Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Random House Audio (2008), Edition: Abridged
Description
Present day: Julia Hamill has made a horrifying discovery on the grounds of her new home in rural Massachusetts: a skull buried in the rocky soil--human, female, and, according to the trained eye of Boston medical examiner Maura Isles, scarred with the unmistakable marks of murder. Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, medical student Norris Marshall has joined the ranks of local "resurrectionists"--those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the black market. But when a distinguished doctor is found murdered and mutilated on university grounds, Norris finds that trafficking in the illicit cadaver trade has made him a prime suspect.
User reviews
LibraryThing member emigre
A Gerritsen book never disappoints! The Bone Garden is a little different because it takes place partly in mid-19th century Boston, but the trademark Gerritsen touches are all there: the suspense, the great characters, and fascinating forensic insights all abound in this fantastic thriller. You
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won't be able to put this one down. Show Less
LibraryThing member smik
Maura Isles, Boston medical examiner, tells Julia Hamill that the skeleton she has dug up in her back garden is old, much older than the house that she has recently purchased. The skeleton is that of a female under 35 years, buried perhaps more than 150 ago, and murdered. Julia is recently divorced
For most of the book, which jumps, sometimes a little jarringly, backwards and forwards between the 1830s and the present day, we are following an ancestor of the last owner of the house, the person's whose estate Julia bought the house from. We do this both through reading about events as they happen, and through papers and letters hoarded by the previous occupant Hilda Chamblett. Hilda is survived by her cousin Henry Page.
The prologue in THE BONE GARDEN is a letter dated in 1888 from O.W.H. to Margaret offering to tell her a secret about her parents that he has kept for fifty eight years. Julia becomes involved in the search to discover the identity of the skeleton when she is contacted by Henry Page with an offer to tell her of the strange affair of Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of Boston’ revered native sons, and the West End Reaper.
This is the eleventh of Gerritsen’s novels. It is almost a stand-alone. Maura Isles, one of the the pair of usual protagonists in Gerritsen novels, makes only two cameo appearances at the beginning to give her verdict on the skeleton which has become the focus of excavation by the medical examiner’s office. It almost feels like Isles is giving Gerritsen permission to branch out without her.
Writing “cold case” books seem to have become popular with crime writers in the last year or two. For many it has been in the form of a police procedural, cold cases unearthed as former detectives with time on their hands take advantage of technical advances like DNA and sophisticated finger printing software. Some have been cases of bodies buried for a decade or two. In THE BONE GARDEN Gerritsen was more ambitious, launching into a cold case almost two centuries old. Her images of Boston in the 1830s create for us an understanding of a time when medicine was in its infancy, anatomy a new science, and the world very different to the one we live in today.
On the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS page, Gerritsen says she has had a long hard year labouring to bring THE BONE GARDEN to life. To be honest I don’t think she has quite mastered the technique of interweaving of the present day with the historical. Just so that the reader doesn’t get lost she alerts us to a time change with chapter headings that say “1830” or “The present”. In order to bring it off she has had to introduce elements of coincidence, dreams that connect Julia to events in the past, voices from the past clamouring to be heard, and more than one love story. I don’t think Gerritsen fans will be disappointed though. The writing is clever and tidy, there is more than one mystery to be solved, and despite the book’s length, it flies quickly.
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and had been labouring to convert the barren back yard into a garden when her shovel struck a skull. Now her backyard is an excavation site for the medical examiner’s office.For most of the book, which jumps, sometimes a little jarringly, backwards and forwards between the 1830s and the present day, we are following an ancestor of the last owner of the house, the person's whose estate Julia bought the house from. We do this both through reading about events as they happen, and through papers and letters hoarded by the previous occupant Hilda Chamblett. Hilda is survived by her cousin Henry Page.
The prologue in THE BONE GARDEN is a letter dated in 1888 from O.W.H. to Margaret offering to tell her a secret about her parents that he has kept for fifty eight years. Julia becomes involved in the search to discover the identity of the skeleton when she is contacted by Henry Page with an offer to tell her of the strange affair of Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of Boston’ revered native sons, and the West End Reaper.
This is the eleventh of Gerritsen’s novels. It is almost a stand-alone. Maura Isles, one of the the pair of usual protagonists in Gerritsen novels, makes only two cameo appearances at the beginning to give her verdict on the skeleton which has become the focus of excavation by the medical examiner’s office. It almost feels like Isles is giving Gerritsen permission to branch out without her.
Writing “cold case” books seem to have become popular with crime writers in the last year or two. For many it has been in the form of a police procedural, cold cases unearthed as former detectives with time on their hands take advantage of technical advances like DNA and sophisticated finger printing software. Some have been cases of bodies buried for a decade or two. In THE BONE GARDEN Gerritsen was more ambitious, launching into a cold case almost two centuries old. Her images of Boston in the 1830s create for us an understanding of a time when medicine was in its infancy, anatomy a new science, and the world very different to the one we live in today.
On the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS page, Gerritsen says she has had a long hard year labouring to bring THE BONE GARDEN to life. To be honest I don’t think she has quite mastered the technique of interweaving of the present day with the historical. Just so that the reader doesn’t get lost she alerts us to a time change with chapter headings that say “1830” or “The present”. In order to bring it off she has had to introduce elements of coincidence, dreams that connect Julia to events in the past, voices from the past clamouring to be heard, and more than one love story. I don’t think Gerritsen fans will be disappointed though. The writing is clever and tidy, there is more than one mystery to be solved, and despite the book’s length, it flies quickly.
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LibraryThing member Petry
Lovely intertwined past/present story. I want to go to Bosten imidiately.
LibraryThing member brainella
Alternating between past and present, this book takes you on a journey through the history of a family. The past is set in Boston in the 1830's, centering on a group of medical students at Boston Medical College. The present focuses on a divorced woman who recently bought an old home outside Boston
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and stumbles on a skeleton in her yard. Through various resources, old documents and relatives, the whole story of the house, the family and the past unravels. Very well written! The characters are interesting, though I think the past story is much better written than the present (which is only there to support telling the other plot line). I wish the story in the present would have a bit more meat to it, but the book as a whole was extremely interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bumpersmom
I liked this book. It traveled between the past and present to reveal a murder mystery/love story that stayed with me long after I read the last page. A new owner of an old house discovers the skeletal remains of a woman in her garden. The autopsy reveals they are more than 100 years old. Thus the
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mystery of who is this long undiscovered homicide victim? She receives an unexpected call from the home's previous owner's family member who wants to share with her the papers left behind hopefully somewhere in this forgotten treasure will be the answers. Letters soon tell the story of a vicious murderer, a mysterious child, and her aunt who fiercely tries to protect her from those wanting to harm her. A good read. Show Less
LibraryThing member afterthought
Pretty interesting. To go back and forth from now to the 1800s. The hunt and the 'who's the reaper' question marks hanging throughout added a touch of excitement. Also an unexpected twist to the ending.
And in the name of science, we make sacrifices..even if it means seeing someone you know ending
I cannot imagine it happening but I am thankful it did, otherwise medicals would nvr have been able to improve..
And in the name of science, we make sacrifices..even if it means seeing someone you know ending
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up on the dissecting table? *gulpsI cannot imagine it happening but I am thankful it did, otherwise medicals would nvr have been able to improve..
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LibraryThing member bellmorejer
Excellent! Keeps you interested until the end. Over the years TG's books get better and better.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
This could have been a very good historical murder mystery without the intrusive modern parts, which could also have been a good story in itself. Together they're a bit addled.
While this is technically a story in the Isles/Rizzoli series, Maura Isles really only has a cameo part. Confirming that
I enjoyed much of the story but sometimes the modern intruded too much into it and broke the story too much.
While this is technically a story in the Isles/Rizzoli series, Maura Isles really only has a cameo part. Confirming that
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the bones Julia Hamill finds are in fact quite old and confirming that the old lady who lived in Julia's house died of natural causes, after that the story centres around papers found in the house and a historical mystery, that unfolds quite well.I enjoyed much of the story but sometimes the modern intruded too much into it and broke the story too much.
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LibraryThing member Cherylk
I thought The Bon Garden was a good book for not being the usual Tess Gerritsen's book.
I liked this storyline. The way it took place in historical times made it seem eerie to me. Also Tess did a great job when she would switch back and forth from past to present. It was easy-flowing.
I look
I liked this storyline. The way it took place in historical times made it seem eerie to me. Also Tess did a great job when she would switch back and forth from past to present. It was easy-flowing.
I look
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forawrd to read more books by this author. Show Less
LibraryThing member wirtley
Excellent and gripping. Some parts are morbid and disgusting. A woman buys a house and discovers a skeleton in her back yard. She wants to discover the identity of the person. This investigation takes her back to the 1830's when medical science was just beginning to research humans after death.
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Many murders are taking place all in the name of science. An innocent man is wrongly accused of murder. A mother dies in child birth and her child must be hidden, but why? EXCELLENT! Show Less
LibraryThing member miyurose
The historical part of this book was great, despite the West End Reaper being heavily based on Jack the Ripper. I really enjoyed the story of Rose and Norris, despite its sad end. However, the present day stuff wasn’t really needed. I feel like Gerritsen really wanted to write historical fiction,
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but she was afraid it wouldn’t grab her usual readers so she had to throw these present day ties in. I could have done without Julia altogether. Show Less
LibraryThing member emhromp2
One of her better novels. I really liked the history of medicine that Gerritsen intertwined here. The story was fast-paced, unpredictable and with likeable characters. Exactly the things I look for in a thriller. The historical element was a bonus.
LibraryThing member BellaFoxx
This was another of those, I kept reading until it was finished books. I would like to say I didn't put it down, but I had to go to work. It moved from past to present, but at a nice pace and the ending was part surprise and part expected but in a nice way. The author kept the pace going, kept the
I recommend this book.
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suspense at a high but tolerable level. With slight breaks so you catch your breath before the next shock.I recommend this book.
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LibraryThing member Dally
A better than usual pulp ficdtion thriller that incorporates flashbacks to the 1800s. I really liked reading about what it was like to be a medical student at that time. The book started a little slow, but definitely picked up the pace in the middle so I didn't want to put it down.
LibraryThing member DBower
I am a huge Tess Gerritsen fan and this book did not disappoint. It is a murder mystery with a twist. The murder took place in the 1800s and is solved in the present day. The author does an amazing job of ttelling the story by transitioning back and forth from the 1800s (based on letters) to the
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current times. The characters were well developed and I hated to see the book end. Show Less
LibraryThing member kittykay
Switching between past and present, The Bone Garden is a captivating tale of murder and mystery. Although I had a rough start with it, I really got into it around pages 100-120 – once I had finally accepted that, against my expectations, the book was mostly set in the past rather than in the
Even though Gerritsen is known as a mystery author, The Bone Garden was very close to an historical fiction work. All the descriptions of the 19th century medicine were captivating – and only made me more thankful to live in the 21st century! I thought there was a really good balance between story and medicine, and I could easily imagine the world as it was then.
The narration jumped from present to past, but also from one character to the other. Since I had such a hard time getting into it, I ended up a little confused between all the names and personnalities. I also thought the story moved slowly, maybe too much at times. As the end neared though, the action quickens and I really wanted to know what would happen. I also loved how, in the end, the present was linked very closely to the past.
Another thing I liked was the dark, mysterious vibe that envelops the story. There was a lot of “hiding in the dark” and “running through the night”, giving it the semblance of a gothic tale.
I have a hard time rating this book and I don’t want to be too harsh on it : I think that my appreciation of it depended a lot on the mood I was in, which wasn’t one favorable to a slower story set in the past. All in all, it was still a very well written novel with a good mystery and an interesting ending.
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present.Even though Gerritsen is known as a mystery author, The Bone Garden was very close to an historical fiction work. All the descriptions of the 19th century medicine were captivating – and only made me more thankful to live in the 21st century! I thought there was a really good balance between story and medicine, and I could easily imagine the world as it was then.
The narration jumped from present to past, but also from one character to the other. Since I had such a hard time getting into it, I ended up a little confused between all the names and personnalities. I also thought the story moved slowly, maybe too much at times. As the end neared though, the action quickens and I really wanted to know what would happen. I also loved how, in the end, the present was linked very closely to the past.
Another thing I liked was the dark, mysterious vibe that envelops the story. There was a lot of “hiding in the dark” and “running through the night”, giving it the semblance of a gothic tale.
I have a hard time rating this book and I don’t want to be too harsh on it : I think that my appreciation of it depended a lot on the mood I was in, which wasn’t one favorable to a slower story set in the past. All in all, it was still a very well written novel with a good mystery and an interesting ending.
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LibraryThing member mazda502001
Tess Gerritsen's books are riveting page-turners. I have read all of her Isles/Rizzoli books. I have to say that I much prefer her later stuff to her earlier stand-alones.
Back Cover Blurb:
Julia Hamill is gardening one afternoon when her spade strikes something soft but unyielding - not a rock but a
Medical examiner Maura Isles quickly determines that the skeleton - that of a woman - dates back to the early 1800s. Forensic evidence indicates foul play. 'But too much time has passed,' Maura warns Julia. ' We may never know the whole story of how she died.'
Boston in the 1830s is a place of disease and pestilence - and no one is more aware of this than Norris Marshall, a student at Boston Medical College. Unlike most of his classmates, Norris is a man of modest means, forced to support himself by performing the most secretive job of all.
Norris is a resurrectionist - a body snatcher - who procures cadavers from grave robbers in order to further his study of human anatomy. Soon he finds himself hunting the most notorious killer of his time, a shadowy figure who flits through graveyards and glittering ballrooms. What he does not realize is that the killer is far closer than he thinks....
But whose are the bones discovered in Julia's garden? With Maura Isles's help, Julia uncovers a secret more shocking than they can both imagine.
Back Cover Blurb:
Julia Hamill is gardening one afternoon when her spade strikes something soft but unyielding - not a rock but a
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human skull.Medical examiner Maura Isles quickly determines that the skeleton - that of a woman - dates back to the early 1800s. Forensic evidence indicates foul play. 'But too much time has passed,' Maura warns Julia. ' We may never know the whole story of how she died.'
Boston in the 1830s is a place of disease and pestilence - and no one is more aware of this than Norris Marshall, a student at Boston Medical College. Unlike most of his classmates, Norris is a man of modest means, forced to support himself by performing the most secretive job of all.
Norris is a resurrectionist - a body snatcher - who procures cadavers from grave robbers in order to further his study of human anatomy. Soon he finds himself hunting the most notorious killer of his time, a shadowy figure who flits through graveyards and glittering ballrooms. What he does not realize is that the killer is far closer than he thinks....
But whose are the bones discovered in Julia's garden? With Maura Isles's help, Julia uncovers a secret more shocking than they can both imagine.
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LibraryThing member stephanwaba
I downloaded this book as an audiobook from Audible.com. I was pretty surprised when I realised that this book was completely different from the other Tess Gerritsen books I had seen before, like "The Keepsake" or "Body Double". In these books, the stories had all evolved around medical examiner
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Maura Isles and detective Jane Rizzoli who would work together to solve various cases, into which they often were personally involved. In "The Bone Garden", however, Jane Rizzoli is not even mentioned and also Maura Isles appears only a few times in the first few pages. The present is not very important, as the real story takes place 200 years ago - during a time when medical science started to progress and medical colleges were set up around the globe. Again, Gerritsen writes about a crime and a series of cruel murders, but without the help of DNA and modern crime scene technology a completely different approach is needed when trying to solve the mystery - a refreshing old-fashioned approach. And there is love and romance to an extent also quite unknown to readers of typical Maura Isles novels. I found this Tess Gerritsen book great in its own way and can only recommend it also to readers who usually like modern crime and detective stories. Show Less
LibraryThing member Othemts
It's 1830 in Boston, a young medical student of modest means is force to become a resurrection man to make ends meat. A young Irish woman is fiercely determined to care for her baby niece after her sister dies in labor. And a Jack the Ripper-type killer is gruesomely murdering people in the West
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End. This historical mystery/thriller is enjoyable despite its many flaws: characters who are just "too good," coincidences, questionable historical accuracy and a modern-day counter-story that serves nothing more than exposition. I liked the medical school scenes and the body snatching for medical cadavers parts as well as the general historical feel of Boston in 1830. Show Less
LibraryThing member DarlenesBookNook
This is my first book by this author.
The central character, Julia Hamill, discovers a skeleton buried in the garden of the Boston house she has just moved into. The ring found with the remains suggests that the body is from the 1830s and is ruled a homicide. The book flashes from the present day to
I thought Gerritsen did a very good job flipping back and forth between the two time periods. She even threw some historical facts into the book, including Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., who was ahead of his time when he argued that childbirth fever was spread by person-to-person contact via the doctor’s lack of hygiene.
The narrator, Susan Denaker, was very good. I enjoyed listening to her!
I will be looking for more from this author.
The central character, Julia Hamill, discovers a skeleton buried in the garden of the Boston house she has just moved into. The ring found with the remains suggests that the body is from the 1830s and is ruled a homicide. The book flashes from the present day to
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the 1830s. The flashbacks describe the medical system and childbirth as it was back then, often in graphic detail which might put some people off. I, personally, found it fascinating.I thought Gerritsen did a very good job flipping back and forth between the two time periods. She even threw some historical facts into the book, including Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., who was ahead of his time when he argued that childbirth fever was spread by person-to-person contact via the doctor’s lack of hygiene.
The narrator, Susan Denaker, was very good. I enjoyed listening to her!
I will be looking for more from this author.
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LibraryThing member devenish
Teeters uneasily between the horrors of body-snatching and the even more horrible saccharine sweetness of her romantic episodes. This is not for the faint-hearted in either respect.
When Gerritsen is good,as in 'Keeping the Dead' and 'The Mephisto Club',she is a fantastic writer who sweeps you along
For someone new to her writing,I would keep this one on the back-burner until the better books have been read.
When Gerritsen is good,as in 'Keeping the Dead' and 'The Mephisto Club',she is a fantastic writer who sweeps you along
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with her stories.When she is bad,well,let us say she can badly disappoint. 'The Bone Garden' falls between these two extremes,being neither brilliant nor entirely bad.For someone new to her writing,I would keep this one on the back-burner until the better books have been read.
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LibraryThing member SandyLee
Newly divorced Julia Hamill purchases a house badly in need of repair. While giving the garden a needed facelift Julia discovers bones. Curious about the house and former owner, she digs into the history of the property and is put in touch with one of the relatives who has boxes of letters and
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papers dating back to the 1800s. The book flashes back to Boston in the 1830s where we meet Norris Marshall and Oliver Wendell Holmes, two of the medical interns. What is most fascinating to learn are the medical practices from the 1800s and how resurrectionists plundered graveyards so the students would have bodies to practice on. Norris assists in the theft at the beginning as a way to pay for medical school. He meets Rose Connelly at the hospital where Rose is caring for her ailing sister who had just given birth. It appears everyone involved with her sister is being murdered by a strange grim reaper with a cape, a reaper who deftly slices up his victims with as much expertise as a surgeon. A fascinating history lesson is woven amid an intriguing mystery plot. Show Less
LibraryThing member MarciaDavis
Present day: Julia Hamill has made a horrifying discovery on the grounds of her new home in rural Massachusetts: a skull buried in the rocky soil–human, female, and, according to the trained eye of Boston medical examiner Maura Isles, scarred with the unmistakable marks of murder. But whoever
Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, Norris Marshall, a talented but penniless student at Boston Medical College, has joined the ranks of local “resurrectionists”–those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the black market. Yet even this ghoulish commerce pales beside the shocking murder of a nurse found mutilated on the university hospital grounds. And when a distinguished doctor meets the same grisly fate, Norris finds that trafficking in the illicit cadaver trade has made him a prime suspect.
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this nameless woman was, and whatever befell her, is knowledge lost to another time. . . . Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, Norris Marshall, a talented but penniless student at Boston Medical College, has joined the ranks of local “resurrectionists”–those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the black market. Yet even this ghoulish commerce pales beside the shocking murder of a nurse found mutilated on the university hospital grounds. And when a distinguished doctor meets the same grisly fate, Norris finds that trafficking in the illicit cadaver trade has made him a prime suspect.
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LibraryThing member lisajoanne
This is a GREAT novel with some really interesting historical connections like Oliver Wendell Holmes and the practice of medicine in the early 19th century. The characters - both "present" and 19th century - are all well-developed and easy to connect to which draws you quickly into the intertwining
Only possible downside to this book: Although the description mentions Dr. Maura Isles (from Gerritsen's other novels), if you're looking for an Isles novel, she's barely featured in this one. I wasn't actually looking for one, which is why I called this a *possible* downside.
Bottom line: absolutely FANTASTIC novel ... HIGHLY recommended!!
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storylines. There are also a couple incredible plot twists that I DEFINITELY didn't see coming!Only possible downside to this book: Although the description mentions Dr. Maura Isles (from Gerritsen's other novels), if you're looking for an Isles novel, she's barely featured in this one. I wasn't actually looking for one, which is why I called this a *possible* downside.
Bottom line: absolutely FANTASTIC novel ... HIGHLY recommended!!
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LibraryThing member onyx95
The combination of being a medical mystery (finding bones in a garden) and adding the historical story (who the bones belonged to) was good. I really enjoy most historicals and that is the part of this story that kept me the most interested in this book. While I did enjoy bits of the current story
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line, following both and seeing how they were intertwined with each other was a great way to tell this story. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Lovey Award (Suspense — 2008)
Whitcoulls Top 100 Books (54 — 2008)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007
ISBN
0739370847 / 9780739370841
Other editions
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