Field Of Bones by LT Ryan

Field Of Bones by LT Ryan
Publisher: Liquid Mind Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A young woman disappears…
A desperate family searches for answers…
Maddie Castle must uncover the truth before it’s too late.

Maddie Castle thought she’d seen it all as a private investigator, but when Bentley Roycroft pleads for help finding his niece, Daisy Miller, Maddie is drawn into one of her most harrowing cases yet. Daisy has been missing for nearly a year, but a recent clue—a mysterious flash drive—could hold the key to her whereabouts.

As Maddie investigates, she unravels a trail of deceit, corruption, and buried secrets that point to a dangerous conspiracy. With each step, the danger grows, and Maddie must rely on her instincts to navigate a deadly game where every move could be her last. Time is running out, and the stakes couldn’t be higher: uncover the truth or lose Daisy forever.

PI Maddie Castle has finally found a solid lead on the missing Daisy Miller. Bently – Maddie’s boyfriend – asked Maddie to search for the Daisy, the young sister of his dead wife. Maddie knows the older man – Daisy’s captor – is ruthless, smart and determined, but as Maddie uncovers more and more, she realizes that the stakes are higher than she could have imagined, and the death toll is worst than her every nightmare.

This is an intense and well plotted mystery/thriller series I have been enjoying a lot. There are some darker themes here in the book – kidnapping and non-consensual activities in particular – but I wouldn’t describe anything as overtly graphic or titillating. These themes are present and not shied away from, but they also are not dwelled upon or given graphic description – more mentioned numerous times and not shied away from. I also would stress heavily that this book is solidly a mystery/thriller and “rescue the kidnapped woman” storyline – not in any way a romance or “Dark Romance” style of book.

I also for this book would recommend that the previous story (Vanished Trails) would be a sensible book to read prior to picking this book up. Much of the background detecting occurs in this book and then Field of Bones picks up immediately after where Vanished Trails leaves off. This means readers starting here might feel as if a lot of the hard yards in tracking Daisy and the key evidence they find is missing – as this story opens with Maddie having the evidence in hand and actually tracking down Daisy. I do feel readers should be able to pick up where this story begins, but I feel if I hadn’t read the previous book it might feel to myself as if half the story (the mystery/tracking the clues) was missing.

I absolutely enjoyed the fact that the pace is fast in this book. The whole book covers just a few short and intense days – the culmination of the case as a whole – and this book has a very go-go-go sort of feel to me. I was pleased that much of the emotional baggage which the other books in this series often has was a lot more back seat in this story. I enjoyed that the focus was the case and rescuing Daisy and not so much all the complexities of Maddie’s personal and family life. I did really enjoy that.

While I admit this book might not appeal as much to new readers to this series – without the multiple story plotline arc some of the intensity and emotion might not be present, I do nevertheless feel this is a highly emotional and intense read, a strong thriller/serial killer style of story and a fast paced, plot heavy read. It was also very satisfying to finally get some closure and answers on some of the longer running story arc with these still being plenty of story left for future books.

A well plotted, fast paced mystery/thriller book and a series I am really enjoying. Recommended.