The Boneyard by Michelle Gagnon
Book #2 in the Kelly Jones series
3 stars

Synopsis:
Following the discovery of a mass grave, FBI Agent Kelly Jones is on the trail of two separate killers and at the same time must cope with jurisdictional issues, rival police officers and a suspicious cover-up. To top it all off, she is in a race against time to save the life of the latest victim.

Review:
Following my enjoyment of the first book in the series, I had built up certain expectations with regard to this installment but was severely disappointed. The plot fails to live up to its potential and there is one thread that remains unresolved at the rather lackadaisical conclusion.

The character development is virtually non-existent, aside from Jack and Kelly, who have gone from mere acquaintances to a fully-fledged couple with absolutely no buildup of their relationship, the other characters are completely one dimensional. The identity of the primary killer is obvious from the very beginning due to an insufficient suspect pool and an excessive number of details provided regarding his personal life. Moreover, there is no explanation for the motivation behind his crimes.

The writing flows smoothly but lacks the background detail and descriptions that made the first book so engrossing. Hopefully the next one will be better. ( )

A mass grave site on the Appalachian Trail puts FBI special agent Kelly Jones the lead investigator. She soon finds that may of these graves are twenty years old or more and some have been recently moved. Kelly searches for a killer that is not only clever but is devious and worse yet-knows every move the police make. ( )

I like forensic mysteries, especially ones that contain bones. Not sure why, and I don't mind the more gory mysteries either, but bones, how the scientists pry the truth from them, and what they can tell a forensic anthropologist about a person is extremely interesting.

This is a bone mystery. Takes place in Vermont, Massachusetts, and a little bit in New York state. That's one of the parts I didn't totally love about the novel. How some of the Massachusetts government was portrayed. Yes, I am aware that the Mass. government can suck sometimes, that the forensic labs in the state haven't always been the best managed, but it's not like the Mass. lab is the only one in the country that is totally and utterly behind in processing DNA. But, maybe I'm just being too sensitive since it seems to me that Boston and Massachusetts sometimes gets a short shrift compared to the mighty, mighty New York, New York, or the glitzy LA.

But, back to the book. Agent Kelly Jones walks into a struggle of wills between Vermont and Massachusetts and gets to deal with that along with trying to solve the mystery of these bones that have been found.

The mystery itself is good, not surprising in some ways, but it has a few twists I didn't see coming, a very solidly written and plotted story for sure.

A definite read for mystery readers of all sort. There's even a bit of romance, that doesn't take over the mystery, a definite plus if you like that. (I love it. I get tired of Romance novels that are stuffed into the mystery genre when they shouldn't be, this one has just enough Romance to be fun, but the author doesn't go overboard). ( )

Some time ago, Michelle Gagnon offered free downloads of this book from her website, and I took her up on it. I was finally able to get to it (library books come first), and it was great.

In this second book in the Kelly Jones series, some hikers come across what turns out to be a mass grave in the woods. Because of the proximity to the Massachusetts-Vermont border, the FBI is called in to advise. The FBI is in the person of agent Kelly Jones, who is forced to postpone a long-awaited vacation to help on this case.

Someone appears to have been targeting young gay men who are drifters, and therefore not missed when they disappear. Or is it two someones? The investigators are led to two bodies placed together, but they've definitely been killed by two different people. Is it a copycat, or two killers working together?

Kelly is forced to deal with squabbling local police including uncooperative Massachusetts State Trooper Bill Doyle and eager-to-learn Vermont homicide detective Monica Lauer, as well as here own insecurities in order to discover the truth, which turns out to be even more disturbing than the investigators imagined.

There are some graphic descriptions of torture, which I found difficult to read, but they are few and brief, and only used to advance the story. I skimmed them, not just because of their disturbing nature, but because I really wanted to know what happened.

I'm definitely going to read Tunnels, the first in the series, and The Gatekeeper (the third). ( )

I enjoyed the extra twist to this plot (which I won't mention because I don't want to spoil it). It wasn't the typical "bad guy", "good guy" story. However, I did find it fairly easy to figure out who the killer was.

The writing is very good, the plot intriguing. The story kept me interested and moved quickly. ( )