Detective Garda Cathy Connolly is investigating a break-in, but the discovery of bones concealed in the hem of a wedding dress changes everything. The owner of the wedding dress, Zoë Grant has been gifted the wedding dress by her grandmother who has said that the dress belongs to Zoë's mother who left Zoë when she was little. But, they never manage to question Lavinia Grant about the dress as she is found dead in her home in Dublin. Now Cathy Connolly has to find out the truth about the bones, could it be Zoë that hid them or someone else in her family?

Little Bones is a fascinating story about old sins and family secrets. I found the book engrossing from the start, thanks to both the interesting story and its characters. I instantly liked Cathy Connolly and her partner Dawson O´Rourke. They work well together, have great chemistry, which is a bit troublesome because Cathy has some personal problem in her life. And, I loved them together, despite Cathy's predicament.

Despite the slow progress of the case was I never bored with the story, I was fascinated with the finding of the bones. It was like a jigsaw with some bits of information being revealed now and then. Especially since it seems that a hunted murderer from the States and an old confused woman seems to have connections to the case and the Grant family.

I was hoping towards the end of the book that it would be the first book in a series, and I got my wish granted. At least I hope so since it ended with a hell of a cliffhanger. The one that makes you mentally sign and wonder when the next book is due.

It was a great book, with some unexpected twist and with an ending that first was promising and then turned devastating. I recommend this book warmly!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! ( )

I enjoyed this, but would have preferred less of Cat's musings about her surprise pregnancy and more of a sense of urgency about the case. The Emily/Tony/Mary strand, while it was eventually worked into the main narrative, also slowed the pace of the main story. I was firmly in Tony's camp - Emily's actions were unreasonable, unprofessional, and unsafe, but I suppose if she hadn't invited a confused stranger into her home and smuggled her across an international border, the case might never have been solved. ( )

An interesting plot, it took me a while to get into it but once I did I enjoyed it ( )

I really wanted to love this.

I’ve wanted to read it for ages: I’ve heard nothing but praise for the author, and the idea of a baby’s bones sewn into the hem of a wedding dress is disturbingly intriguing. I bought a copy for a friend, and was delighted when she lent it to me, diving straight in despite being half-way through a library book at the time.

But, in hindsight, the warning signs were there. For instance, the blurb begins:

‘Meet Cathy Connolly. Cop, kickboxing champion and soon-to-be single mother.’

The next paragraph focuses on the dilemma of her pregnancy, then there’s a paragraph about the actual case, and then the final paragraph reverts to Cathy and informs readers that she ‘doesn’t know how dangerous - and personal - this case is about to become’.

Somehow, I still picked this up wanting to read a story about a baby’s bones, which yes, this is, but it is primarily a story about Cathy Connolly. Cathy Connolly is quite lovely, but I typically prefer a stronger focus on the crime, and ultimately that was the case here.

— What’s it about? —

When Zoë Grant’s house is broken into, Cathy Connolly discovers old bones stitched into the hem of a slashed wedding dress. Whose are they? How did they get there?

Then the original owner of the dress, Lavinia Grant, is found dead. What was Zoë’s grandmother hiding? How did she die?

Garda Connolly finds herself trying to unpick decades old secrets and lies to uncover the truth.

Meanwhile, a killer has arrived in Dublin, and he has a different bone to pick with Lavinia Grant. He’s not about to tolerate anyone getting in his way...

— What’s it like? —

A decent police procedural starring a modern, thoroughly likeable heroine and more than one old witch.

Evidence is considered, analysed and often found wanting. Witness statements are crucial, but Zoë is vulnerable under pressure, Lavinia is dead and Trish - Lavinia’s friend - is appalled that the police could want to waste any more of her time with their ridiculous questions. If only they had another witness...

Primarily though, this is an introduction to Cathy Connolly, and an exploration of her feelings about her pregnancy. Cathy is one of the boys in her shared house, loves her job and trains hard in the gym twice most days: can she really fit a baby into her life? Certainly she isn’t prepared to change her life.

— Final thoughts —

I did read ‘Little Bones’ fairly quickly and it held my interest well. I wanted to know what had happened to the baby, though ultimately I would have preferred an ending that was a bit more fact and a little less theory.

There’s a good mix of nice and nasty characters, some amusing moments with a flirty young policeman and a frankly improbable whirlwind romance.

The ending may prove divisive - it actually fits perfectly with everything that has gone before - but it is one of those endings that make you very glad book two has already been published so you don’t have to wait for a resolution!

On the evidence of ‘Little Bones’, I suspect that Connolly is the kind of investigating character whose personal circumstances will always mirror the case, and Blake is the kind of writer who will place her lead character in deep peril - repeatedly - to heighten the tension.

I think probably this series isn’t for me, but I can see the appeal of the central character and did enjoy reading about how different life was in 1950s Ireland. ( )

I thought this story was fine, I liked the plot and the writing in general was good.
I was worn down by the narrative voice , though. We're inside the character's head and hear each. and. every. mundane. thought. From everybody. It's omniscient molasses that just bogs the thing down for me.
Blake had an ending worthy of Ken Bruen, but, then, I think I have the same complaint about Bruen (good, if not great ending, on that last page), but the journey to get there is riddled with large swaths of boredom at yet more ruminating. ( )