The Bones in the Attic

by Robert Barnard

Book Overview

""In this superbly written suspense novel from British author Barnard, ...former soccer star Matt Harper, now a television and radio personality, is the new owner of Elderholm, one of a small street of sturdy old houses in Leeds. As he and his remodeling contractor take a look around the attic, they come upon the skeleton of a toddler-sized child. The deeper Matt and Det. Sgt. Charlie Peace probe, the more certain they become that the child met its...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590581725
• ISBN13: 9781590581728
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Cozy suspense?

I like Barnard for cozy stuff. This reminded a little of Ruth Rendell's "Fatal Inversion", with a little twist at the end, and then another half-twist. Great rainy-day stuff.

A bit of a muddled end...

After a child's skeleton is found in the attic of Matt Harper, who has just bought into a neighborhood in Leeds, England after living there briefly as a boy, he shadows the investigation by a well-meaning detective sergeant who has a baby of his own, and delves back into his brief past in the neighborhood, which coincides with the approximate death of the infant in his attic. This means reconnecting with the neighborhood children, now adults, and forcing some organization on his hazy memories. He knows he feels unsettled and discomfited by that particular time, but can't quite grasp why. I've never read Mr. Barnard before this book, but judging by the size of his name on the cover relative to the title, he must be terribly well known. This was an interesting book with a little bit of a muddled end, but it was well written otherwise and I plan to read him again. It would give away too much to say why I felt the end was muddled, but one key explanation didn't hold up for me. Nonetheless, it wasn't THE key explanation and so the story was hardly ruined. And maybe I'm just being picky. One thing I can say about Mr. Barnard's writing is that he does dialogue very, very well. I especially liked the way the children were written and the way he captured their banter. A note of relief: there are many, many names and places to keep straight. In the hardcover, and hopefully the paperback as well, there is a map of the neighborhood. It really helps.

An Enjoyable Mystery

Robert Barnard's Bones in the Attic is an enjoyable mystery, a quick read to sink into when you've got a few hours to kill. The story of a discovery of a child's bones in an attic and the unraveling of the mystery behind them that follows is certainly nothing unique here. While this probably won't be a book you rush out and tell everyone about, it certainly is a pleasant read.

Workmanlike mystery with a familiar theme.

An old skeleton lies buried in the attic of a house, where it has been undisturbed for thirty years. Who is the victim? Why was he/she left there instead of receiving a proper burial?These are some of the questions plaguing Matthew Harper, the protagonist of Robert Barnard's new mystery, "The Bones in the Attic." Matt is a former footballer turned broadcaster, who has just purchased a new house named "Elderholm" for himself and his new family. Matt is minding his partner's three children while she is away, and he finds the skeleton of a murdered baby while poking around in the attic of his new home. It turns out that in 1969, there were some suspicious goings-on in the neighborhood. To make matters more interesting, as a seven-year-old boy, Matt had stayed in his Aunt Hettie's house for a time, and he played football (soccer) with the children in this very neighborhood. He begins to remember bits and pieces about the friends with whom he played during that fateful year.Barnard is using a plot device that has been used by many other mystery writers. What happens when an old murder suddenly comes to light and long buried secrets are unearthed? Is the murderer still alive and will he or she ever be brought to trial for a thirty-year-old crime? Who will care about a crime that occurred so long ago?As it turns out, Matt cares very much. In addition to his duties as a surrogate father and as a broadcaster, Matt makes it his business to investigate the murder. He joins forces with Detective Sergeant Charlie Peace, who amazingly gives Matt carte blanche to behave like a latter-day Sherlock Holmes. It turns out that Matt has an uncanny talent for investigative work and he and Sergeant Peace manage to locate many of the principles who lived near Elderholm. Between them, they piece together the various elements that contributed to the death of that baby so many years ago.Barnard's book is nicely written. Matt is a likeable, intelligent and sympathetic character and the mystery is intriguing enough, although the solution is not particularly believable. "The Bones in the Attic" is a reminder that the deep, dark secrets that we think are buried in our past sometimes come back to haunt us in later life.

intriguing investigative tale

Matt Harper is a minor celebrity in England because of his past professional soccer playing and his present day work as a media sports commentator. While his significant other is in South Africa taking care of her ailing husband, Matt is nurturing and watching over her three children. In fact, the four of them plan to move into Elderholm and decorate much of it before Aileen returns. Before Matt sets a moving date, he and the decorator make a grisly discovery in the attic. They find the whole skeletal remains of a very young child lying in the corner of the room as if somebody put it there and forgot about it. Matt calls in the police but since the crime happened in 1969 it is not a high priority case. Since Matt knew most of the children in the area during that summer he begins investigating and discovers a conspiracy of gigantic proportions. The protagonist of THE BONES IN THE ATTIC is a good sensitive man eagerly taking care of three children not his own while their mother is away taking care of their father. Readers will get caught up in Matt's investigation of why the child died and was left up in the attic and hope he gets some answers quickly. The investigation is believable and the answers will more than satisfy the audience.Harriet Klausner