I knew that A Whisper of Bones was the latest book in a series. However, until I started to write this review had I no idea that this was the 25th one about Jane Lawless. Then again, I'm used to being late to the party. A Whisper of Bones is a book that seems to have a quite straight-forward case.

Britt Ickles meets her aunts for the first time in decades and discover that her childhood friend Timmy is apparently a figment of her imagination. At least that's what her aunts try to get her to believe. So, she turns to Jane Lawless to get to the truth. And, Jane starts to dig around and soon she starts to believe that the aunts may have a secret or two.

What a truly enjoyed about this book is how captivating the book was right from the start. Sure, you know right from the start that the aunts are hiding things, but that just adds some more tension to the story as Jane tries to figure out if Britt is right about Timmy. Also, despite being a newbie did I find the book very easy to get into. I enjoyed getting to know more about Jane and those around her. Right now is an old girlfriend living with her. And, it seems that Jane, still have some feelings left for her, which makes it a bit tragic since her ex is battling a series illness.

As for the mystery, what I really liked that it was not as straight-forward as it seems. I also liked how well-written the characters were, from the old aunts, the neighbors that also seem to be hiding something, to the people around Jane. It's a book that you can easily breeze through quickly since it's not that thick, despite that does it not feel too short. It's a perfect balance, not too wordy. I quite enjoyed the book and I'm looking forward to reading the 24 previous books...

I want to thank S:t Martins Press for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

It was ok, which made me decide that I won't be reading another in this series.

Jane Lawless has allowed her previous girlfriend, Julia (who is sick w/ cancer), to move back in making it difficult for Jane to deal with her feelings (so it's a damn good thing she takes a case that has her, Jane, staying elsewhere).

Taking a break from a conference, Britt goes to visit her aunts and asks about her cousin Timmy, whom she had met & spent time with during their Grandfather's funeral. Both women deny that there ever was a Timmy and that Britt is making up stories.

Britt hires Jane to investigate, when Jane goes to question the aunts she finds that the aunts are taking in boarders, so Jane decides to rent a room from the aunts.

Aunt Lena is a mouthy alcoholic confined to a wheelchair and Aunt Eleanor is a nice calm church-going woman, whose problematic son, Frank, lives in the basement.

When the garage burns down, the arson investigator falls through a trap door and discovers the bones of a murdered man....

The other characters:
* Jane's friend & partner Cordelia, who hates Julia, and also rents a room from the aunts
* Butch a neighbor of the aunts
* Pastor Dare who supports Eleanor by keeping her secrets
* Novack another neighbor & neighborhood Watch Block Captain
* Wendy, Frank's wife, who wants a divorce as Frank becomes more violent
* Quentin, another boarder & Paranormal Investigator

This is "popular gay mystery series" -- Entertainment Weekly

But that is not why I didn't like the book: the basic plot, while interesting became convoluted with the addition of the extraneous characters, their issues, and their hidden agendas. There were several loose ends, the conclusion came together all too conveniently, and the additional love story in which Butch was featured was written as a bad sinister stalker Red Herring.

I found this book as a simply awful piece of writing mired in what seemed to be confusion about just what to do with all the characters & their back/side stories.

The plot/premise is what earned this an extra 1/2 star. ( )

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

What do you do when you remember someone from your childhood, but your family denies that he ever existed? In Britt Ickles' case, you hire Jane Lawless, private investigator. Jane starts on the case, but a set of bones found in a garage after a mysterious fire complicates matters even further.

Jane is a compelling main character. She is smart and resourceful, but still human, as she tries to figure out what she should do about an ex-love who now is back in her world due to a life-threatening illness.

I also love the premise. The idea of someone denying the existence of a person that you absolutely remember is really eerie, and makes me want to know more.

Hart just tries to fit too much in. There is so much going on, so many subplots, that the mystery suffers. I felt like the solution to the mystery was telegraphed too early, so there wasn't really a lot of suspense. And while I appreciated one of the twists, there was just so many stories flying at me simultaneously that it got sort of lost in the crowd.

This is by no means a bad book, it's an okay book with a lot of potential that never got realized. I think if Hart had decided what the focus was, and built from there, the book would have been a lot stronger. ( )