and generations, the cult-following of The Golden Bones and there were a few great twists towards the end. I also felt that Nell and Billie living on a boathouse was a really clever way of showing how much Nell had separated her life from that of the rest of her family and rejected the legacy of her father’s book.

I found that ‘The Skeleton Key’ reads very much like a YA book; in fact my only criticism is that I struggled a little to visualise the main character, Nell, as a forty-year-old rather than someone in their early twenties. I did wonder whether Billie was originally written as the protagonist.

Overall, I can see ‘The Skeleton Key’ being a smash hit on the bookshelves this autumn. The gorgeous cover highlights is dark, gothic themes and perfectly sets up the novel’s tone.

Really enjoyable mystery book. The premise is totally different from anything I’ve read before and is so richly written you can picture the book involved and it makes you want to be part of it.

The family undertones and nods to the power wielded make it relevant and just a really powerful read.

This book was incredible. Odd families, sketchy characters, great storyline that takes you back in time whe artistes we’re just that.
A controversial book is being republished on the anniversary of its release. The Golden Bones is highly anticipated and the media are whipping up interest in the search for the last bone to complete the skeleton of Elinore.
I find it difficult to précis this book because there are too many great characters and layers of intrigue.
Buy And read, you will love it.

Mesmerizing, full of twists and turns, an absolute delight to read and experience. I will be seeking more from this author immediately!

Unfortunately, for me, this didn't really work. The writing is almost poetic and artful, but the story failed to hit the mark. It took me a long time to become engaged in the story. I didn't really care for the characters and didn't really understand the logic behind the puzzle of the golden bones

Inspired by Kit William's Mascarade book of the 1980s. Frank Churcher wrote a book which invited readers to solve clues which would find jewelled bones which would make a pendant in a skeleton shape. All the bones have been found except for the pelvis. The skeleton represented Elinore, the story's heroine. There are lots of theories about the bone's location and a thriving online community which debates this. The story followsthe impact the treasure and its seekers has on Frank's own family.
A bit slow at the start but it got better.

I enjoyed this book, and although there were some good twists, I wasnt hooked and some of the storyline felt rushed

What a twisted mystery of a story. This is not my usual read but I really enjoyed it and was totally swept away by the mystery hidden in this story and how Nells life has been destroyed due to her families fame. I couldn’t put this down.

I struggled with this a little, there were a lot of characters and I found it a little tricky to remember who everyone was.

That said, what an interesting premise, a totally original story and a great thriller. It was a real page turner.

Some of you may remember a book called Masquerade by Kit Williams - every page had a picture of a tiny hare in it - and clues in the book led to a beautiful jewelled hare (a beautiful book in itself although always a disappointment to me that the hare had been found before I got the book - and that I couldn't fathom the clues anyway). The Skeleton Key takes as its premise that the famous Sir Frank Churcher writes a similarly clever book - based on a folk story about the Lady Elinore who dies but can be resurrected if her bones (in the book tiny gold bones scattered across England) are found and put back together. In The Skeleton Key one bone remains, however, the pelvis. 'Bonehunters', a group of people who some 50 years after the book's publication are still wanting to put Lady Elinore back together, are still keen to find it. When Sir Frank Churcher's family meet on the 50th anniversary of the book's publication the idea is that the tiny gold pelvis will be revealed - but in fact the gold bone disappears, to be replaced by a real bone. Who swapped them and why? This is what the story eventually reveals - shedding light on the less than savoury past of Frank Churcher and his family. I thought it was a great read and pulled together well to explain everything in the end - but I can't say I liked the people in this book and whilst I did like I wouldn't say I loved it

THIS REUNION WILL TEAR A FAMILY APART ...
Summer, 2021. 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.
The book was a sensation. A community of treasure hunters called the Bonehunters formed, in frenzied competition, obsessed to a dangerous degree. People sold their homes to travel to England and search for Elinore. Marriages broke down as the quest consumed people. A man died. The book made Frank a rich man. Stalked by fans who could not tell fantasy from reality, his daughter, Nell, became a recluse.
But now the Churchers must be reunited. The book is being reissued along with a new treasure hunt and a documentary crew are charting everything that follows. Nell is appalled, and terrified. During the filming, Frank finally reveals the whereabouts of the missing golden bone. And then all hell breaks loose.

What a great twisted read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary review.

I’ve been reading Erin Kelly since The Burning Air and she’s pretty much unbeatable in her ability to grip the reader and immerse them in her world of domestic noir. This was read in a very enjoyable weekend with Alice Feeney’s Daisy Darker so I was knee deep in my favourite territory - arty, bohemian families, with big rambling houses, full of eccentricities and dark secrets. I was ready for skeletons to start tumbling out of closets and that was almost literally the case here. The Churcher’s and the Lally’s have a history that goes back decades and now they live in each other’s pockets, in two adjoining houses on Hampstead Heath, smelling of oil paint and weed. Back in the the 1970’s, when their friendships and marriages began, artist Frank used some old folk verses to create a picture book full of clues to hidden treasure. The story is macabre, as a young woman named Elinore is suspected of infidelity and murdered by her husband. He then scatters her bones in sites across the British Isles. The verses in the book, The Golden Bones, contain clues to the whereabouts of hidden treasure - a one off, tiny gold skeleton with a jewel set in it’s pelvis. When the book caught the public imagination, a group calling themselves The Bonehunters emerged and with the birth of the internet hunters and enthusiasts could solve clues together, pass on information and stoke rumours. Unfortunately, for some it became an obsession and twenty years later, Frank’s daughter - also named Eleanor- is attacked outside her school by a knife-wielding woman who is certain the final piece of treasure - the pelvis - resides within her actual body.

It’s no surprise that as the book reaches it’s fiftieth anniversary, speculation and concern from some parts of the family, has reached fever pitch. With the help of son Dom, the book has been re-issued in a Golden Anniversary edition, complete with locations for people to check in online. The families come together at the houses on the heath, to film for a television special about the book, including a secret unveiling that Frank’s been planning. As he gives a speech, under a tree on the heath, to everyone assembled and on camera, it’s clear he’s planned a publicity stunt. Could this be the final piece of treasure? However, even Frank is shocked when one of his grandchildren climbs the tree and instead of treasure pulls free a woman’s pelvis. The book follows the aftermath of this gruesome discovery, how it affects both families and starts a police investigation. Everyone is under suspicion. The author takes us back into the past, shows us events from different characters point of view, and turns the reader into a Bonehunter of sorts, trying to work out who this woman was and how her pelvis ended up buried in a tree on the heath.

We meet Eleanor again, but this time as a woman and she prefers it when people call her Nell. She weirdly had my dress sense, although I might draw the line at dungarees from now on having read the criticisms about them on middle-aged women! Anything to do with the book raises Nell’s blood pressure and it’s hardly surprising. It has influenced how she lives, as anonymously as possible on a narrow boat that she moves every so often on the London waterways. She claims this is to avoid mooring rates, but it also feels part of her PTSD, the need to keep moving and be hyper-vigilant. She has more than one reason to stay safe these days, because her step-daughter from a previous relationship is living with her. Unbeknown to social services her father left a long time ago. Nell hasn’t had much luck with friends or relationships and she blames the book for this too. She feels she can’t trust anyone since she fell in love with Richard when she was a teenager and he turned out to be an investigator, hunting the final bone on behalf of a rich Bonehunter. His protestations that he loved her anyway fell on deaf ears and she was left heartbroken. Now she’s more paranoid than ever and terrified that the police investigation will bring social services back into their lives.

I was fascinated with the dynamics of these two families living on top of each other in a way that was almost like a commune. The children would flit between houses, gravitating towards the parent who seemed most able to give that parental attention that they needed. Their friendship starts in the 1970’s as they shared ideas, drugs and a desire to create art. The families are so close that when Frank’s son Dom and Lal’s daughter Rose are found kissing it almost feels incestuous. Now there are shared grandchildren, linking them through blood. Where once there was equality, even if they were so poor there was nothing to share, now it seems like everyone functions for Frank. He is the successful artist and his whims should be accommodated. He felt like a law unto himself to me: working when he wants; neglecting his family; indulging his sexual appetites wherever he can. His mercurial temperament is excused because of his talent, but some family members already find him unbearable. Lal’s drinking seems to distract everyone from Frank’s bad behaviour and his decline has been very useful. It eliminates him as artistic competition too. We travel back to one particular night several times from different viewpoints. Wanting to break away from The Golden Bones Frank has created a collection of beautiful nude paintings. However, unable to let them show on their own merits, Frank has let it be known that every model in the show is one of his conquests. The tongues start to wag and by opening night it’s at fever pitch. I can’t work out whether he underestimates the family, or whether it’s a deliberate attempt to humiliate and dominate, but one of the models seems familiar. If Frank’s suggestion is true, he has betrayed everyone close to him. To make things worse he’s openly flirting with a waitress, in front of his wife and children. Luckily, Lal gets predictably drunk, drawing the attention and concern elsewhere.

In the present day both Lal and Frank are arrested, leaving the family scrabbling for the truth. Will it pull them all together or apart? The psychological interplay between family members is brilliantly done. Nell and Dom mean everything to each other, working as each other’s stability since both parents are absent when consumed by their work or drink and drugs. Dom and Rose’s relationship is borne out of the same impulse, desperately seeking stability and being steadfast in providing it for their own children. Nell has to decide whether this family is healthy for her and her daughter. The dynamic between Frank and his family becomes clearer as the novel goes on, with a wife seemingly dependent on medication to cope and Dom desperately trying to protect her. Frank is like a puppet master, in a strange echo of his role in the book, he’s choreographing events and controlling how they act, using distraction to hide what he doesn’t want them to see. He uses friend Lal as a whipping boy, in a terribly destructive dynamic. Frank can do what he wants as long as Lal is drinking and flying into rages, alienating his family. I felt there was a rivalry there and even a contempt for Lal, whose use is to be the comparison point - as long as Lal’s life and work is worse, then Frank is okay. Lal is, quite simply, a scapegoat. Even so, it is Nell’s character arc that I loved because she has to confront a lot of her past and start to build a better future as a family of two. Her strength is shown in the real quest of the book, not for golden bones, but for the truth. However messy, unexpected and inconvenient that might be.

The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly
Publishers Hodder & Stoughton
Published in 1/9/22

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

No spoilers

Original and intriguing, I was gripped from the outset. The detail was such that it portrayed a vivid picture without ever getting bogged down. The twists kept coming and I did not predict the ultimately satisfying conclusion.
And I loved Eleanor and Billie.

Highly recommended.

I’d like to thank the author, publishers and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

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This book touched me in many ways. It has everything I need from a story: a wonderful, twisted plot, interesting characters and dozens of little things I as a reader can identify with. I just love treasure hunts but I wouldn’t go so far as the Bonehunters in this story and become a stalker or let this hunt ruin my marriage. It’s absolutely fascinating to read, very cleverly done and beautifully written. I’m sure I will read more of Erin Kelly’s books.