Tall Bones
  • Published: 1 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473581272
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352

Tall Bones

The instant Sunday Times bestseller

Formats & editions
Paperback
16 Mar 2022
EBook
1 Apr 2021
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The SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER, a GUARDIAN book of the month, praised by authors such as PAULA HAWKINS and JANE HARPER and chosen by VAL McDERMID for her prestigious New Blood Selection;TALL BONES marks the debut of an exceptional new talent.

LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR
(Published in the US as 'Where the Truth Lies')

'Wonderfully haunting' JANE HARPER, author of The Dry
'Extremely well written, fantastic' HARRIET TYCE, author of Blood Orange

'Conjuring up... Twin Peaks and Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects' Stylist

'Very moving... an assured debut' Laura Wilson, Guardian

'Spellbinding.... a stunning debut' Woman & Home

'Irresistible' PAULA HAWKINS, author of The Girl on the Train

'Clever, twisting' FRANCINE TOON, author of Pine

'Compelling, beautifully nuanced, brilliant' SJ WATSON, author of Before I Go to Sleep
'Delivers on every level' RENEE KNIGHT, author of Disclaimer
'A nuanced thriller that will haunt you long after you race through its pages' Grazia
'One of the most exciting debuts of the year' Sunday Express________________________________________________

When Emma leaves her friend Abi at a party in the woods, she believes that their lives are just beginning. Many things will happen that night, beneath the stark beauty of the stars, but Emma will never see her friend again.

But what happens next in Whistling Ridge is so much more than the story of a missing girl.

It's a spellbinding story that will keep you guessing, a story of surprises and secrets, regrets and rage, love and lies. Abi's disappearance cracks open the façade of this small town, peeling away the layers of its past. Even within Abi's own family there are questions to be asked - of the older brother whom Abi betrayed, of the shining younger sibling who hides his wounds, of her mother and her father - both in thrall to the fiery preacher who has an unsettling grasp on the whole town. And then there is Rat, the outsider, whose exciting presence is a catalyst for change.

Anything could happen in a tinder-box like Whistling Ridge. All it will take is just one spark...the truth of what happened that night at the Tall Bones. Beautifully written, arresting, and constantly surprising, TALL BONES is a gripping read from a stunning new voice.
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READERS AND REVIEWERS praise TALL BONES:
'A striking first novel' Observer

'Fast-paced and moving' Literary Review

'Will haunt you long after you race through its pages' Grazia (Book of the Month)

'A compulsive literary crime-drama' Culturefly

'Bailey writes like a dream' Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths

'Brilliant, could not put it down' Katie Fford

'One of my all-time favourite reads' Goodreads

'I loved this book from the very first line' Goodreads
  • Published: 1 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473581272
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352
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About the author

Anna Bailey

Anna Bailey was born in Bristol in 1995 and she spent her childhood between her home in Gloucestershire and visiting family in Cornwall. She studied Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and wanted to be a journalist, but ended up moving to Colorado and becoming a Starbucks barista instead. In 2018, she returned to the UK where she enrolled in the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing course and wrote her first novel Tall Bones, inspired by her time in the US. She currently lives in Cheltenham, where she writes for Cotswold Life and Good On Paper magazines.

portrait photo of Anna Bailey

Praise for Tall Bones

Anna Bailey's debut is irresistible, a compelling and nuanced psychological thriller suffused with small town prejudice and dark family secrets.

PAULA HAWKINS, author of The Girl on the Train

Tall Bones is as atmospheric as it gets... a stunning debut that delivers on every level. Reminded me of Jane Harper's The Dry.

RENEE KNIGHT, author of Disclaimer

Chilling and compulsive... a dazzling debut.

KATE HAMER, author of The Girl in the Red Coat

Brilliant! Could not put it down. It's utterly gripping and beautifully written.

KATIE FFORDE

An elegant, mesmerizing debut-Anna Bailey explores festering secrets with a with a sharp, yet tender gaze. This book reads like a whisper in the dark.

DANYA KUKAFKA, author of Girl in Snow

Smart and compassionate, full of poetry and rage and shy hopes and shredded dreams and missing girls and family secrets.

TAMMY COHEN, author of Stop At Nothing

With Tall Bones, Anna Bailey bursts onto the scene with a wonderfully haunting debut. Small-town intrigue, exquisitely drawn.

JANE HARPER, author of The Dry and The Lost Man

An intricate and compelling thriller, beautifully nuanced. Brilliant.

SJ WATSON, author of Before I Go to Sleep

I felt so strongly about some of the characters that I had to check the ending to make sure they were ok! Extremely well written... fantastic.

HARRIET TYCE, author of Blood Orange

A terrific debut about guilt, secrets and complex family dynamics - the writing is vivid & assured: Anna Bailey is definitely one to watch.

LUCY ATKINS, author of Magpie Lane

Gripping and so beautifully written Tall Bones is spellbinding; dark and menacing, but also so full of love and hope. I loved it. I cried.

CRESSIDA McLAUGHLIN, author of The Cornish Cream Tea Christmas

'A clever, twisting debut about the dark side of small town America. It is packed with secrets like firecrackers ready to ignite.'

FRANCINE TOON, author of Pine

Anna Bailey writes like a dream about teenage love and lust, the terror of knowledge and the claustrophobia of families and of small towns.

EMMA FLINT, author of Little Deaths

Simmering resentments and long-held prejudices boil over in this beautifully realised evocation of small-town America. I I loved it.

Kate Riordan, author of The Heatwave

The best kind of small-town crime novel... one that drips with atmosphere... an intricately weaved and haunting story that will stay with you for days after.

Culturefly

A nuanced thriller that will haunt you long after you race through its pages.

GRAZIA

Fast paced and moving.

LITERARY REVIEW

Both menacing and haunting, a compelling and atmospheric debut.

DAILY MAIL

Beautifully written and very moving, this is an assured debut.

Laura Wilson, GUARDIAN

This is a striking first novel, a chilling insight into an oppressive world, where bad thoughts and bad deeds ripple just below the surface, out of sight.

Alison Flood, OBSERVER

One of the most exciting debuts of the year.

OK magazine

Spellbinding and darkly beautiful.... intricately plotted and exquisitely written, Tall Bones is a stunning debut.

WOMEN & HOME

One of the most exciting debuts of the year.

SUNDAY EXPRESS

Cleverly written, Anna Bailey's debut shines a light on the darker and more oppressive side of small-town society.

INDEPENDENT

Bailey writes with perfect poise. She is destined for great things - I feel it in my bones.

SAGA magazine

Haunting... Emma's path to where the truth lies will carry the reader's soul along in both moving and compassionate ways.

Maxim Jakubowski, CRIME TIME

Its portrait of small-town intrigue is scarily credible. Bailey understands that the dynamics that drive small-town relationships are the same the world over.

VAL McDERMID

Cleverly written , Anna Bailey's debut shines a light on the darker and more oppressive side of small-town society.

Independent