Lies and Bones

Detective Tracy Sterling #1

by R.J. Law

The victim has been meticulously mutilated. Left hauntingly arranged in the city's dark alleys. She is the first of her kind. But she won't be the last.

The serial killer thriller that will grip you until the very last sentence.

Fresh-faced homicide detective Tracy Sterling has been thrown into the deep end. She's navigating the city's darkest corners to unmask a killer whose methods are as chilling as they are cryptic. A grotesque spectacle was discovered in an alley by a nightclub. Another chilling scene lay within the shadows of an alley next to a public library.

Who could commit such monstrous acts? And what is the sinister pattern hiding within their horrific handiwork? Tracy must grapple with a shocking lack of evidence, while potential witnesses seem to shroud the truth in fear and lies. And all the while, the nameless killer observes the investigation from the shadows, delighting in the terror he sows.

The case seems unsolvable. But failure is not an option. For if she cannot solve the puzzle, the dance of death will continue unabated, and the killer will strike again and again.

But Tracy isn't just determined, she's obsessive. And she won't stop until she's put every puzzle piece in place, exposing the killer, along with other shocking surprises that will shake the city to its core.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Horror, Fiction, Crime, Dark

206 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2023

Reviews

[jaclyn]

stop reading books i saw on tik tok challenge level impossible

[Kristen S]

I need to learn to stop being influenced by TikTok.....

[Amy Laird]

I read this book and the next in the series, just to give it more of a chance, but I do not get what the enthusiasm is for this series/characters/manner of writing. The characters don't have much depth, in my opinion, the books are very short, and even though short, they seem to just be the same thing over and over again, maybe in a different place, with a different bad person, but just the same. I won't be reading the 3rd one.

[Ghofran]

This isn't even worth the 1 star I swear, I could rate it -5 stars maybe.
This book kept showing up over and over again, everyone was going over the top with it and what I found was the worst Watpad fiction ever written.
crime? Zero
Thriller? Zero
suspense? Zero
Storyline? Zero
characters? Zero
plots? Zero
And why does everyone keep putting their hands on their hips? by the end I was putting my hands on my hips too for no reason at all.
So poorly written I went on and deleted every R.J Laws book I had on my kobo.
Sometimes the book is just bad but the writer has potential.
I don't want to be rude but Laws should seriously consider doing something else.

[Shelley Eubank]

Meh. It was alright. There were some spelling errors that bugged me. The plot was good but there could have been more action. The book just felt flat.

[Liza | fromlizaslibrary]

In theory, this book should’ve been one I devoured. I love crime dramas and the premise of this felt like it was right out of one of those shows, but I just couldn’t get into it. I had a hard time getting into the way the story was written and it made me feel detached. I also never felt connected to the characters, specifically Tracy as our FMC. I’m a reader who enjoys feeling immersed in a book and a big part of that is characters and I didn’t feel like I got really any backstory or personality behind the characters we were supposed to be rooting for. The only thing that kept me semi-interested was the murders and the mystery in trying to solve them. I wouldn’t say I was shocked by anything but I was intrigued enough to see it through.

[Rayjabby]

This was a good read, it was not all the hype in my opinion and it was not as disturbing as some of the reviews made it seem. It kept me interested and gave some interesting moral dilemma's to think about. I haven't decided if I want to continue the series or not. I had closure from this one, it was not a cliffhanger, even though it is a series.

[Ashley Doss]

Okay…it took me a while to get into this. It started off so dang slow, I almost put it on my DNF list. I’m glad I stuck through it. It picked up at the end. It was a little difficult to read. IMO it read like you were watching TV blind and with ADHD, there were a lot of rereading lines to figure it out. I do recommend though.

[Hailey Williams]

Loved Lies and Bones. I couldn’t put it down and kept clicking pages because the plot was so good. I do wish the creepy killer had been included more to make it a bit scarier, but I still really enjoyed it. Easy 5 stars.

[Sharika Sellman]

DNF THIS BOOK @70% ! Tried to read for Jan bookclub and just couldn’t get with it ! I even had the audio just didn’t keep me interested

[Lauren]

I loved this book so much!! It was very detailed and so thorough. I felt like I was actually there and it was easy to invision everything in my mind.

I can not wait to continue reading the other books in the Detective Tracy Sterling universe! The twist was great and the characters were thorough and well described.

This was a fantastic read and left me wanting more after each page. I couldn’t put it down!!

I will say this book was recommended due to crazy serial killer and brutal murders. I felt I was kind of let down in that aspect. It wasn’t as “scary and brutal” as I went into it thinking it would be.

[Jim Lang]

Book #23 of 2025: Fast read about a rookie detective’s search for a serial killer that includes some suspense, twists that don’t quite come together, and some uneven pacing. The main character — Tracy — is interesting; the rest (including the constant interference of a private investigator) are just annoying.

[Emma Kidd]

This book was terrible. Why are so many people recommending it? And why didn’t I check Goodreads first?

It was also kind of fatphobic for no reason, one of the lines was ‘a fat man answered the phone’ was that necessary?

[Annelise]

I genuinely don't understand the hype around this book.

The premise was great. The mystery was intriguing. For about the first 20%.

After that, it just became an exhausting exercise in trying to care.

My biggest issue was the writing. It feels so choppy that I never once settled into the story. Every scene felt like it ended before it actually started, and just when I thought I was getting invested... boom. Another POV. And another. And another.

I'm all for multiple POVs when they're done well, but this book throws them around like confetti at a wedding. Every time I started connecting with someone, the narrative would rip me away to another character. By the end, I didn't feel attached to anyone because I barely spent enough time with anyone to actually care. There wasn't a single character I was rooting for—I was just waiting for someone, anyone, to finally get to the point.

The editing didn't do this book any favours either. There were multiple spelling mistakes that completely changed the meaning of sentences. At one point "angle" was written instead of "ankle," and I had to stop and reread because I genuinely thought I'd missed something. Mistakes happen, but when they're frequent enough to pull you out of the story, they become impossible to ignore. It just felt unpolished.

And that's another problem: the mystery. It starts off genuinely interesting. I wanted answers. I had theories. I was invested.

Then the book just... stalls.

The investigation goes in circles, everyone seems to know half of something without ever saying the whole thing, and the constant jumping between perspectives drains every ounce of tension out of what could have been a really compelling thriller. Instead of building suspense, it just became repetitive. After a while I wasn't desperate to solve the mystery anymore—I was desperate for the book to end.

The pacing is all over the place. Somehow it manages to feel rushed and painfully slow at the same time, which is honestly impressive.

Maybe this writing style just isn't for me, but I never felt immersed. I never forgot I was reading a book, and that's usually a bad sign. Instead of disappearing into the story, I spent most of my time noticing awkward transitions, abrupt scene changes, and wondering why we needed yet another perspective.

By the end, I didn't feel shocked, emotional, or satisfied. I just felt relieved that it was over.

One star because the initial concept had potential. Unfortunately, potential doesn't make a good book. The execution let it down completely.

I won't be continuing with this author.

[phillip McCarthy]

I enjoyed the book.
This was my first R J Law book I've read.
I gave it 4 stars.
it's a typical detective series book with a young detective- who had a famous ex cop father. she lives in his shadow a lot of the time.
Detectives that live & work on the wrong side of the law to get the job done.
However it's a good read with a revealing twist at the end.
would I recommend this author- yes

[Tonya Terry]

3.5⭐️ Enjoyed this first time reading this author. The ending was very good. Tracy and Jimmy did a good job. She stuck to her guns and followed her gut. Everyone came down. Bradley got what was coming to him.

[Jemah]

⭐️⭐️.5/5
short mystery thriller I found on TikTok. While it was an easy read, it wasn’t as captivating as I expected. I didn’t guess the murderer, but the reveal wasn’t very surprising. Overall, it was okay but not one of my favourites.

[Lulu]

An okay read. Not much of a thrill.

[Haley Bonany]

2.5 ⭐️ Tik tok, count your friggin days.

[ꪀ꠸ᦓꫝꪖꪀꪖ]

Such an original detective thriller 👌🏻

[Jennifer]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

[kay]

not terrible, but there's nothing about it that makes it stand out or feel like it has a unique voice. there just isn't much character to anything besides the killer, who as a figure is extremely bland save for the odd signature he leaves at the bodies. just feels like it needed to be developed. disappointed to learn that the audio book is narrated by "virtual voice." really cheapens every aspect of the story and plants the idea that it could all be written/edited by AI too. boo

[Shawna Squire]

I’m not gonna lie, I really enjoyed this.

[Stfn Btc]

2.5

[Jay]

He must spend a lot of money to get his books promoted so often on TikTok. I’ve started a couple of his books and they are straight garbage. Whenever I see one of his books in a TikTok list, I know the post is paid advertising.

👎👎👎

[Alecia]

1.75⭐️ tiktok got me smh. I thought this would be a lot darker than what it was. Honestly booktok overhyped books sometimes. ANYWAYS, the amount of time these damn characters “shrugged” was beyond me and when I say every character, I mean EVERY CHARACTER. The rating is only this high because I unfortunately resonated with the FMC a bit. Girl I get it, that obsessive personality is always on go go go, she must have adhd too.

[Lauren Vogeler]

Very overrated…

[Lisa Swope]

This book had every detective/ cop cliche that ever was! Very Predictable, and no thriller twist, you didn’t see coming, and certainly did not live up to the reviews I saw. Sorry but, it was not for me, and won’t be reading the rest if the series

[CL]

First read by this author and it was a little all over the place for my taste. I read and listened to it and maybe it was the AI generated voice for the portions I listened to or the fact I moved back and forth between reading and listening but I found the story chaotic.

[Chelsea Hanlon]

Waited for it to be great because everyone said it would “blow” my mind…. Finished and still waiting for the wow