When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain is about a young woman, Dovie, who can hear the bones of dead people. The small town of Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, is known to be a tourist hiking spot because of the surrounding Ozark mountains. In the last three years, more than two dozen people have disappeared on the local hiking trails. Most of the hikers have vanished without leaving a trace behind. That is, until their buried bones start to sing.
Dovie is a local seventeen-year-old who has the ability to hear the voices of the bones of dead people. She doesn’t believe in magic and doesn’t think her ability is magical. The women from her family have this ability and have been using it to help find dead people. The locals were scared of their ability and stayed clear from Dovie and her family. They think that she is a witch and that she should be repenting for her sins, even though she has been helping the sheriff find the bodies of the missing hikers. Dovie tries to ignore the voices of the bones but they sing loud enough that she can’t ignore them and she wants the victims and their families to find peace.
The locals and old-timers in the community believe that there is a local creature that is responsible for the deaths. They claim that the mythical Ozarks Howler has murdered the people. However, Dovie doesn’t believe in the Howler, nor does she believe it when her best friend, Lo, tells her that he can see the shadows of the dead people. Lo believes that the dead people are haunting him and that they want him to figure out who is behind their murders. Dovie feels that the only thing she can do is use her abilities to help guide the sheriff and deputies to the bodies and let them deal with catching the killer. Dovie finds solace in that at least with her abilities the families can find some peace with the recovery of the victim’s bodies.
Lo wishes that the shadows would stop following him around. He can’t sleep or move around without them following him around for answers. He wishes he could get a moment of peace. Even though Dovie can hear their bones, the truth isn’t buried there but deep in the hills where their bodies are found. Will Lo and Dovie be able to find out the truth before anyone else gets killed?
It took a few chapters before I got into the flow and writing style of the book. I found myself having to re-read a few sentences and trying to understand what was going on. The book started off strong with an attention-grabbing introduction but it was slow towards the middle and it finally picked up towards the end. The book was a bit predictable but there were a few unpredictable twists. I did like the witchy and mountain vibes along with some supernatural elements. The book was an entertaining read and I would be open to reading more books by the author.
**Disclosure - I received a free unedited ARC in exchange for an honest opinion. I was not required to leave a review.**