Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and author Andrew James Greig for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

This is one of those books that didn’t grab me right away. In fact, within the first few pages, I almost DNF’ed it. I struggle with depictions of death by hanging, since that’s how my daughter committed suicide, and I was the one who found her. Once I got past those images, I found an excellent mystery that begins a series set in a small town in the Scottish Highlands.

A man is found hanging in a lone tree on an estate in the Scottish Highlands. Initially, it appears to be a suicide. On further inspection, the police discover the remains of an elaborate machine built to snare the gamekeeper in the trap. His pregnant girlfriend, whom he abused physically and emotionally for years, has mixed feelings about his death, but doesn’t seem bright enough to have concocted the elaborate snare.

Detective Inspector James Corstorphine leads the investigation. In this small town atmosphere, there are fewer than ten officers. They don’t usually deal with major crimes that will grab the headlines. As he begins looking into the victim, Corstorphine learns that nearly twenty years before, a local reporter was found hanged in the same tree, another apparent suicide. Are the two connected?

While contemplating this, a local minister is killed when the support for the bell in the belfry of his church gives way. Once the building is stable, they find another elaborate mechanism that slowly sawed through the supports every time the bell was rung. Knowing the two recent deaths are related, Corstorphine searches for a link between the victims and begins to unearth a dark secret many will kill to protect.

The mystery here was rather gruesome but also rather ingenious. This is the story of people silenced for decades, as they are considered to be inconsequential to those who wield power. I had an idea early on who the killer was, but not their current identity. There’s a red herring there, but eventually it all made sense.

Andrew James Greig is an excellent writer. He has created a setting I could picture, even though I’ve only been to Scotland once. His descriptions are excellent. The characters are also compelling. Corstorphine is something of an outsider, having moved to the area a number of years earlier with his wife, who died five years before. He’s still dealing with grief over that, having imaginary conversations with her as he ventures out a bit into the dating field. His second in command, Detective Constable Frankie McKenzie, is a divorced woman who works well with him. There is mutual respect, and Corstorphine gives her assignments without having to be on top of her. McKenzie works with a local reporter and develops a cooperative relationship with her. While Corstorphine is the type that says “the buck stops with me,” he also runs interference so Frankie’s investigation can run its course. I didn’t learn much about Frankie’s background here, and I’m hoping to learn more about her and other officers as the series goes on.

Most of the character development here seems to be Corstorphine’s, and it’s quite well done. He has the feel of someone bogged down with grief who has made a promise to his dying spouse to keep on living. Yet it has taken him five years to begin to come out from under that cloud. He still sees her at times and carries on conversations with her in his head. This has a very authentic feel from someone who has been there. He’s lonely as well, but the effort it takes to start living again is daunting.

The Bone Clock is very dark. There are themes here of domestic abuse, suicide, child abuse, and pedophilia. If any of this is a trigger for you, I’d recommend passing on the book, as Greig describes most of this all too well. I had a hard time getting past the initial images, but I’m glad I did, as the overall book was well worth it.

Next book in the series: