The Skeleton Key: A family reunion ends in murder; the Sunday Times top ten bestseller

Product Information

The Skeleton Key is a remarkable novel. It is the story of a treasure hunt that has become more real than real life for its dedicated players. It is not long before it ceases to be a game. Gaia Vince’s new book should be read not just by every politician, but by every person on the planet, because it lays out, much more clearly than any existing scientific assessment, the world we are creating through global heating. Many thanks to Net Galley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily. The author has woven a very twisted and mysterious tale around the book and the families. Things really come to a head when a grand unveiling does not go to plan and old secrets finally start to come out. This is when you finally realise how twisted the older generations in the families are willing to go, and little others are thought about. Great portrayal of family dynamics too where your family can be a safe harbour but at the same time be able to push all your buttons. They are also the people who know where the bodies are buried (literally in this case) and the way Nell struggles with her conflicting emotions over different members of the family is so well done.

This novel really has so much to recommend it. The plot is fantastic and the core group of characters are fascinating, flawed individuals. There are a series of jaw-dropping ‘reveals’ which I never would have guessed and the author brilliantly coaxes so many emotions from the reader along the way. Kelly’s narrative flows smoothly between the past and the novel’s present with the dates and locations clearly indicated in the chapter headings. Somewhat like a puzzle, this builds up a sense of the characters’ motivations revealing mysteries along the way.

Featured Reviews

We move on to the 50th anniversary of the book; the Bonehunters are still searching for the pelvis, scouring anything they can find to seek clues. Eleanor has kept a low profile ever since her childhood, convinced that any publicity will be bad for her personally. Frank and Lal are working with a TV crew to produce a documentary about Frank’s life and his artistic profile since the book was published; as part of the book, he has planned to reveal the final secret about Elinore’s missing bone, but all is not as it seems. Broadchurch: The Novel (August 2014) inspired by the first season of 2013's mega-hit ITV series Broadchurch The Churchers and the Lallys are a close group. They live next door to each other and two of the children even married. On the face of it the friendship seems very close but in reality there are secrets and lies that always bubble under the surface that over the course of the book are revealed to the reader and the realities of what tie them together are not quite as nice as you would expect and you could only describe the relationships as totally toxic. I thought that The Skeleton Key was a fantastic read. A sophisticated and intriguing story, narrated mostly by the character Nell, that has been expertly written and one that keeps the reader engaged with the characters and plot. With many different layers to the plot, it never feels rushed to a conclusion, only revealing secrets when absolutely necessary to progress the story. A complex story of two very intertwined families that is easy to read and get caught up in.

In the rapids near where Kate died, Beer sees an almost invisible eddyline in the swirling water, an interface between flows, a boundary between flow and return, like “the join between past and present, life and death”. This glimpse of the “architecture of flow” is a revelation for Beer of the wonders – and the hidden dangers – of rivers. Enter Nell, the protagonist of Erin Kelly’s latest novel. Nell, like me, comes from a bohemian hippy family where the parents grow their own pot and aren’t particularly discrete about their extra-marital sex. Unlike me, Nell’s family is also at the centre of an international treasure hunt, prompted by a picture book her parents wrote in the 1970s. A delight, particularly the descriptions of Nell's eccentric and utterly dysfunctional family * Irish Times * I’d like to thank NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for approving me for an ARC of this book. I’d also like to thank Tandem Collective UK for inviting me to take part in my first listen along. This is the first book of Erin Kelly’s that I have read and I was excited to dive in. Obsession and clues, death and mystery: all this fed into my new novel The Skeleton Key. My book-within-a‑book is called The Golden Bones: the treasure is a jewelled skeleton, scattered and buried at seven locations. Unlike Fenn, my fictional artist calls off the search when crazed fans can’t tell their fictional quest from reality and threaten his family. One golden bone – the pelvis – remains undiscovered. In the present day, the artist decides to update and reissue The Golden Bones, and reveal the treasure’s whereabouts. But human remains are uncovered instead, and dormant obsessions resurface.The Skeleton Key doesn't have any pictures, but it is certainly more than a nice story. From very early on, I felt drawn in to the lives of Nell and her family. I liked how the story evolved to reveal more of their characters and their motives. The narrative moves around on the timeline but unlike some stories, this wasn't confusing as the chapters were clearly titled with the date.. What was slightly confusing was the discussions concerning the Bonehunters and the significance of their forum posts, one has to pay very close attention to keep up with who said what and when! Frank’s daughter, Eleanor (Nell), is reluctantly attending as after being stalked by dangerously obsessed fans unable to tell fantasy from reality, she had become a recluse. What were her parents thinking giving her a name so close to their fictional character? In 2021, the 50th anniversary of The Golden Bones, things are about to be stirred up again. The book is being reissued along with a new treasure hunt and a documentary crew are charting everything that follows. With the Churchers reunited, Nell is appalled, and terrified. During the filming, Frank finally reveals the whereabouts of the missing golden bone. And then all hell breaks loose. The families live side by side, and their children have grown up together and known each other all their lives. But Nell is one that has become more of an outsider, she moves constantly and is always looking over her shoulder. The reasons for this are made apparent in the story.

Donnenfeld isn’t one of them. His smartphone is as essential a part of his kit as food and water, with apps replacing compass, maps and even decoding ciphers. Does that ever feel like cheating? “The apps don’t ‘recognise’ ciphers,” he says. “It’s up to the human to do that. What they can do is decode them. It allows us to translate a code in a second as opposed to hours manually.” And, he adds, it’s the connection that matters – even more than the prize money itself. “I want to find the Xavier treasure, but watching my kids finding a hidden clue in artwork or coming up with a unique way of solving – that is a wonderful experience. It’s taught them about creativity, brainstorming and teamwork.” This book, though somewhat inspired by that, is entirely different. Far more sinister, as a number of deranged individuals misinterpreted the meaning of the book's premise...leading to dangerous times for the author's family... Oh I LOVE this novel so much!! I read it in one great gulp and lost a fair amount of sleep into the bargain! I was enticed by the story of the bone hunters and Elinore and when I read about Masquerade I was gutted to realise I was born two years too late for it. But as much as I wanted to read it for that I stayed for Nell and Billie. Erin Kelly has woven together the wonderful complex and detailed history for her characters and for the bone hunters and what Nell has been through at their hands. What really made this book work for me is that every single cultural reference, joke or witty aside Nell mentioned is something I’ve said, laughed at or could nod along to. I believe at one point she says to her brother Dom “that’s you that is” something I don’t think anyone under 45 would get but had me roaring with laughter. At times it felt like I could be Nell it was so familiar. She has been working as a journalist since 1998, writing for newspapers, magazines including Red, Psychologies, Marie Claire and Elle, as well as writing psychological thrillers. The Skeleton Key is the story of two close dysfunctional families, the lies they tell, the casual neglect of their children and the monstrous ego of at least one of their number.

Scary, eerie, moving and compelling: a beautifully-plotted, gorgeously-written triumph of a thriller * Nicci French * The relationship between Nell and Dom and that of Billie and Nell are the highlights of the story, in fact, the arc of each and every character in the book was brilliantly done. Billie, however, is like a breath of fresh air in this dark family drama. It is not just about the mystery of a skeleton but Erin Kelly keeps the readers on their toes convoluting the plot with one reveal after another every step of the way and there are so many subplots running in the story that the momentum of the story also has its own pace, whereas some parts I could literally fly with it there were also some other parts which were very slow in its unraveling. Welcome to a world, where it appears nothing is sacred anymore. Misdemeanors are covered up by throwing cash at them, and families are prepared to go all in to keep reputations in place. Is this possible, the art world closing in and covering up to protect its own. Its all about the bones…. Alcohol, too, once provided Darrieussecq with an escape from sleeplessness, as it did for Jean Rhys and Nathalie Sarraute, who treated her insomnia with “a small glass of vodka and a few slices of saucisson” in the middle of the night. But the path to Nell’s peace of mind is of course not straightforward and as events unfold in the lead up to this ‘Golden Anniversary’ many disturbing secrets will come to light and two close families will be riven apart. In a dual timeline story which moves effortlessly between past and present, Kelly brings every character to life so brilliantly.