The Prayer of the Bone

by Paul Bryers

There seemed to be no other conclusion to draw: injuries to the young woman's face appeared to be consistent only with a mauling by a bear. So why did Calhoun stay on the case as if it were a manhunt?

Maddie had been working as a field assistant on one of New England's most important early colonial sites-a place where French pioneers had settled and perished in 1604, and English Quakers followed in 1655, their fate a deeper mystery.

For Jessica, sister of the deceased, arriving in Maine from Oxford it was a heartbreaking journey to collect the remains of the willful little sister she had watched over since their mother's death so many years before. Currently Maddie had traced their mother's Native American roots to this remote spot in Maine, and Jessica now also had to prise Maddie's daughter Freya away from the Souriquois reservation where she seemed to be transforming into a very different nine-year-old altogether. What Jessica finds in New England is a police investigation which is not only tracking bears and picking over 300-year-old settlers' bones, but also is soon to be finding its way through tribal traditions and shape-shifting shamans

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

aka Seth Hunter

Paul Bryers is the author of many fine novels, the most recent of which is THE PRAYER OF THE BONE. He is a TV and film director when he is not writing and he lives in London.

Reviews

[Georgie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the writing, characters and history, the plot was just a little too predictable

[Kaitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman working at a dig is found dead, with her face badly clawed, as though by a bear. Obvious alert - a bear didn't do it.

This novel is an unusual mix of genres. It feels like a police procedural, with the kinda Irish detective who vaguely hates himself. It feels like literary fiction, with fancy descriptions of the forest and the snow. It's historical, with odd 1600s Native American history.

Sounds pretty cool, right? I thought so too. Main gripe: Cop falls in love with obvious person for obviously no reason. And she's like "Why won't he just kiss me?" *hair flip* #ladyproblems

My favorite thing was the disturbed daughter who sleepwalked and had a thing with bears.

Kinda creepy, kinda shallow. A good winter read.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old bones and ancient mysteries are confused with very modern crimes of greed. Really interesting history of early Anglo-European settlements and traditional indigenous culture. I'd expect more grief though.

[Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written mystery. Complicated, twisted, but that just makes it better. Two sisters are very different, although they grew up together in a wealthy British home, after their father left America and remarried.

One is steady, the other a free spirit. They are sent to boarding school together, but the free spirit doesn't do well in that atmosphere. Steady sister develops the habit of saving her sister from every mis-step, mistake, and bad decision until the sister moves to America and is murdered.

Steady sister travels to America, where she discovers that her sister was finding her Native American roots in an archeological dig. The history of the dig is the spine of the story. Was there a massacre in 1650 or was there simply a story about a massacre to keep reparations from being paid?

Holds your attention to the last page, and the twists and turns are neatly wrapped up.

[Tim]

I enjoyed the historical aspects of the book, and when characters were looking back on their past, specifically in regards to their relationships with each other.

I did not care for the murder mystery story, which seemed formulaic. I also found the characters when interacting in the present tense, to be flat and wooden. I also did not enjoy Bryers attempt to shoehorn bears into every aspect of the book he could. The attempts at supernatural did not appeal much to me at all, and the entire subplot involving the lonely priest did not belong and felt like filler. 7/03/10

[Mom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually would like to give this 2 1/2 stars. I enjoyed the information about the early settlers, as well as information about the native americans of the area. However, the presentation of this information could have been more interesting, not such a lecture style. Also, the romance/sex scenes seemed to be just tossed in, and didn't seem to have anything to do with the plot. As for the murder mystery, I felt that there didn't seem to be an investigation. The author focuses more on the history and back stories of the characters, but it just didn't fit together well. Wish there was more suspense and mystery. Overall it was a so-so book, and could have been much better!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd actually give this a two and a half. It kept me interested to see how the mystery was solved, but parts of the book didn't flow that well.

[Louisa Newby · Rating 5 out of 5]

All in all I thought this was a pretty compelling read - very atmospheric and a gripping story.

[amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

and a half