Tall Bones

The gripping Sunday Times bestseller, chosen as Book of the Month by the Guardian, Grazia and Observer, longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year

'Anna BAILEY's debut is irresistible, a compelling and nuanced psychological thriller suffused with small town prejudice and dark family secrets.' PAULA HAWKINS, author of bestselling The Girl on the Train

'One of the most exciting debuts of the year' SUNDAY EXPRESS

'With Tall Bones, Anna Bailey bursts onto the scene with a wonderfully haunting debut. Small-town intrigue, exquisitely drawn' JANE HARPER, bestselling author of The Dry

'Conjuring up... Twin Peaks and Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects' STYLIST

'Compelling, beautifully nuanced, brilliant' SJ WATSON, bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep

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When Emma leaves her friend Abi at a party in the woods, she believes that their lives are just beginning. Many things will happen that night, beneath the stark beauty of the stars, but Emma will never see her friend again.

But what happens next in Whistling Ridge is so much more than the story of a missing girl.

It's a spellbinding story that will keep you guessing, a story of surprises and secrets, regrets and rage, love and lies. Abi's disappearance cracks open the façade of this small town, peeling away the layers of its past.

Even within Abi's own family there are questions to be asked - of the older brother whom Abi betrayed, of the shining younger sibling who hides his wounds, of her mother and her father - both in thrall to the fiery preacher who has an unsettling grasp on the whole town.

And then there is Rat, the outsider, whose exciting presence is a catalyst for change.

Anything could happen in a tinder-box like Whistling Ridge. All it will take is just one spark...the truth of what happened that night at the Tall Bones....
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READERS AND REVIEWERS praise TALL BONES:

'Spellbinding and darkly beautiful.... intricately plotted and exquisitely written, Tall Bones is a stunning debut' WOMEN & HOME

'Tall Bones is as atmospheric as it gets... a stunning debut that delivers on every level. Reminded me of Jane Harper's The Dry' RENEE KNIGHT, bestselling author of Disclaimer

'Its portrait of small-town intrigue is scarily credible. Bailey understands that the dynamics that drive small-town relationships are the same the world over' VAL McDERMID

'A clever, twisting debut about the dark side of small town America. It is packed with secrets like firecrackers ready to ignite.' FRANCINE TOON, author of Pine

'Will haunt you long after you race through its pages' Grazia

'Bailey writes like a dream' EMMA FLINT, author of Little Deaths

'One of my all-time favourite reads' 5-star reader review

'I loved this book from the very first line' 5-star reader review

'Wow!! This book was incredible! I never saw any of the twists coming' 5-star reader review

'A gritty, haunting and intricately woven, explosive firecracker of a thriller' 5-star reader review
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COMING SOON: OUR LAST WILD DAYS - the stunning new novel from Anna Bailey, published April 2025