Book Review: The Bone Garden

Tess Gerritsen writes gore like no other. The physician-turned-author describes each cut, tear, and slash of skin with such detail that you cannot help but visualise each cell of a human body being torn apart. Known for her bestselling series ‘Maura Isles’, Tess steps away from her main series to write a bone-chilling medical murder mystery.

The Bone Garden is set in two timelines, following two women whose fates become intertwined when a skeleton from the early 1800s is discovered.

Julia, a recently divorced woman, decides to impulse buy a run-down house, but she gets more than what she paid for, as she discovers the remains of a young woman buried beneath her garden. When the previous owner's relative notifies Julia that he may have found letters related to the identity of the corpse, Julia cannot help but jump at the opportunity to find out more.

The letters follow the story's characters like Rose Connolly, an Irish immigrant to the US, a farmer boy learning medicine with sketchy means of paying for it, and a murderer with the face of the Grim Reaper. Rose’s story is set in a time prior to germ theory, when doctors didn’t yet understand that not sterilising equipment or washing hands could spread disease, and it focuses heavily on the childbed fever crisis of that time. The way Tess describes the effects childbed fever has on the body may make many people feel sick, as she describes each smell, bodily fluid and general look of the body in horrifying detail.

Rose meets the young medicine student, Norris, after her sister passes away from childbed fever. Rose is being stalked by people who seem desperate to get their hands on little Meggie, the baby Rose’s sister leaves behind, and the Grim Reaper, a huge figure with a white face who murdered one of the nurses at the hospital Norris practices at.

The serial killer's appearance borders on supernatural, as it stalks the dark streets of Boston, slicing up those who dare warn Rose, and the blame falls on Norris, the poor man best known for being the top anatomical student at his college. Desperation and a well-hidden secret bring the two characters together in a way neither of them expected.

The story also delves into the need for cadavers at medical colleges at the time, as these colleges saw anatomical dissections as a vital part of medical education. Some characters in the story turn to murder to earn a few coins by delivering fresh cadavers to these colleges for their dissection classes, similar to the infamous William Burke and William Hare, who began as grave robbers and turned serial killers in Scotland in the 19th century.

The way Tess builds her world is phenomenal, like each word is perfectly selected to transport you to the suffocating, dirty streets of Boston. From the foggy chill in the air to the mud that makes you drag your feet, it really feels like you are right there beside Rose.

However, the story does have its flaws. Tess spends a lot of time building up the identity of the corpse in Julia’s garden, only for the twist to seem a bit rushed and underwhelming. Julia’s story itself also feels a bit out of place; with her sections being so short, it doesn’t give the readers time to establish a connection with her; she’s simply a means of pushing Rose’s story forward, and it’s hard to see her as more than a sad divorcee. It does, however, create a parallel between the two women: Rose has only just stepped into adulthood and is ready to take on the world despite her circumstances, while Julia has age and experience on her side, making her a much more cautious, if not fearful, character.

Tess also introduces characters like Julia’s sister and the ex-husband into the story, but their characters are flat and seem to add absolutely nothing to Julia’s story, like they were a last-minute addition, or an idea that was never fully realised.

Overall though, The Bone Garden is a great read if only for the murder mystery part in itself, and is a story I would highly recommend to fans of crime stories with an iron stomach.

3.5/5 stars.

Written by, Nat Synak