A Rattle of Bones (Rebecca Connolly Book 3) (Audio Book) by Douglas Skelton

 

A Rattle of Bones (Rebecca Connolly Book 3) (Audio Book) by Douglas Skelton.

Narrated by Sarah Barron.

Released 1st September 2021 by Isis Audio.

From the cover:

In 1752, Seamus a'Ghlynne, James of the Glen, was executed for the murder of government man Colin Campbell. He was almost certainly innocent. When banners are placed at his gravesite claiming that his namesake, James Stewart, is innocent of murder, reporter Rebecca Connolly smells a story.

The young Stewart has been in prison for 10 years for the brutal murder of his lover, lawyer and politician Murdo Maxwell. Rebecca soon discovers that Maxwell believed he was being followed prior to his murder and his phones were tapped. As Rebecca keeps digging, she finds herself in the sights of Inverness crime matriarch Mo Burke, who wants payback for the damage caused to her family in a previous case.

Set against the stunning backdrop of the Scottish Highlands, A Rattle of Bones is a tale of injustice and mystery, and the echo of the past in the present.

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Rebecca Connolly is an investigative journalist who once worked for the Highland Chronicle, until she became disillusioned with the direction of modern journalism, but she has now made a place for herself at a small news agency in Inverness where her skills can be put to better use. These days she mostly covers small time stuff, and tries to get over some painful memories that refuse to stay buried, but she always has her eye out for a canny story - and one is about to fall into her lap.

Rebecca's interest is piqued when banners suddenly start appearing around town on sites associated with James of the Glen (known as James Stewart) who was wrongly hanged for a crime he did not commit in 1752, during the Jacobite Rebellion. The banners are intended to draw attention to the case of another James Stewart, who was convicted ten years ago for the violent murder of his lover, ex-lawyer and politician Murdo Maxwell. The word is that this James Stewart has also been the victim of a miscarriage of justice, although the details of the new evidence that apparently exonerates him are sketchy at best.

This is a case that has captured Rebecca's attention in the past, but she was unable to gain any real traction with her pieces suggesting that the young James Stewart was not the person with blood on his hands. Unfortunately, her lack of success caused James' grieving mother Afua to lose faith in the notion that any help was to be gained from the media in her campaign to have her son freed - and also come to the conclusion that Rebecca in particular could be of any use.

With interest in the case rekindled, Rebecca is off on the trail of both justice for the young James Stewart - and a story, of course - if she can get Afua back on side and find out exactly what the new evidence entails. This is an investigation that is gong to take her in the path of the allegedly great of the Highland social set, the not necessarily good of the police force, and the undeniably baddest of the dodgy political and criminal fraternities. Can Rebecca find the evidence to prove that James is innocent, while keeping her own demons at bay and herself safe from harm?

What a glorious crime story this turned out to be! Although this is actually the third book in the Rebecca Connolly series, and incidentally my first Douglas Skelton, it can easily be tackled as a standalone story so don't worry if you have not read the previous books. Inevitably, there are threads to the tale that reflect Rebecca's previous triumphs and tragedies, but they don't have a bearing on the James Stewart case itself.

This is a story that delves into both the past and the human psyche. Skelton displays an absolute masterclass in plotting and imagination to weave the threads of this crime novel into something that builds slowly into the kind of tale that becomes completely engrossing. So many times I found myself just stopping what I was doing to listen to the first class narration by Sarah Barron, who handles all the accents brilliantly by the way, as I was completely drawn into the story.

I don't really want to go into the delicious twists, turns and delectable misdirection that Skelton throws your way in this story, because this is a spoiler free zone, but the themes he touches on are surprisingly deep and poignant. The parallel storylines of the two James Stewarts separated by time cleverly highlight the issue of the pursuit of justice for those convicted of a crime they did not commit, and bringing in the past allows Skelton to have a little fun with a haunting spectral undercurrent of a land that calls for sins of the past to be put right - playing up the Highland environment to the max.

I thoroughly enjoyed how the case of the contemporary James Stewart incorporates a mix of the worlds of media, politics, law enforcement and gang culture, using the themes of truth, power, revenge, sexuality, skin colour and ideology to divide enemies and drive the story, bringing a modern twist to the historical battle between Scot and Sassanach that did for James of the Glen. There are also some absolutely lovely characters here, nicely drawn to elicit a range of emotions that take you all the way through love, loss, heartbreak, reconciliation and forgiveness, and there are some truly chuckle worthy moments to lighten the mood too.

This novel really bowled me over with how slick and intelligently constructed it is, and I was very entertained by being totally blindsided in the way Skelton spins aspects of the story to persuade you to look completely in the wrong direction - how I love that WTF  moment when you realise you read something completely wrong! This may be my first Douglas Skelton, but it will not be my last, as I will definitely be going back to enjoy the first two books in the Rebecca Connolly series in the not too distant future!

A Rattle of Bones is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats, from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Isis Audio for sending me a copy of the audio version of this book, in return for an honest review, and to Danielle Price of The Reading Closet for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Douglas Skelton was born in Glasgow. He has been a bank clerk, tax officer, taxi driver (for two days), wine waiter (for two hours), journalist and investigator. He has written eleven true crime and Scottish criminal history books but now concentrates on fiction. His novel Thunder Bay (2019) was longlisted for the McIlvanney Award. Douglas has investigated real-life crime for Glasgow solicitors and was involved in a long-running campaign to right the famous Ice-Cream Wars miscarriage of justice.