Shattered Bones (Audiobook) – Kate Bendelow
SOCO Maya Barton is called to a canal where a heavily decomposed male body has been discovered. A bank card belonging to Trevor Dawlish is found in the cadaver’s pocket, and the name matches that of a missing person. All seems straightforward – until Trevor’s wife phones the police to say that Trevor has returned home, leaving Maya and the team wondering who the unknown male is.
When it’s revealed that the male was dead before he entered the water, Maya finds herself with a murder on her hands. But when another body is discovered, the case becomes further complicated. The hope is that facial reconstruction of the first victim will help solve the mystery – but it may lead Maya and her team down an even darker path.
I received a copy of the audiobook from ISIS Audio which allowed me to take part in this audiobook blog tour. My thanks to @DanielleLouis_ for the opportunity to join the Shattered Bones tour.
A body hauled out of the water which is too decomposed to get a clear identification. Who is poor unfortunate? That’s the first challenge which will face SOCO Maya Barton and her colleagues. Once they know who he is they will then have the unenviable task of working out who killed him.
There can be no doubt that the man in the water was murdered then dumped, post-mortem investigation shows he was strangled before entering the water. But cause of death seems to be all Maya and colleagues do know, their mystery man isn’t giving up many clues to his identity.
It could have been so much more simple. The body had a bank card in a pocket of his sodden clothes. Unfortunately the card belonged to Trevor Dawlish and Trevor has gone missing. His wife has seen him just once in the past fortnight when he briefly popped home but the body has been in the water for most, if not all of that two week period so the potential victim becomes a prime suspect. But Trevor is keeping well off the radar, much to the dispair of his wife.
For Maya the complexity of this challenging case is only one of the problems she is facing. Her estranged father is due to be released from prison. He has contacted Maya’s mother to assure her he is a new man and that he poses no threat to Maya or her mother but Maya isn’t convinced. As the story progresses and her father released Maya becomes increasingly concerned her father is lurking and plotting to come after her – is she right?
Shattered Bones was my introduction to Maya Barton but the second story in the series. It works well as a standalone story though and I didn’t feel I wasn’t following any of the plot threads in Shattered Bones because I had missed earlier events. Maya is a fascinating lead character and definitely one I would revisit – the fact she is a SOCO was a welcome change to the usual police procedural too.
I listened to Shattered Bones through an audiobook and, as I have come to expect from ISIS Audio, it was a quality production. The narrator did a fabulous job making Maya and colleagues relatable and engaging. I am a fan of shorter chapters in audiobooks too as it makes it easier to jump in and out of the story and fit in some listening around the school runs and dog walks, Shattered Bones very much ticked this box too.
The story did feel it took a little time to pick up the pace while the characters were introduced and slotted into their respective places. But in terms of a slow burn there came a point when events suddenly ignited and it all kicked off. I was blindsided by where events eventually ended up and was very pleasantly surprised as to how easily I had missed clues. Great fun.
Shattered Bones is available as an audiobook and also in digital and paperback format. You can order a copy here: Shattered Bones (Audio Download): Kate Bendelow, Annabelle Indge, Isis Publishing Ltd: Amazon.co.uk: Audible Books & Originals