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    The Bone Garden: A Novel
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    The Bone Garden: A Novel
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    The Bone Garden: A Novel
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Bone Garden: A Novel

    Written by Tess Gerritsen

    Narrated by Susan Denaker

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.

    With unflagging suspense and pitch-perfect period detail, The Bone Garden deftly traces the dark mystery at its heart across time and place to a finale as ingeniously conceived as it is shocking.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 18, 2007
    ISBN9780739343265
    Unavailable
    The Bone Garden: A Novel
    Author

    Tess Gerritsen

    Tess Gerritsen left a successful practice as an internist to raise her children and concentrate on her writing. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of medical suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest; she followed her debut with the bestsellers Life Support and Gravity. Her other novels include Body Double, The Sinner, The Apprentice, and The Surgeon. Tess Gerritsen lives in Maine.

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    Reviews for The Bone Garden

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      When Julia buys a wreck of a house to redo after her divorce, she's shocked to find a skeleton in her garden patch. It turns out the person was murdered and quite a while ago. She makes contact with the family who owned the house for many years and investigates using family papers.Ms. Gerritsen writes an absorbing story about 1830s Boston and the medical community at the time. Students depended on resurrectionists for cadavers to use for study. Irish immigrant Rose Connolly and medical student Norris Marshall are drawn into this world and a series of macabre murders. I really enjoyed this historical murder mystery. Each character is interesting, and I especially liked Oliver Wendall Holmes (father of the jurist). A very well-done story.
    • 3/5
      This book was honestly a 3.5 for me. It kept me riveted, but I wish it were a little more complex and I would have loved for more character development. That being said, I enjoy a good twist at the end (even if it is a little far fetched). There are two parallel story lines, that of a modern day new homeowner who finds a centuries old skeleton in her backyard while gardening and a nineteenth century tale of body snatchers, poverty, serial killers, and a dab of romance. Julia slowly pieces together the sordid life of the girl buried in her garden by going through dozens of old boxes of newspapers, letters, and mementos left behind by the former owner. What she discovers is a mystery spanning generations and a hidden secret that sill stun her. An enjoyably dark read, I wouldn't mind picking up more books by this author.
    • 5/5
      Easily my favorite Tess Gerritsen novel of all time. I could not put this down and it was a page-turner that kept me on the edge of my seat. I am actually about to read it again, it was so good.
    • 4/5
      Serviceable mystery, with a little medical history and pretend real people (Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr) thrown in. Dubious coincidences marred the story (you don't need that shit, authors!), but an enjoyable quick read.
    • 4/5
      Gosh, this was a good book! This was not a typical Tess Gerritsen medical thriller. She moves the story from present time Boston to the mid 1800's Boston, all the while weaving a very interesting tale.

      I really enjoyed the way the story gives us a look at what medical school was like in the 1800's. I realize that this is fiction, however, I felt that, as a physician, Gerritsen did her research and the gruesome facts were accurate.

      This is also a bit of a love story in a very subtle and sweet way. I will recommend this to anyone that is not too squeamish. Be advised, there is a bit of blood, guts and gore with in the pages of this one.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      In the present day, Julia has recently moved into a new home in the outskirts of Boston, trying to move on with her life after a divorce. As she is digging in her garden, she discovers some human bones, dating back to more than a century earlier. She eventually meets someone who has stored some old documents that may hold the key to identifying the bones. Alternately in 1830, medical student Norris Marshall, friends with a young Oliver Wendell Holmes, becomes entwined in a series of murders and must prove his innocence. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I've read a couple other Tess Gerritsen novels and I tend to lump her in with the other typical thriller genre authors: decent storylines, sometimes a little farfetched, but nothing truly remarkable or earth shattering, though they're nice to read between heavier novels. But this one seemed to have a little more meat to it and borders on the historical fiction genre, which I usually enjoy. And I did enjoy this book. I suspect this is one of Gerritsen's better novels.
    • 3/5
      The novel starts off in present day when a women finds the remains of a skeleton in her garden. This prompts her to investigate the mystery behind those remains. Most of the story takes place as a flashback to Boston in 1830. Rose Connolly is with her sister, who is giving birth. Rose’s sister dies of childbirth fever. Afterward, Rose takes the baby, who is highly sought after. Meanwhile, there are several murders being committed by the West End Reaper. Rose turns to Norris Marshall, a young medical students, who is suspected to be the murderer. The murders all seem to revolve around the baby, who Rose goes to great length to protect.There are a lot of things to like about this novel. The mystery is very solid. The characters are interesting and well-developed. The writing is tight and professional and there is a great deal of tension in the novel. For me the two negatives were that much like other novels that I have read which flip between past and present, where the story entirely happens in the past, the present is completely useless. That part can be entirely removed from the book and it wouldn’t miss a beat. It wasted space and my time. The other negative was that when the reveals were made at the end, the coincidences in the story were so utterly ridiculous to be groan-inducing. It went beyond stretching the bounds of believability. Those things aside, it was an enjoyable novel.Carl Alves – author of Conjesero
    • 4/5
      I like the way Tess Gerritsen writes. In this one she blends the historical background of medical practice in the 19th century with a murder mystery which plays out in the past. The protagonists in the present are studying family artifacts and letters to unravel the mystery of a recently discovered body that has been buried for over a hundred years, and its connection to a serial killer of the 1830s, known as the West End Reaper. The story is an entertaining blend of human emotions, mystery and and historical information.

      Of course there is also a lot of human suffering, gory descriptions of murder and dissected bodies, but at least in the world of the novel, all loose strands are tied up and justice is served -in a manner- to both living and dead.


    • 3/5
      Through flashbacks to the 1830's, we learn what happened to a skeleton discovered buried in the garden of an old home just purchased by divrocee, Julia Hammil. I understand that this book did not receive rave reviews when it came out, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. After reading this and THE MEPHISTO CLUB, I plan on picking up some more from Tess Gerritson.
    • 3/5
      This book made me admire another author even more than I already do. That's Laura Lippman. She's the writer of a detective series and many stand-alone novels as well. She said once something along the lines of coming up with a story idea and not making it into another in her series because it didn't fit that world. I wish Gerritsen had that kind of courage because this book does not fit in her Rizzoli and Iles stories and would have been better served as a separate entity. The main story is a straight-up historical fiction tale set in Boston in the 1830s. The main characters are all medical students and Gerritsen, with her medical training background, clearly shows passion for her subject. If she hadn't framed the older story within a current one, she could have more effectively talked about the need for legitimate anatomy cadavers, the discovery and initial rejection of germ theory and a host of other early concerns/challenges in western medicine. But alas, we get a hokey construct of grieving divorcee with an old house who discovers some bones in her garden and attracts the curiosity of relatives of the former owner (now dead herself). The construct is silly and only exists to support the 1800s story. Many of the irritating coincidences occur because there are the two timelines. And Maura Isles appears for about 10 minutes, which is completely stupid and does not a Rizzoli and Iles book make. Anyway, if you can ignore the 21st century story, the historical novel is worth reading although it's highly romanticized and pretty outlandish. Fun, but over the top. Not everyone has a happy ending though, so there is at least some respite.
    • 5/5
      Initially I thought this was going to be a Rissolli/Isles book, but instead it is a historical story, about families, greed, and the illegal trade in dead bodies from the 1830's. It starts with a body in the garden, but that body has nothing to do with the rest of the story, beyond being from the 1830's. There is also a pair of love stories mixed in, not romances. There is a mystery with a lurid villain, without being a thriller. I enjoyed the historical elements very much.
    • 5/5
      Julia Hamill bought a house contrary to advice, solicited and unsolicited, of others. All she wanted to do was plant a garden. This required some digging, heavy work she was not accustomed to. And now she had found a body. True, the realtor selling her the house had warned her of rumors that she might hear about the history of the house. A ninety-year-old woman, the previous owner, had died in the house and her body hadn’t been discovered for several weeks. Surely this was not her body. So who was buried here?Mystery one was quickly solved. The body came complete with a ring that dated the body to around 1840. Still, who was it? Chapter two takes us back to 1830 and the book continues organizationally in this fashion. Chapters alternate in time telling a story in the past and in the present. The story in the past presents us with a mystery to solve. Who is the West End Reaper? People are being killed seemingly systematically. The story plays out in a medical environment that involves doctors struggling with new ideas, students struggling to be doctors, and grave robbers struggling to supply bodies for study by the medical community.The story of grave robbers both as individuals and as an occupation is fascinating and gruesome. The reader might agree with a basic tenet that bodies are needed for anatomical study. It should be easy to see the questions that will occur. Where do you get the bodies? Obviously from the graves, but what happens when supply is scarce and demand is high? How about from the poor and homeless population? Nobody would really miss them, it would be a kindness to relieve them of an existence of suffering, and medical research would advance. There is the nasty problem of a criminal act, not to mention that such killing would be at least immoral.Dr. Crouch is a mentor doctor in charge of four central character medical students, one a notable historical figure, Oliver Wendell Holmes. More important than Holmes is student Norris Marshall, a romantic interest for Rose as well as a necessary helper. Rose, Aurnia, and Margaret are the center pieces of conflict in the novel. Aurnia is disposed of easily, she dies in childbirth in the first few pages. Rose is a definition of abject poverty. She can’t rely on brother-in-law Eben. Prior to Aurnia’s death Rose had worked as a seamstress at Eben’s tailor shop, but after Rose discovered the avarice and sense of ownership of all things that had belonged to Aurnia on the part of Eben, she knew continuing employment with him was no longer a possibility.Any guesses as to where Aurnia’s body will end up? Rose wants to care for her sister Aurnia’s newborn, saving the baby from a life in a government home. Rose has no faith in systems, government or medical. The doctors had not listened to her when she told them to stop bleeding Aurnia and Aurnia had died. She was not going to let the baby die from governmental neglect. The problem was Eben, Aurnia’s husband. He saw the baby as the property of Aurnia along with everything else Aurnia had prior to her death, such as a necklace she had given Rose. Eben wanted the baby but wanted the necklace more. Why?In the present, the identity of the skeleton Julia found was not difficult. Hilda had died and left behind several boxes, close to a hundred, of documents, pictures, and news clippings. The stories in this novel will be related as the elements are discovered. There are also accounts of the daily lives that people of different classes lived during the 1800s. This novel explores the horrible poverty, filthy hygiene (out of economic necessity), resistance to new medical ideas (bleeding, really), and crime developed around a grave robbing industry of the 1800s. And there is almost a romance. There are also some really startling surprises that make the book well worth reading.And finally, there is a tie-in to present day medicine. This is not a spoiler, so if you want to follow this up even prior to beginning reading, feel free. This novel has a great, and factually true, great last line. Going to it first will not affect your enjoyment of the book.
    • 3/5
      It was interesting to discover a second novel within the last year that details the early medical history of how medical schools initially "received" cadavers for their medical students study of the human anatomy. I would suggest this title as a medical thriller for those that enjoy novels by Michael Crichton, Robin Cook, and Michael Palmer. The previous novel that I had read on this subject was "A Matter of Grave Concern" historical romance by Brenda Novak. I don't feel the two (2) books can be compared other than to remark on the parallel of sharing this medical history as part of the storyline.I enjoyed reading "The Bone Garden" particularly as it uses old letters to help convey more information to the reader. I can't describe it exactly but there's always something about telling part of the story with letters that invites me to burrow deeply into the story. And as always with medical thrillers, reading some parts are a little rough for me but I don't let it stop my continuation of reading a good story. And this is definitely a good story!My Mother who is a retired nurse enjoyed it even more than I did and quite compellingly described her delight to me in this way - "The novel's Boston in the 19th century seemed more Dickens and Jack the Ripper's London. Stepping between past and present, with the fascinating characters, was a great story. Like a picture puzzle, I imagined each with a story to tell. A few larger than others and the final piece ties it all together."My Mother also recognized the author's name as being associated with the television show she has enjoyed from the first season of Rizzoli & Isles. Needless to say, both my Mother and I will investigate more titles by Tess Gerritsen. :)
    • 3/5
      Another one of those Tess Gerritsen's stories about a single woman, this one recently divorced, who gets involved in a crime story and meets a cute man (his jumper gives him away as trustworthy wedding material - keep that in mind if you wanna attract the fair sex; a nice dog is helping, too).A new house that was built in the 19th century reveals its secret, a hidden corpse in the garden. Searching for the story behind the female body our heroine digs into the family history. This is the second story line of the book, set in 1830, when another young woman tries to protect the daughter of her deceased sister and meets a young student who is supposed to be a serial killer.It might be obvious: no great literature here, but a well-written story with strong women, a lot of men who act like wimps and some gruesome murders, slashed by a vicious killer who also tries to ruin the potential luck of young lovers. Great nonsense for a lazy Sunday on the couch. Lean back and enjoy the ride.
    • 3/5
      A decent murder mystery set in a time and place that I wasn't aware was that interesting. I never knew the lengths that US medical schools went to at the turn of the 20th century to procure cadavers. Freaky, and it made a good back drop for a story both compelling and romantic.
    • 4/5
      Great murder mystery with medical suspense thrown in that takes place in 1830 Boston and also affects present day protagonists. Julia discovers bones in her garden and her quest for answers leads her to historical documents penned by Oliver Wendell Holmes, where she uncovers a plot to conceal an illegitimate birth which may threaten several upper-crust citizens in Boston. Gerritsen never seems to disappoint...
    • 3/5
      I am SO glad we've discovered germs.

      This book was a frequently-disturbing tour through 19th century medicine, with a fine little mystery threading through the tightly woven plot. In fact, the plot was so tight that I occasionally thought things were just a little too tidy for a good writer, but upon reflection, nothing happened by coincidence. I will not forgive the author for her over-use of the word "slithering" while describing the guts of open, rotting corpses. She obviously knows her subject matter, but... ew.
    • 3/5
      It was interesting to discover a second novel within the last year that details the early medical history of how medical schools initially "received" cadavers for their medical students study of the human anatomy. I would suggest this title as a medical thriller for those that enjoy novels by Michael Crichton, Robin Cook, and Michael Palmer. The previous novel that I had read on this subject was "A Matter of Grave Concern" historical romance by Brenda Novak. I don't feel the two (2) books can be compared other than to remark on the parallel of sharing this medical history as part of the storyline.I enjoyed reading "The Bone Garden" particularly as it uses old letters to help convey more information to the reader. I can't describe it exactly but there's always something about telling part of the story with letters that invites me to burrow deeply into the story. And as always with medical thrillers, reading some parts are a little rough for me but I don't let it stop my continuation of reading a good story. And this is definitely a good story!My Mother who is a retired nurse enjoyed it even more than I did and quite compellingly described her delight to me in this way - "The novel's Boston in the 19th century seemed more Dickens and Jack the Ripper's London. Stepping between past and present, with the fascinating characters, was a great story. Like a picture puzzle, I imagined each with a story to tell. A few larger than others and the final piece ties it all together."My Mother also recognized the author's name as being associated with the television show she has enjoyed from the first season of Rizzoli & Isles. Needless to say, both my Mother and I will investigate more titles by Tess Gerritsen. :)
    • 3/5
      The Bone Garden lives half in the Boston of the present, where the heroine finds a skeleton in her garden, and half in the Boston of the 1830s, where the hero (a penniless medical student) is drawn into intrigue and the case of a brutal serial killer. The machinery of the time-hopping meta-plot is well-constructed: There are no “wait . . . what?” moments, and no threads left dangling at the end. Gerritsen gives the willing suspension of disbelief a strenuous workout, but readers fond of this kind of story will have a grand time with it.The present-day section of the story exist, honestly, for no other reason than to serve the meta-plot: They’re efficiently constructed, but schematic and populated by a handful of characters—the woman reeling from a recent divorce, the handsome passerby who strikes up a conversation, the eccentric old man with a houseful of family history—whose arcs through the story are mostly apparent from the moment they walk onstage. These bits of the story work (or don’t) to precisely the extent that the meta-plot does (or doesn’t).The 1830s sections of the story are far more richly developed. They have an almost Dickensian feel, following a large cast of vivid characters through an urban landscape that encompasses both vast wealth and desperate poverty, and through lives in which despair is abundant but (even for the worst-off) hope never entirely fades. Gerritsen puts her medical background to good use, setting much of the story in and around the for-profit medical school that her detective-hero, Norris Marshall, attends along with a young Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. The “past” sections of the book work so well, in fact, that the Bone Garden left me wishing that Gerritsen would do a “straight” historical novel. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Consulting Detective, anyone?
    • 3/5
      Knowing that TBG was a bestseller, I was expecting banal writing and was pleasantly surprised, for the most part, that it wasn't so; BUT the mystery itself seemed a bit incidental to the exposition of medical & medical school practices of 1830's Boston, though the historical sections were better developed than the modern sections. I loved the way I was surprised by Norris' fate; but what happened to Dim Billy's body? The last we see of it, it has been rolled out of the carriage. There is no indication that his body went over the bridge into
      the Charles River; and when Rose mourns at the casket, I was confused. *Had* Norris made it and she was mourning Dim Billy? Well, no; but why wouldn't Rose also be mourning the boy she had endured so much with and had just survived? The present-day chapters didn't add anything to the story and I was furious when the
      book developed and ended with the "souls reuniting" stuff. It was a cheap ending and I had been led to expect better. I'm was happy to try Tess Gerritsen, but I don't think she's my cuppa.
    • 4/5
      This is a stand along novel and not part of the Rizoli and Isles series, however, it does, ever so briefly, feature Dr Maura Isles. The story then drifts into a 19th century Boston murder mystery retold through letters read in the present. It's an interesting read and makes a nice change from the usual crime stories by Tess Gerristen. But of course it does have a strong medical world theme.

      Worth reading.
    • 3/5
      This parallel narratives spends most of its time in 1830s Boston, a time when Irish immigrants were looked down upon and medicine was still in its infancy. Into this setting is placed a 17-year-old girl and her older sister who is laboring unsuccessfully with her first child in a foul-smelling ward. The doctor is attended by medical students, most of whom are from wealthy, privileged families like Oliver Wendell Holmes. Norris Marshall is the outcast - a farmer's son, working his way through med school by assisting a resurrectionist. When nursing staff start dying in a very unnatural way, Marshall is in the wrong place at the wrong time and becomes a suspect. In the present day, recently divorced Julia Hamill tries to start a new life in a very old house until she finds human bones buried in the garden. The discovery leads her to an aged relative of the previous owner and a possible connection between her home and the famous Holmes.Not for the squeamish! The descriptions of antiquated medical practices (bleed her again!) and grave-digging are more gruesome than the murders. The present day plot is used only to introduce the letters of Oliver Wendell Holmes but it plays little role in the overall story and does not distract the reader unnecessarily. Some may find the resolution hard to believe but it's not completely far-fetched.
    • 4/5
      This medical mystery is really two tales that take place over one hundred years apart. In the present day, Julia Hamill uncovers a skeleton in her garden. This discovery leads her on a quest to solve what appears to be murder, a crime that propels her to research Boston of 1830. As Julia uncovers old letters and papers from the nineteenth century, she discovers how she is connected to the by-gone era. With mastery of word and descriptive prose, Tess Gerritsen paints a chilling picture of what medicine and the medical profession was like in the nineteen century: how bodies were obtained for surgical students and how deadly diseases were spread in wards and hospitals. In this part of the tale, a serial killer is targeting nurses and doctors, and one medical student is trying to prove he is innocent of the crimes even as he is assisting a young girl with a baby to escape from being the next victims. Fast-paced, this page-turner will have you engrossed in both past and present tales as it speeds to the conclusion. While you may disagree with the author’s rendition of the ending, it is still a satisfying read.
    • 5/5
      The Bone Garden is the 13th stand-alone novel by Tess Gerritsen. While it is not a Rizzoli/Isles book, Maura Isles does make a fleeting appearance at the beginning of the book. The novel tells two stories set in different time periods. The present day story concerns recently-divorced Julia Hamill who uncovers the skeleton of a female murder victim whilst digging the garden of her just-purchased home. It turns out the body has been buried sometime before 1840, and Julia is intrigued about the circumstances of the murder and burial. Then Henry Page, the elderly cousin of Hilda Chamblett, the recently-deceased former owner of Julia’s house, contacts her with information which may solve the puzzle. As they sift through the letters and newspaper clippings Hilda left behind, the main story comes out. It occurs in 1830 in Boston, where medical student Norris Marshall is engaging in grave robbing to pay for his tuition. When two nurses and a doctor are brutally murdered, Norris becomes a suspect. Somehow, Irish seamstress Rose Connolly and her newborn, orphaned niece, Meggie are involved. Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of Norris’s fellow med students, joins him in an effort to prove his innocence. Gerritsen gives us a gripping plot with quite a few twists, interesting characters, some of whom are not what they first seem and credible dialogue. Add to this a gutsy 19th century heroine and you have a great tale. Gerritsen also drops in snippets of information about the discovery of infection control, surgery in the 19th century, Rosicrucians and abolitionism. Julia manages to discover the identity of her skeleton, and the murderer, making this the ultimate cold case. A great Gerritsen read.
    • 3/5
      A little bit too long, and the ending is contrived.
    • 3/5
      Could have been a great book, but the story line did not flow smoothly enough. It was fun to find out that Oliver Wendell Holmes was responsible for doctors learning that they should wash their hands.
    • 5/5
      The Bone Garden, a standalone novel, is my first experience with a Tess Gerritsen book, but based upon this reading experience, it is unlikely to be my last. The bulk of the novel is set in 1830s Boston and concerns what happens when a serial killer strikes that city- with flashes forward to modern day Boston and some of the descendants of those featured in the historical section of the story.Julia Hamill, 38-years-old and freshly divorced from a jerk, is the new owner of an old Boston house that had been in the hands of the same family for well over one hundred years prior to her purchase of it. Julia is starting to doubt how wise an investment she has made by purchasing a house needing so much maintenance, but she decides to start with cleaning up the neglected garden (where the previous homeowner’s body was found) behind the house. Already having dug up several large rocks from the ground, Julia is shocked to discover that what she believed to be just another rock in her way is really a human skull. She is relieved, after authorities are called in to investigate, that the body she has unearthed dates back to the early decades of the 19th century. Thus, begins Julia’s attempt, with the help of a relative of the home’s former owner, to discover the identity of the body and its connection to her new home.At this point, Gerritsen shifts the novel’s locale to historical Boston, in particular to a medical school attached to one of the city’s larger hospitals. Here the reader meets what are actually the book’s two main characters: Norris Marshall, a poor medical student barely able to stay in school, and Rose Connolly, a 17-year-old recent Irish immigrant whose older sister will die of “childbirth fever” in the hospital’s maternity ward. When a killer, dubbed by the press the “West End Reaper,” begins to prey on those associated with the hospital and medical school, Norris and Julia will learn that only by watching out for each other are they likely to survive the Reaper experience.The strength of The Bone Garden is its focus on the medical schools of the day, a period during which these schools were often willing to purchase dissecting cadavers from whomever showed up with one to sell them – no questions asked. This was the age of grave robbing, a time during which freshly buried loved ones might disappear within hours of being buried, only to be used in some medical theater for the instruction of a few dozen medical students. It was also a time when doctors and their students spread infection from one patient to the next by not washing their hands or medical instruments. This was particularly dangerous in maternity wards attended by unwitting doctors as they examined one new mother after the other. As a thriller/mystery goes, The Bone Garden rates as pretty much average. As historical fiction, it is a very affecting look at a time during which so many big city residents struggled to stay alive in conditions that are almost unbelievable today.Rated at: 4.5
    • 3/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      This was another book I struggled to get into, it is one I picked up and put back down several times, in the end though I really came to enjoy this book. Julia Hamill buys an old house after her divorce that she is working on fixing up. As she tries to salvage the backyard that used to be a garden she finds human remains. The book jumps between the past and the present in order to reveal the origins of the remains. Even though I had a hard time getting into the book, it definitely caught my attention and I couldn't put it down for the last 3/4 of the book.