|
by: Tess Gerritsen
List Price: $25.95Amazon.com's Price: $17.13 You Save: $8.82 (34%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345497604
ISBN: 0345497600
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: September 18, 2007
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: September 18, 2007
Sales Rank: 47881
Studio: Ballantine Books
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Unknown bones, untold secrets, and unsolved crimes from the distant past cast ominous shadows on the present in the dazzling new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.
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. But whoever this nameless woman was, and whatever befell her, is knowledge lost to another time. . . .
Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, Norris Marshall, a talented but penniless student at Boston Medical College, has joined the ranks of local “resurrectionists”–those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the black market. Yet even this ghoulish commerce pales beside the shocking murder of a nurse found mutilated on the university hospital grounds. And when a distinguished doctor meets the same grisly fate, Norris finds that trafficking in the illicit cadaver trade has made him a prime suspect.
To prove his innocence, Norris must track down the only witness to have glimpsed the killer: Rose Connolly, a beautiful seamstress from the Boston slums who fears she may be the next victim. Joined by a sardonic, keenly intelligent young man named Oliver Wendell Holmes, Norris and Rose comb the city–from its grim cemeteries and autopsy suites to its glittering mansions and centers of Brahmin power–on the trail of a maniacal fiend who lurks where least expected . . . and who waits for his next lethal opportunity.
With unflagging suspense and pitch-perfect period detail, The Bone Garden deftly interweaves the thrilling narratives of its nineteenth- and twenty-first century protagonists, tracing the dark mystery at its heart across time and place to a finale as ingeniously conceived as it is shocking. Bold, bloody, and brilliant, this is Tess Gerritsen’s finest achievement to date.
'An old mystery is crossed with a modern story in the latest from Gerritsen (The Mephisto Club, 2006, etc.).Julia Hamill, newly divorced and still smarting, purchases an old house outside Boston. Determined to dig a garden, she instead finds the bones of a long-dead woman–the apparent victim of murder–which starts her on a journey to ferret out the story behind her death. Julia connects with Henry, a no-nonsense 89-year-old with boxes of documents that once belonged to the now-deceased previous owner of Julia’s home. The two discover a mystery dating back to the 1830s. At the heart of it is a baby named Meggie, born to the beautiful but doomed Irish chambermaid, Aurnia. Married to a man who cares nothing for her, Aurnia lays dying in a maternity ward with her sister, Rose, at her side. Rose, a spirited 17-year-old, takes Meggie to protect her from Aurnia’s husband, but soon finds herself the target of a bizarre manhunt. Someone is after the child–and Rose, as well, because she witnessed a horrifying murder. The body count piles up as Rose struggles to remain free of those who would take Meggie from her. Meanwhile, a young medical student becomes the chief suspect of the West End Reaper killings when he stumbles onto another terrible homicide. Although he fights the prospect, eventually he and Rose join forces to solve the murders and protect the baby at the heart of the mysterious deaths. Readers with delicate stomachs may find Gerritsen’s graphic descriptions of corpse dissection hard to take, but the story, which digs up a dark Boston of times long past, entices readers to keep turning pages long after their bedtimes.'
- Kirkus Reviews (starred)
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Very engrossing read!!
This is the first book by Tess Gerritsen that I've read, and I will certainly read more! I found this book very entertaining, although the ending was a bit disappointing. If you like suspense, romance, and history, this is a book you should read.
Rating:  - Glued to the Pages
As a student of the history of medicine and a lover of good tales, I found this book engaging on all levels.
The author takes us through a fictional account of one of the great physicians in American History. The reader is enlightened by written illustrations of common practices in the study of medicine during the early nineteenth century. "The Bone Garden" takes us through the same filthy and grotesque practices that also engaged the fantasy of Mary Shelly in "Frankenstein".
... Read More
Rating: - Wonderful and educational thriller!
Exactly what the professional reviewers are saying: you cannot put this book down until it is finished...and I have actually begun to read it again after 5 hours with it today. (Great Saturday relaxing day read!) Having a medical professional background, plus a fascination for the history of medicine made this a perfect choice for me. My daughter who is a surgical resident took time from her frantically busy days to call and tell me it is a "must read". Ms Gerritson does an outstanding job of ... Read More
Rating: - Wonderful Read
This is a great read. The author excells at switching between two time periods. Though this is different from her usual story line, she proves she can change up her writing genre and keep it as interesting as ever. She makes Oliver Wendell Holmes character interesting and makes you want to research his life story. Does an excellent job writing a time period piece. I recommend highly.
Rating: - Couldn't put this book down!
I LOVE Tess Gerritsen novels. I was disappointed with The Mephisto Club, and I very reluctantly left a not-so-great review. It was hard to do since I loved all of her other books so very much-especialy Gravity. Excellent book. Now I picked The Bone Garden up, and I'm so glad I did! It was so good, kept my interest-couldn't put it down, and when I had to, I couldn't wait to pick it back up again! I love how Tess goes back and forth between the present and the 1800's. It's creepy, and so very ... Read More
|
