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    Quiet in Her Bones
    Quiet in Her Bones
    Quiet in Her Bones
    Audiobook11 hours

    Quiet in Her Bones

    Written by Nalini Singh

    Narrated by Raj Varma

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In this gripping thriller set in New Zealand, New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes you into the twisted world of an exclusive cul-de-sac located on the edge of a sprawling forest.
     
    My mother vanished ten years ago.
    So did a quarter of a million dollars in cash.
    Thief. Bitch. Criminal.
    Now, she's back.
    Her bones clothed in scarlet silk.
     
    When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband. But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that’s housed the same influential families for decades.

    The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago. Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he’s determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance…but  no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.

    Even the dead aren’t allowed to break the rules in this cul-de-sac.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Audio
    Release dateFeb 23, 2021
    ISBN9780593346853
    Quiet in Her Bones
    Author

    Nalini Singh

    New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Nalini Singh loves writing paranormal romances. Currently working on two ongoing series, she also has a passion for travel and has been to places as far afield as Tahiti,Japan, Ireland and Scotland. She makes her home in beautiful New Zealand. To find out more about Nalini's books, please visit her website, www.nalinisingh.com.

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    Reviews for Quiet in Her Bones

    3.5/5

    79 ratings9 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5

      Jun 14, 2023

      There were times when I really wanted to shake Aarav and make him realise what was happening to him but at the same time I was kept wondering exactly what was happening and exactly who was to blame for it all. The story starts with a body found in the forest in a car and the son, recuperating from an accident that has left him with broken bones and a head injury deciding to try to help solve the situation. His parents had a volatile relationship and he has mental scars from it, but as he scrapes the top off the story he discovers lies and other stories that he has to work out too. He remembers parts of the day she disappeared but not all and he's also walking in his sleep and finding himself behaving in ways that don't quite make sense. As well as being an unreliable narrator he's also aware of it and trying to fix it all. But there are some things that you just can't fix.
      I was pulled into it and could hardly put it down. I liked it and would read more of her mystery fiction.
    • 4/5

      Jan 4, 2023

      This is a mystery with an unreliable narrator. Aarav’s mother disappeared ten years ago on a rainy night and 250k went with her from her husband’s safe. Aarav is at the family home recovering from a car accident when the cops knock on the door to let him and his dad know that his mom’s body has been found not that far from the house in a deep ravine still in the car she drove off in but it seems the money is missing. Aarav is nosey and picks back up his habit on spying on his childhood neighbors in this ritzy secluded neighborhood. He starts questioning everyone that knew his mom and was home on that day of the crash. As the story unfolds you find out more about the unhappy marriage of his parents and that his mom wasn’t always a good person. Things that he remembers don’t always add up and he even starts to doubt himself. The overall story is good and it was refreshing to read and not know what happened until the end.

      Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
    • 4/5

      May 26, 2022

      A fast-paced psychological trip from the point of view of a totally unreliable narrator (even HE doesn't trust his memories, perceptions and conclusions). Ten years after his mother, a beautiful socialite trophy wife, stormed out of their home in a secluded upscale cul-de-sac neighborhood in Aukland never to be seen again, apparently taking a quarter of a million dollars from her husband's safe with her, Aarav Rai is released from a month-long hospital stay to continue recuperating from a violent auto accident he cannot remember. He has a severely fractured leg which is slowly healing, and some cognitive issues the depth of which neither Aarav, his caregivers or the reader can be sure about. When his mother's Jaguar, with her skeletal remains inside, is discovered nose down in deep underbrush not far from their home, Aarav becomes obsessed with scoping out what happened on that long-ago night that he thinks he remembers vividly. All the neighbors, a multi-cultural lot, come under his scrutiny, and sometimes his suspicion. Most of them knew his mother quite well. All of them turn out to have secrets, just as the Rai family did. None of it is pretty, but is any of it relevant? Aarav's sugar addiction is a nifty nod to the compulsion for more more more that sped me through this novel's 480+ pages in two solid sittings. Go ahead, have a piece of fudge. Just one...it won't hurt you.
    • 4/5

      Apr 24, 2021

      One part Memento, one part Rear Window, this atmospheric mystery pulls you in with a decade-old murder and an unreliable narrator.

      A man returns to his childhood home after an accident. The body of his mother, who disappeared 10 years earlier, is found. The unexpected discovery shakes the Cul-de-sac community and he begins to realize all his neighbors have secrets.

      It reminded me of The Survivor by Jane Harper, though I think that one deals with character development and relationships in a much more powerful way.

      There are some clichés in the writing that are a little cheesy, but the overall atmosphere and creepy wild of New Zealand is captivating.
    • 4/5

      Mar 17, 2021

      When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband. But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that's housed the same influential families for decades.

      The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago. Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he's determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance . . . but no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.

      This was such an intriguing and engaging read!

      It was so well written. Narrated through Aarav’s version, who is definitely troubled by his mother’s disappearance, we follow his journey to find his mother’s killer. There are quiet lot of characters, which was slightly confusing at times because I had to recall who they are and what is their connection to the Rais’ and the plot.

      But the entire build up to the ending was amazing. Even though I kept guessing who was the killer, as I always do, I was glad to get it wrong but definitely surprised with who it turned out to be!

      Overall, an excellent thriller with a bit of creepiness included. Highly Recommended!

      Thank You NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for this ARC!
    • 5/5

      Mar 7, 2021

      There are enough red herrings here to cover two fishing trips and they're scattered very well. By the time I figured out why the main character was thinking he had lost his mind, another one swam by, distracting me until the final confrontation. This is the first of her books I've read, but it certainly will not be the last.
    • 4/5

      Feb 23, 2021

      In this absorbing thriller set in a wealthy Auckland, New Zealand neighborhood. Aarav was a teenager when his mother drove away after a drunken fight with his father. Aarav, struggling with recovery from a car accident has moved back in with his father since the doctors won’t let him live alone. His father has remarried, another girl who he brought back from India. Great periods of time are missing from Aarev’s memory. He suffers from violent angry outbursts. Under the care of a neurologist, an orthopedic surgeon, and a psychiatrist he often thwarts their efforts to help. When the bones of Aarev’s mother are discovered, he is determined to find out who killed her and in doing so discovers a lot about his neighbors and his mother. In his determination, he also uncovers another murder in this wealthy cul de sac. Its an unsettling and somewhat creepy book and when the murders are solved, of course, the red herrings sprinkled throughout the book make the discovery unexpected. The epilogue helps pull all the pieces together and brings closure to Aarev’s misery.
    • 5/5

      Jan 28, 2021

      Novelist Aarav Rai is back living at his childhood home after a car accident the damaged his foot, lungs, and brain. He's not happy to be there. His mother Nina disappeared ten years earlier and his childhood was filled with fights between his parents. He seems to remember hearing a chilling scream when she left home that night but doesn't remember anything else.

      Then the unthinkable happens, his mother's car is found off the road in the bush and her bones are in it. Aarav is determined to find out what happened to his mother that night and has a wonderful pool of suspects in the rich enclave where they live. But his injuries which include memory loss and migraines don't make his investigation easy. And he's also supposed to be working on his second novel...

      The Cul-de-Sac where they live is filled with people who knew Nina and some of them had reasons to hate her. Nina Rai was a loving mother but she also drank too much and could be quite cruel. Aarav is having nightmares that seem like shards of memory that make him think that he might have had something to do with his mother's death though he isn't willing to believe that.

      The story was an intriguing thriller made even more complex by the memory issues the Aarav is having which include hallucinations. Since he is the viewpoint character, we share in his confusion as he looks into the lives of his neighbors to try to discover who murdered his mother. We also gradually learn about his car accident and other events in his life.

      Fans of atmospheric thrillers will enjoy this intriguing story. I especially enjoyed the scenery and culture of New Zealand that were essential elements of the story.
    • 4/5

      Jan 26, 2021

      Ten years ago Nina Rai vanished. Taking nothing but some money and her car, she left everyone, including her beloved son Aarav, behind. It's something that has had a huge impact on Aarav growing up and now, as a best-selling author, the themes of loss and abandonment are prominent in his works.

      Everyone, even Aarav, had put her disappearance down to an unhappy wife leaving her unhappy and toxic marriage behind.

      Except now, Nina Rai has been found, and it's not on a calm and sunny beach somewhere, she actually didn't make it much farther than her own home before her car veered into the brush.

      Aarav immediately knows that this wasn't some unfortunate accident. He knows his mother was murdered. Now, he'll stop at nothing to unearth the secrets from the past. But can he rely on his own memories about what happened all those years ago when he's held so much grief and anger towards his mother and father? But if he is right, there's still a murderer on the loose, and secrets that someone wants to leave buried.

      Nalini Singh is a must-read author for me. Even when she moved from her fantasies and romances into this mystery/thriller genre I knew she wouldn't let me down.

      This is her second foray into mystery following [book:A Madness of Sunshine|44525771], but I loved how different the two books are. Nalini Singh takes readers in a completely different direction, but obviously still retains the murder mystery aspect.

      This time around readers are taken to the affluent gated community Aarav calls The Cul-de-Sac where everyone knows everybody else's business. At least, they think they do. Behind closed doors everyone has their secrets. Aarav is newly returned to the community returning to his childhood home after a vehicle accident left him with a broken leg.

      The entire story is told from Aarav's point of view, and I feel like Nalini Singh was very calculating in how she framed everything. You at once feel bad for the child Aarav once was, losing his mother, but then some of his actions as an adult make him kind of easy to dislike. The same goes for the rest of the people in the neighborhood. But then you stop and think that ALL of this is from Aarav's perspective, and then you begin to question how much you can take at face value and how much is a distorted point of view.

      Without another more reliable character to balance things out a bit, Quiet in Her Bones wasn't always an easy read. But as I said before, this is all so calculated. It's meant to cause the reader to get pulled in and question everything just as Aarav does. So even we feel this kind of isolation. Who do you trust? Who can you believe? Nalini Singh pulls this aspect off to perfection.

      There was a very Hitchcockian feel to the story especially the idea of this idyllic close community, these neighbors that smile to your face on the outside and seemingly have it all, yet pretty much everyone harbors some kind of secret. It's something that kind of carries over from the her previous book. The secrets that hide beneath the surface of a community.

      I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers, but suffice it to say, Nalini Singh has never let me down no matter what she's writing. I'm really loving her new Mystery/Thriller direction.