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Norwich Map Runners #1
Flint in the Bones
In a city where history bites back, murder is just the beginning.
Detective Eliza “Bish” Barnaby thought she’d left her home behind—along with its plague outbreaks, random time-shifts, and tendency to accidentally host people from the 1600s during breakfast.
But when a dangerous practitioner escapes custody in London, Bish is forced back to Norwich, a city where ancient maps hide deadly shortcuts, angry nuns have scores to settle, and Puritans throw acid at those they don’t approve of.
Armed with only a gun she can’t fire, a spaniel who thinks he’s a wolf, and a partner who dresses like a rejected Bridgerton extra, Bish must stop a killer before wild magic unravels the city’s fragile balance.
But keeping her own forbidden talents hidden is just as dangerous as catching the murderer. And in a place where past and present bleed together, the only way to solve this mystery might be to embrace the very magic she fears.Grab the brand new adventure from Eva St. John, author of the bestselling Quantum Curators series
Detective Eliza “Bish” Barnaby thought she’d left her home behind—along with its plague outbreaks, random time-shifts, and tendency to accidentally host people from the 1600s during breakfast.
But when a dangerous practitioner escapes custody in London, Bish is forced back to Norwich, a city where ancient maps hide deadly shortcuts, angry nuns have scores to settle, and Puritans throw acid at those they don’t approve of.
Armed with only a gun she can’t fire, a spaniel who thinks he’s a wolf, and a partner who dresses like a rejected Bridgerton extra, Bish must stop a killer before wild magic unravels the city’s fragile balance.
But keeping her own forbidden talents hidden is just as dangerous as catching the murderer. And in a place where past and present bleed together, the only way to solve this mystery might be to embrace the very magic she fears.Grab the brand new adventure from Eva St. John, author of the bestselling Quantum Curators series
481 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
July 21, 2025
This book was wonderful! An excellent plot, characters I was rooting for (especially Harry!), and a setting so familiar I felt as though I was walking the streets of Norwich with Bish. The concept of maps fusing was brilliant and I loved the comedy that came from different historical periods living side by side. This is unlike anything I’ve read before (in the best possible way!) and I can’t wait to read more in this series. Highly recommend!!!
June 12, 2025
"Flint in the Bones," by Eva St. John, blends contemporary urban fantasy with historical fiction as London Detective Eliza Barnaby is assigned to search for a murderous magical practitioner in the one place she swore she’d never enter again. Norwich—her hometown—where magic gone wrong has resulted in places and people from the time of the first town maps to the present being forcibly merged.
Having read Eva St. John’s entire (so far) Quantum Curators series, I worried about whether the characters in this new story would engage and delight me as much as the ones in Curators. My concerns were baseless.
Eliza, known as Bish to her friends, is a character I wanted to root for from the start. She faced down both the ghosts of her childhood memories and the visible ghosts from throughout England’s history with humor and perseverance. All while trying to prove to the local police that her choice to flee Norwich didn’t make her a quitter and that she’s a good and honest detective.
In the end, I loved the story and hope it is the start pf a series that will last a long time. And I fervently thank Bish (and Eva St. John) for finally accepting my scars as something that “shows I survived” rather than viewing them as the mark of something I suffered. That seems like a good lesson for all of us.
Having read Eva St. John’s entire (so far) Quantum Curators series, I worried about whether the characters in this new story would engage and delight me as much as the ones in Curators. My concerns were baseless.
Eliza, known as Bish to her friends, is a character I wanted to root for from the start. She faced down both the ghosts of her childhood memories and the visible ghosts from throughout England’s history with humor and perseverance. All while trying to prove to the local police that her choice to flee Norwich didn’t make her a quitter and that she’s a good and honest detective.
In the end, I loved the story and hope it is the start pf a series that will last a long time. And I fervently thank Bish (and Eva St. John) for finally accepting my scars as something that “shows I survived” rather than viewing them as the mark of something I suffered. That seems like a good lesson for all of us.
July 30, 2025
A great world, a great mystery
The world building was awesome. I love the idea of different time periods having to fit in with each other. The mystery itself was cool too. The different problems coming together. And Bish nailed it when she put it all together. Well done. I hope there are more.
The world building was awesome. I love the idea of different time periods having to fit in with each other. The mystery itself was cool too. The different problems coming together. And Bish nailed it when she put it all together. Well done. I hope there are more.
February 23, 2026
Flint in the Bones by Eva St. John was my first 2026 SPFBO read. While I did have some issues with it, overall I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to continuing the series on my own.
My favorite part about this book was definitely the world building. It was quite different from anything else I’ve read and I liked learning about it throughout. Though I wasn’t always clear on where things stood technology wise in the wider world, Norwich was really fun to learn about. Though magic wasn’t allowed there, it still had quite the impact in really interesting ways.
I wasn’t always a fan of the main character due to her opinions, but she really grew on me by the end as she started to understand herself better as well. Trauma can have serious long-lasting effects and it was good to see her work through her own complicated feelings and preconceptions. There were also several side characters I quite enjoyed that I’m excited to see again in the next book. Big shoutout to Harry especially.
The plot is where I struggled though for a little while. Despite an explosive beginning that drew me right in, it started to feel too slow and somewhat repetitive too at one point when our MC kept bumping up against people ineffectively. There also seemed to be a real lack of urgency once she arrived in Norwich after being forced to rush there despite the danger of doing so that late in the day. The last quarter really picked up again and is what makes me want to continue the series, but I seriously considered putting the book down for a little bit in the middle of it.
Thankfully the MC did grow in her confidence eventually and developed more emotionally as well, which is something that I really like to see. She took charge and even grew a backbone when confronted by people that ran all over her previously. That was very satisfying. Not all mysteries were solved in this book though and I’m excited to find out more!
My favorite part about this book was definitely the world building. It was quite different from anything else I’ve read and I liked learning about it throughout. Though I wasn’t always clear on where things stood technology wise in the wider world, Norwich was really fun to learn about. Though magic wasn’t allowed there, it still had quite the impact in really interesting ways.
I wasn’t always a fan of the main character due to her opinions, but she really grew on me by the end as she started to understand herself better as well. Trauma can have serious long-lasting effects and it was good to see her work through her own complicated feelings and preconceptions. There were also several side characters I quite enjoyed that I’m excited to see again in the next book. Big shoutout to Harry especially.
The plot is where I struggled though for a little while. Despite an explosive beginning that drew me right in, it started to feel too slow and somewhat repetitive too at one point when our MC kept bumping up against people ineffectively. There also seemed to be a real lack of urgency once she arrived in Norwich after being forced to rush there despite the danger of doing so that late in the day. The last quarter really picked up again and is what makes me want to continue the series, but I seriously considered putting the book down for a little bit in the middle of it.
Thankfully the MC did grow in her confidence eventually and developed more emotionally as well, which is something that I really like to see. She took charge and even grew a backbone when confronted by people that ran all over her previously. That was very satisfying. Not all mysteries were solved in this book though and I’m excited to find out more!
April 10, 2026
For some inexplicable reason, police procedural and fantasy work well together. Before later flabbiness, for example, the Rivers of London series was excellent. And so far, Eva St. John’s Flint in the Bones is, if anything, even better.
It starts in present day London, where magical practitioners are commonplace (if overly self-important) members of society, and much modern technology - smartphones and laptops, for instance - are powered by ‘engineered magic’.
Eliza Barnaby is a successful young police detective who doesn’t fit in because she comes from Norwich. The city was devastated and is now isolated because the practitioners made a huge error involving maps, resulting in the melding of different buildings and their inhabitants from different centuries, bringing chaos, plague and magical disruption to the city.
We venture into Norwich with Barnaby who is sent in pursuit of a rogue practitioner. The whole scene is beautifully realised, from the difficulties of, say, a 17th century puritan family suddenly plunged into the present, to Barnaby’s gradual realisations of her own relationship with magic. What happens is suitably twisty, but never loses its sense of humour. My only complaint about the book is it took a few chapters to get going - but that's quickly pushed aside by the rest.
It’s not often this happens, but I immediately got the second in the series, Fire in the Flint, and read straight on when I finished the first book (and I would have carried on with the third if it had been on sale yet). The book is richly detailed with clever ideas, yet St. John never forgets the importance of keeping the reader entertained. Brilliant.
It starts in present day London, where magical practitioners are commonplace (if overly self-important) members of society, and much modern technology - smartphones and laptops, for instance - are powered by ‘engineered magic’.
Eliza Barnaby is a successful young police detective who doesn’t fit in because she comes from Norwich. The city was devastated and is now isolated because the practitioners made a huge error involving maps, resulting in the melding of different buildings and their inhabitants from different centuries, bringing chaos, plague and magical disruption to the city.
We venture into Norwich with Barnaby who is sent in pursuit of a rogue practitioner. The whole scene is beautifully realised, from the difficulties of, say, a 17th century puritan family suddenly plunged into the present, to Barnaby’s gradual realisations of her own relationship with magic. What happens is suitably twisty, but never loses its sense of humour. My only complaint about the book is it took a few chapters to get going - but that's quickly pushed aside by the rest.
It’s not often this happens, but I immediately got the second in the series, Fire in the Flint, and read straight on when I finished the first book (and I would have carried on with the third if it had been on sale yet). The book is richly detailed with clever ideas, yet St. John never forgets the importance of keeping the reader entertained. Brilliant.
January 17, 2026
I really enjoyed the world, and the Norwich, that Eva St John has created here, in Flint in the Bones. A world where engineered magic pervades modern life, particularly all the tech that people use, but also where magic has wreaked havoc in Norwich, leading it to be isolated from the rest of Britain and the world, and seen as dangerous.
The book also had a great murder-mystery plot set in a place where different historical eras are all mashed together, which really added an extra dimension to the story.
Detective Eliza 'Bish' Barnaby (never quite worked out where the nickname 'Bish' came from, but that didn't matter) was a really interesting character who developed through the book as she settled back into life in Norwich and her skills and talents come to the fore. There were also lots of other great characters, although I felt there were perhaps slightly too many minor characters who we were introduced to early on and then were expected to remember who they were later.
When Eliza first arrives in Norwich, there were times when I felt she lacked a sense of urgency around the fact she was there to track down a potentially dangerous fugitive. I'd have liked more of a sense of frustration that she was being waylaid from her mission. As the story went on though, and Eliza becomes more involved with the Norwich Watch, the story really picks up and I didn't want to stop reading.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend Flint in the Bones to others who like SciFi/Fantasy/Time Travel fiction and I'd like to read book 2 at some point.
The book also had a great murder-mystery plot set in a place where different historical eras are all mashed together, which really added an extra dimension to the story.
Detective Eliza 'Bish' Barnaby (never quite worked out where the nickname 'Bish' came from, but that didn't matter) was a really interesting character who developed through the book as she settled back into life in Norwich and her skills and talents come to the fore. There were also lots of other great characters, although I felt there were perhaps slightly too many minor characters who we were introduced to early on and then were expected to remember who they were later.
When Eliza first arrives in Norwich, there were times when I felt she lacked a sense of urgency around the fact she was there to track down a potentially dangerous fugitive. I'd have liked more of a sense of frustration that she was being waylaid from her mission. As the story went on though, and Eliza becomes more involved with the Norwich Watch, the story really picks up and I didn't want to stop reading.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend Flint in the Bones to others who like SciFi/Fantasy/Time Travel fiction and I'd like to read book 2 at some point.
June 13, 2025
The maps in Norwich are out of control.
Buildings disappear. People walk out their front door into the wrong time period.
And magicians are dangerous to know.
When one murderous mage flees to Norwich, it’s up to Detective Bish, and her trusty sidekick Harry - a small dog - to stop him.
I loved it.
If you enjoy time-travelling, madcap adventures, this one is for you!
Buildings disappear. People walk out their front door into the wrong time period.
And magicians are dangerous to know.
When one murderous mage flees to Norwich, it’s up to Detective Bish, and her trusty sidekick Harry - a small dog - to stop him.
I loved it.
If you enjoy time-travelling, madcap adventures, this one is for you!
June 30, 2025
This book will make my Top 10 list for 2025!
The premise is original, the characters pop with life, and Harry the spaniel wags his way into our hearts.
It is a time of magic. Elizabeth "Bish" Barnaby, a London detective, is sent to Norwich to apprehend a rogue "practitioner" accused of murder. A native of Norwich that survived a cataclysmic event brought on by experimenting practitioners, Bish is immune to the wild magic that drives outsiders mad. Accompanying her is Harry, a failed police dog that is meant to protect her.
Norwich has been altered by magic. Maps of the city throughout its long history have merged. Timelines have converged. Old buildings reappear, bringing their inhabitants with them. People from the breadth of English history walk the streets of Norwich...and one of them is a murderer.
I'm looking forward to the further adventures of Bish & Harry.
The premise is original, the characters pop with life, and Harry the spaniel wags his way into our hearts.
It is a time of magic. Elizabeth "Bish" Barnaby, a London detective, is sent to Norwich to apprehend a rogue "practitioner" accused of murder. A native of Norwich that survived a cataclysmic event brought on by experimenting practitioners, Bish is immune to the wild magic that drives outsiders mad. Accompanying her is Harry, a failed police dog that is meant to protect her.
Norwich has been altered by magic. Maps of the city throughout its long history have merged. Timelines have converged. Old buildings reappear, bringing their inhabitants with them. People from the breadth of English history walk the streets of Norwich...and one of them is a murderer.
I'm looking forward to the further adventures of Bish & Harry.
February 4, 2026
Lovely little fantasy novel set in Norwich :)
Really enjoyed the concept of maps of different times melting together in a time travel disaster
Really enjoyed the concept of maps of different times melting together in a time travel disaster
April 3, 2026
I really enjoyed this novel with its unusual and imaginative premise.
Eliza 'Bish' Barnaby is a police detective with the City of London force in a UK that looks like our world, but has both wild and engineered magic, with magic practitioners at the top of the social hierarchy.
Bish is a loner, scarred literally and figuratively by her childhood in Norwich, which underwent a cataclysm when maps created throughout the centuries melded, and buildings and people began disappearing, with other older buildings reappearing, along with citizens from different eras in history - bringing with them plague, pestilence and more. The city still suffers quakes, triggered by magic, so nothing is set in stone and the people have to roll with it.
It's an interesting idea, having people from different centuries living alongside each other in the 21st century. Buildings that may or may not be there from day to day. Resources scarce and resourcefulness coming to the fore. And some people can see different timelines, which means they can 'run the maps', apparently running through solid walls when they are following a road, path or alleyway that exists on older maps.
Bish left Norwich ten years ago and has kept her origins secret from her colleagues, but something happens that sees her sent back into Norwich to recapture William Cade, a dangerous practitioner accused of murder. But when she gets to Norwich, it's not the devastated place she left. As Bish is finding her feet in her home city, her new partner finds the body of a young woman, and they instantly connect it to her missing murderer.
Half the fun of this book is seeing characters from different eras interact with each other. Bish's new partner Willoughby is an 18th century earl, who dresses in silk breeches and jackets, long socks and buckled shoes. The Bishop of Norwich is an unusual figure from the 14th century. The world-building is lovely, with Norwich becoming a character in its own right.
The mystery deepens when another body is found, and Bish and her colleagues race to find the murderer before he kills again. She also runs into her prey from London a couple of times, which leaves her with more questions than answers.
Bish herself develops throughout the story, going from a surly, solitary loner to a person with friends and colleagues she trusts during the short time she is in Norwich. She starts to see that other people see her very differently than she thinks they do or how she sees herself. She's brave and not afraid to stand up to people, but there's plenty of room for growth.
This book entertained and intrigued me and made me want to go straight into the second book in the series.
Eliza 'Bish' Barnaby is a police detective with the City of London force in a UK that looks like our world, but has both wild and engineered magic, with magic practitioners at the top of the social hierarchy.
Bish is a loner, scarred literally and figuratively by her childhood in Norwich, which underwent a cataclysm when maps created throughout the centuries melded, and buildings and people began disappearing, with other older buildings reappearing, along with citizens from different eras in history - bringing with them plague, pestilence and more. The city still suffers quakes, triggered by magic, so nothing is set in stone and the people have to roll with it.
It's an interesting idea, having people from different centuries living alongside each other in the 21st century. Buildings that may or may not be there from day to day. Resources scarce and resourcefulness coming to the fore. And some people can see different timelines, which means they can 'run the maps', apparently running through solid walls when they are following a road, path or alleyway that exists on older maps.
Bish left Norwich ten years ago and has kept her origins secret from her colleagues, but something happens that sees her sent back into Norwich to recapture William Cade, a dangerous practitioner accused of murder. But when she gets to Norwich, it's not the devastated place she left. As Bish is finding her feet in her home city, her new partner finds the body of a young woman, and they instantly connect it to her missing murderer.
Half the fun of this book is seeing characters from different eras interact with each other. Bish's new partner Willoughby is an 18th century earl, who dresses in silk breeches and jackets, long socks and buckled shoes. The Bishop of Norwich is an unusual figure from the 14th century. The world-building is lovely, with Norwich becoming a character in its own right.
The mystery deepens when another body is found, and Bish and her colleagues race to find the murderer before he kills again. She also runs into her prey from London a couple of times, which leaves her with more questions than answers.
Bish herself develops throughout the story, going from a surly, solitary loner to a person with friends and colleagues she trusts during the short time she is in Norwich. She starts to see that other people see her very differently than she thinks they do or how she sees herself. She's brave and not afraid to stand up to people, but there's plenty of room for growth.
This book entertained and intrigued me and made me want to go straight into the second book in the series.
August 15, 2025
Wrinkles in Time
The idea of traveling back and forth in time for various reasons and dramatic effects has been a popular device for books, film and television production. Just consider some of productions using this ploy in recent times:
• “Portrait of Jenny” (1940) – a young woman keeps reappearing in an artist’s life around Manhattan at different stages of her life with heartwarming and heartrending consequences (Jennifer Jones, Jospeh Cotton)
• “Time After Time” (1979) – by means of a time machine, futurist HG Wells pursues Jack the Ripper across modern San Francisco to prevent murder (Malcom McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen)
• “The Terminator” movie series (1984 launch) – future cyborgs return to adjust the past for the long-term benefit of mankind (Arnold Schwarzenegger)
• “Outlander” (2014) – multi-season TV episodes of Claire Randall and Jaime Fraser traveling from Scottish Highlands to North Carolina mountains around the Battle of Culloden to the American Revolution (Sam Heughan, Claire Balfe)
There’s a new wrinkle now with a quasi-quantum physics approach called “map running”: the ability of certain people to pop in and out of specific locations at different times and eras, sometimes centuries apart. Although scientific in nature, this technique is considered an alternative legitimate skill called “magic” and those endowed are “practitioners”.
Eva St. John’s 2025 entertaining science fantasy thriller, “Flint in the Bones”, is set in an alternative world around London and primarily Norwich, United Kingdom during present day. While much seems the same, it is quite different with some “Dune” like elements.
Detective Eliza Barnaby at London City police headquarters finds herself dispatched to Norwich to track down and bring back William Cade, a rogue practitioner who appears to have murdered several people in London. Upon discovery, he escaped seemingly through solid walls by map running into another time dimension within the same location.
However, Barnaby also has nascent map running skills she intentionally keeps disguised, replete with olfactory and other physical signals alerting her when “maps are about to shift.” She and her newly appointed police dog companion, Harry a spaniel, set off in hot pursuit. The romp leads them through various alleys, assortments of suspicious police partners and towns folk, some from other times and stuck in the present situation.
Like her other “Quantum Curator” series, St. John blends quirky entanglement, some initial disorientation, sly humor and a crisp writing style that makes this new effort an engaging read.
The idea of traveling back and forth in time for various reasons and dramatic effects has been a popular device for books, film and television production. Just consider some of productions using this ploy in recent times:
• “Portrait of Jenny” (1940) – a young woman keeps reappearing in an artist’s life around Manhattan at different stages of her life with heartwarming and heartrending consequences (Jennifer Jones, Jospeh Cotton)
• “Time After Time” (1979) – by means of a time machine, futurist HG Wells pursues Jack the Ripper across modern San Francisco to prevent murder (Malcom McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen)
• “The Terminator” movie series (1984 launch) – future cyborgs return to adjust the past for the long-term benefit of mankind (Arnold Schwarzenegger)
• “Outlander” (2014) – multi-season TV episodes of Claire Randall and Jaime Fraser traveling from Scottish Highlands to North Carolina mountains around the Battle of Culloden to the American Revolution (Sam Heughan, Claire Balfe)
There’s a new wrinkle now with a quasi-quantum physics approach called “map running”: the ability of certain people to pop in and out of specific locations at different times and eras, sometimes centuries apart. Although scientific in nature, this technique is considered an alternative legitimate skill called “magic” and those endowed are “practitioners”.
Eva St. John’s 2025 entertaining science fantasy thriller, “Flint in the Bones”, is set in an alternative world around London and primarily Norwich, United Kingdom during present day. While much seems the same, it is quite different with some “Dune” like elements.
Detective Eliza Barnaby at London City police headquarters finds herself dispatched to Norwich to track down and bring back William Cade, a rogue practitioner who appears to have murdered several people in London. Upon discovery, he escaped seemingly through solid walls by map running into another time dimension within the same location.
However, Barnaby also has nascent map running skills she intentionally keeps disguised, replete with olfactory and other physical signals alerting her when “maps are about to shift.” She and her newly appointed police dog companion, Harry a spaniel, set off in hot pursuit. The romp leads them through various alleys, assortments of suspicious police partners and towns folk, some from other times and stuck in the present situation.
Like her other “Quantum Curator” series, St. John blends quirky entanglement, some initial disorientation, sly humor and a crisp writing style that makes this new effort an engaging read.
April 28, 2026
This review was originally posted: https://fanfiaddict.com/spfbo-xi-revi...
I read this book as a judge for FanFiAddict during SPFBO XI. These opinions are entirely my own and don’t necessarily represent the views of the rest of the team.
From the very first chapter, this book had me. There’s a charm to Flint in the Bones that acts as sugar coating over its darker elements, a strange and delightful mixture of whimsy and seriousness that strikes a wonderful balance. Like pairing black coffee with a creamy donut.
Detective Eliza “Bish” Barnaby is the kind of protagonist I immediately fall for. She’s a self-imposed outcast with a pragmatic, borderline cynical view of life that’s laced with just enough sass to make every observation she delivers a small joy. And she’s surrounded by one of the most colorful casts I’ve encountered in a while. Every time a new name appeared on the page, I got genuinely excited to learn what idiosyncrasy this person would delight me with. St. John has a gift for making every character feel distinct and memorable, no matter how brief their appearance.
The worldbuilding is the book’s crown jewel. A modern era where magic is both powerful and volatile, where different time periods bleed into a single location and the cultures of those eras collide in ways that feel thoughtful and well-constructed. Norwich feels alive with possibility and danger in equal measure, and the way St. John handles the mix of past and present is genuinely inventive.
The plot is layered from the start, personal to Bish while simultaneously pulling in the world, the setting, and the supporting cast in ways that feel organic. The pacing does snag a little toward the middle as the investigation slows and Bish spends time running around the city tracking leads, but it never lost me entirely.
St. John’s prose is full of cheeky lines that made me grin, and nearly every paragraph contains some unexpected turn of phrase that still manages to paint an accurate picture. It’s the kind of writing that feels effortless even though you know it isn’t.
Flint in the Bones is a book with a lot of charm, a fascinating world, and a protagonist worth following anywhere. If you’re looking for something that blends mystery, magic, and subtle wit in a setting you haven’t seen before, this one deserves your attention.
I read this book as a judge for FanFiAddict during SPFBO XI. These opinions are entirely my own and don’t necessarily represent the views of the rest of the team.
From the very first chapter, this book had me. There’s a charm to Flint in the Bones that acts as sugar coating over its darker elements, a strange and delightful mixture of whimsy and seriousness that strikes a wonderful balance. Like pairing black coffee with a creamy donut.
Detective Eliza “Bish” Barnaby is the kind of protagonist I immediately fall for. She’s a self-imposed outcast with a pragmatic, borderline cynical view of life that’s laced with just enough sass to make every observation she delivers a small joy. And she’s surrounded by one of the most colorful casts I’ve encountered in a while. Every time a new name appeared on the page, I got genuinely excited to learn what idiosyncrasy this person would delight me with. St. John has a gift for making every character feel distinct and memorable, no matter how brief their appearance.
The worldbuilding is the book’s crown jewel. A modern era where magic is both powerful and volatile, where different time periods bleed into a single location and the cultures of those eras collide in ways that feel thoughtful and well-constructed. Norwich feels alive with possibility and danger in equal measure, and the way St. John handles the mix of past and present is genuinely inventive.
The plot is layered from the start, personal to Bish while simultaneously pulling in the world, the setting, and the supporting cast in ways that feel organic. The pacing does snag a little toward the middle as the investigation slows and Bish spends time running around the city tracking leads, but it never lost me entirely.
St. John’s prose is full of cheeky lines that made me grin, and nearly every paragraph contains some unexpected turn of phrase that still manages to paint an accurate picture. It’s the kind of writing that feels effortless even though you know it isn’t.
Flint in the Bones is a book with a lot of charm, a fascinating world, and a protagonist worth following anywhere. If you’re looking for something that blends mystery, magic, and subtle wit in a setting you haven’t seen before, this one deserves your attention.
April 1, 2026
An Absolute Blast !
I found this series entirely by accident. I’m a huge fan of intelligent writing and this series definitely has it in cart loads.
Set in the UK in a contemporary version of earth where magic exists and is known about. Instead of relying on fossil fuels or nuclear power the general populace has grown accustomed to relying on magic for the vast majority of energy consumption. Practitioners are the answer to modern magic. Able to harness wild magic and shape it as needed, it’s integrated into gadgets. It all sounds great and it is but Practitioners also seem to be endowed with massive egos. When Practitioners start to meddle on a wider scale that things go horribly wrong. Detective Eliza Barnaby knows that first hand, she was born in Norwich in the 1990’s. A magical mistake caused a tragedy of epic proportions.
For Detective Barnaby a childhood that should have been idyllic was instead ravaged by magic, thousands of people dead from one moment to another. At the same time millions of people were pulled through time from their version of Norwich. Imagine sitting down to breakfast and all of a sudden dozens of the previous residents of your house suddenly appear. With them they brought diseases that were prevalent in their era, like plague, smallpox and cholera.
Norwich was placed under quarantine, nobody in and nobody out except for licensed traders. Very few are brave enough for such a hazardous job, some go mad just by visiting. So when a dangerous rogue Practitioner escapes custody and is spotted headed for Norwich, Detective Barnaby gets volunteered to apprehend the suspect.
An unmissable read, this is a different kind of urban fantasy.
I found this series entirely by accident. I’m a huge fan of intelligent writing and this series definitely has it in cart loads.
Set in the UK in a contemporary version of earth where magic exists and is known about. Instead of relying on fossil fuels or nuclear power the general populace has grown accustomed to relying on magic for the vast majority of energy consumption. Practitioners are the answer to modern magic. Able to harness wild magic and shape it as needed, it’s integrated into gadgets. It all sounds great and it is but Practitioners also seem to be endowed with massive egos. When Practitioners start to meddle on a wider scale that things go horribly wrong. Detective Eliza Barnaby knows that first hand, she was born in Norwich in the 1990’s. A magical mistake caused a tragedy of epic proportions.
For Detective Barnaby a childhood that should have been idyllic was instead ravaged by magic, thousands of people dead from one moment to another. At the same time millions of people were pulled through time from their version of Norwich. Imagine sitting down to breakfast and all of a sudden dozens of the previous residents of your house suddenly appear. With them they brought diseases that were prevalent in their era, like plague, smallpox and cholera.
Norwich was placed under quarantine, nobody in and nobody out except for licensed traders. Very few are brave enough for such a hazardous job, some go mad just by visiting. So when a dangerous rogue Practitioner escapes custody and is spotted headed for Norwich, Detective Barnaby gets volunteered to apprehend the suspect.
An unmissable read, this is a different kind of urban fantasy.
May 7, 2025
I found this book on Kickstarter and was so enthralled by her cover and artwork that I had to back it.
For a low price I was able to get an AI audio (I think she offered a human narrator for a higher backer level but I stayed cheap since I didn’t know the author).
This was an interesting tale- part mystery, part learning to face your past and realize the disdain you have for a place might not be for the place itself but for all the pain you experienced when you were there.
Occasionally I felt like the story hopped and I wasn’t sure if a paragraph was deleted on accident or if I zoned out, so Im not docking any ratings. -just a note for the author if this is a repeat mention.
The characters were colorful and relatable as was the town, and I love how “London changed so much” when Bish had only been gone a few days. ❤️
The AI narration was decent for a robot, but a human would do better. If I was new to audiobooks it might drive me crazy but I listen to enough that it didn’t bother me so much.
There was a fair amount of foul language, the murders were gory but thankfully not described too in-depth, and there was no sex on the page. In fact, I feel certain this is leading to a romance and couldn’t decide which guy it was, but nothing really happened either way in that respect. She knows how to bring me back for the next book 😂
P.s. I read the prequel novella, The Fatal Night, and I feel like it was necessary to understanding the danger of Norwich in Flint in the Bones.
For a low price I was able to get an AI audio (I think she offered a human narrator for a higher backer level but I stayed cheap since I didn’t know the author).
This was an interesting tale- part mystery, part learning to face your past and realize the disdain you have for a place might not be for the place itself but for all the pain you experienced when you were there.
Occasionally I felt like the story hopped and I wasn’t sure if a paragraph was deleted on accident or if I zoned out, so Im not docking any ratings. -just a note for the author if this is a repeat mention.
The characters were colorful and relatable as was the town, and I love how “London changed so much” when Bish had only been gone a few days. ❤️
The AI narration was decent for a robot, but a human would do better. If I was new to audiobooks it might drive me crazy but I listen to enough that it didn’t bother me so much.
There was a fair amount of foul language, the murders were gory but thankfully not described too in-depth, and there was no sex on the page. In fact, I feel certain this is leading to a romance and couldn’t decide which guy it was, but nothing really happened either way in that respect. She knows how to bring me back for the next book 😂
P.s. I read the prequel novella, The Fatal Night, and I feel like it was necessary to understanding the danger of Norwich in Flint in the Bones.
November 10, 2025
I loved this book. From the very first page, it had me hooked the atmosphere of Norwich is unlike anything I’ve ever read before: half historical, half urban fantasy, and completely alive. Eva St. John manages to make time behave like a character in its own right slippery, dangerous, and mischievous.
Detective Eliza “Bish” Barnaby is such a brilliant lead. She’s flawed in all the best ways dryly funny, stubborn, and quietly haunted by her past. Watching her return to her chaotic hometown (complete with plague ghosts, rogue Puritans, and a spaniel who absolutely steals every scene) felt like coming home to a place you know you shouldn’t love but can’t help it.
The mix of mystery and magic is perfectly balanced. The murder plot kept me genuinely guessing, and the magical elements never felt like set dressing, they’re woven into the city’s bones. Norwich itself almost feels sentient, full of grudges and secret passageways that shouldn’t exist. There were moments that gave me genuine goosebumps, and others where I laughed out loud (especially whenever Bish’s partner showed up in another ridiculous outfit).
And without spoiling anything, the ending was so satisfying, a perfect blend of resolution and new danger on the horizon. It left me hoping there’s going to be a sequel because this world is far too fascinating to visit just once.
If you liked Rivers of London, The City We Became, or The Quantum Curators series, this is 100% your next obsession.
Detective Eliza “Bish” Barnaby is such a brilliant lead. She’s flawed in all the best ways dryly funny, stubborn, and quietly haunted by her past. Watching her return to her chaotic hometown (complete with plague ghosts, rogue Puritans, and a spaniel who absolutely steals every scene) felt like coming home to a place you know you shouldn’t love but can’t help it.
The mix of mystery and magic is perfectly balanced. The murder plot kept me genuinely guessing, and the magical elements never felt like set dressing, they’re woven into the city’s bones. Norwich itself almost feels sentient, full of grudges and secret passageways that shouldn’t exist. There were moments that gave me genuine goosebumps, and others where I laughed out loud (especially whenever Bish’s partner showed up in another ridiculous outfit).
And without spoiling anything, the ending was so satisfying, a perfect blend of resolution and new danger on the horizon. It left me hoping there’s going to be a sequel because this world is far too fascinating to visit just once.
If you liked Rivers of London, The City We Became, or The Quantum Curators series, this is 100% your next obsession.
June 20, 2025
What a great twist on the "magic exists" world building; as in her previous series, "The Quantum Curators", (I highly recommend that series by the way) the author has created a world that is pretty much ours but with a twist. The twist isn't so much that magic exists, but more in the nature of it; there is natural magic, "wild magic", that "practioners" take and convert into "manufactured magic" that is then used to power all the same appliances that we power by electricity. These "practicioners" have a lot of power, both political and legal.
A "magical accident" causes a spell to go wrong and plunge Norwich into a magical chaos (don't want to say too much due to possible spoilers) that affects Norwich throughout it's timeline. Our protagonist, "Bish" is a survivor of that chaos that got out of Norwich ten years prior to where the story begins.
What happened to Norwich and what caused it to happen is the, very, novel "twist" I spoke of at top.
The story flows nicely and the characters are fully fleshed out and interesting and it's a great start to Eva St. Johns new series.
A "magical accident" causes a spell to go wrong and plunge Norwich into a magical chaos (don't want to say too much due to possible spoilers) that affects Norwich throughout it's timeline. Our protagonist, "Bish" is a survivor of that chaos that got out of Norwich ten years prior to where the story begins.
What happened to Norwich and what caused it to happen is the, very, novel "twist" I spoke of at top.
The story flows nicely and the characters are fully fleshed out and interesting and it's a great start to Eva St. Johns new series.
July 4, 2025
Emtertaining and Different
This is that rarity in the fantasy world: an original plot within an original milieu. Norwich is a shunned city after a magical disaster. Elements and people from throughout Norwich's history have mashed together in the novel's present and all the resultant problems and contradictions have reached an uneasy accommodation - Puritans with 18th century libertines, a 14th century anchoress with 21st century hen parties. The rest of the world regards it as a plague city. A London detective and a rather cute Spaniel are sent to apprehend a supposed magical killer. But all is not as it appears ....
After the expository stages, this turns into a highly entertaining magical murder mystery. It's also great tourist publicity for Norwich - a town with an amazing history - I stopped reading halfway through to read up on it! A brilliant beginning to what promises to be an excellent series.
This is that rarity in the fantasy world: an original plot within an original milieu. Norwich is a shunned city after a magical disaster. Elements and people from throughout Norwich's history have mashed together in the novel's present and all the resultant problems and contradictions have reached an uneasy accommodation - Puritans with 18th century libertines, a 14th century anchoress with 21st century hen parties. The rest of the world regards it as a plague city. A London detective and a rather cute Spaniel are sent to apprehend a supposed magical killer. But all is not as it appears ....
After the expository stages, this turns into a highly entertaining magical murder mystery. It's also great tourist publicity for Norwich - a town with an amazing history - I stopped reading halfway through to read up on it! A brilliant beginning to what promises to be an excellent series.
October 30, 2025
What I liked in this book was the refreshingly new storyline. Sadly there isn't a lot of explaining done concerning the worldbuilding, for example why the rest of England (who life in the 21th century) let the people in Norwich suffer from a lot of curable diseases, wolf and wild-dog plagues and so on. It is even illegal to import the newest clothes and shoes to Norwich, why?
The main female charakter has a tragic background, but why she didn't get treatment for the various plagues that left her with scars and killed her family is not sufficiently explained for me. The mfc doesn't make a nice or professional impression and nearly all her collegues at the policestation are mean, lazy, superficial, or corrupt... She acts a lot like a junior officer, not like a mature woman with experience in the field (forgets to check if her weapon is loaded, doesn't want to tie her hair back because one could see her scars, fails to do backgroundchecks, and so on).
The main female charakter has a tragic background, but why she didn't get treatment for the various plagues that left her with scars and killed her family is not sufficiently explained for me. The mfc doesn't make a nice or professional impression and nearly all her collegues at the policestation are mean, lazy, superficial, or corrupt... She acts a lot like a junior officer, not like a mature woman with experience in the field (forgets to check if her weapon is loaded, doesn't want to tie her hair back because one could see her scars, fails to do backgroundchecks, and so on).
November 25, 2025
There's a first time for everything!!!
I first discovered Goodreads several years ago and in that time I have read literally hundreds of books. Never before have I felt the urge to "put pen to paper" to post a review on any of those hundreds.
This book has changed that. It is truly the most enjoyable of all the books I have read in those several years.
I love the basic premise of the book. I love the characters. I love the setting in Norwich. I love the overall "feel" of the book. My favoured genres are detective, time travel and fantasy. This ticks all my boxes.
This book has shown me that my theory that no book could possibly be good enough to warrant 5 stars was hopelessly wrong. I would heartily recommend this book and hope others get the same enjoyment from it that I did.
I first discovered Goodreads several years ago and in that time I have read literally hundreds of books. Never before have I felt the urge to "put pen to paper" to post a review on any of those hundreds.
This book has changed that. It is truly the most enjoyable of all the books I have read in those several years.
I love the basic premise of the book. I love the characters. I love the setting in Norwich. I love the overall "feel" of the book. My favoured genres are detective, time travel and fantasy. This ticks all my boxes.
This book has shown me that my theory that no book could possibly be good enough to warrant 5 stars was hopelessly wrong. I would heartily recommend this book and hope others get the same enjoyment from it that I did.
January 7, 2026
Eva writes great tales that span multiple realities, and weaves engaging stories through them all. The Quantum Curators series was my introduction and I really enjoyed it.
But this, this is on another level. As someone who grew up in the 80’s in the UK and was entranced by Fred Housego’s series “history on your doorstep”, I’d spent hours poring over maps over where I grew up and visualising how they’d changed over the years.
By this goes a step further, what if something went wrong? What if the maps became “attached”? What would that mean? What would be the result years later?
The simple answer is that it would give you the richest and most evocative setting for a story I’ve ever come across! The good news is that this is the first in a series and I hope that series spawns many stories.
But this, this is on another level. As someone who grew up in the 80’s in the UK and was entranced by Fred Housego’s series “history on your doorstep”, I’d spent hours poring over maps over where I grew up and visualising how they’d changed over the years.
By this goes a step further, what if something went wrong? What if the maps became “attached”? What would that mean? What would be the result years later?
The simple answer is that it would give you the richest and most evocative setting for a story I’ve ever come across! The good news is that this is the first in a series and I hope that series spawns many stories.
May 2, 2025
What a great story so much I’ve already bought book 1 of Eva’s other books.
Norfolk has been affected by practitioner magic and from merging maps of its history Norfolk is now a mix of modern and the past.
Eliza is a detective working in London police and upon trying to detain a rogue practitioner is tasked with returning to Norfolk and finding the killer.
A quiet introverted person due to her past Bish is now visiting Norfolk and finding how much it and she has changed. A wonderful story interwoven with magic and adventure elements. Need more and now eagerly awaiting book 2 give me more Bish and Harry the dog
Norfolk has been affected by practitioner magic and from merging maps of its history Norfolk is now a mix of modern and the past.
Eliza is a detective working in London police and upon trying to detain a rogue practitioner is tasked with returning to Norfolk and finding the killer.
A quiet introverted person due to her past Bish is now visiting Norfolk and finding how much it and she has changed. A wonderful story interwoven with magic and adventure elements. Need more and now eagerly awaiting book 2 give me more Bish and Harry the dog
December 3, 2025
Subtle and uplifting
This book is subtle. The implied "as above, so below", a faint echo of a Pratchett quote, maybe a nod to a famous Monty Python sketch, a trace of something not quite entirely unlike Douglas Adams.
The story is good, it twists, it has likeable heroes, believable perps. The character that underpins it all, though, is the city and it is written from a place of great love.
I did find the abrupt change of attitude of two of the minor characters a little jarring but maybe the next book will explain that.
It's an easy read and lasted me 2 days. I regret reading it so fast.
This book is subtle. The implied "as above, so below", a faint echo of a Pratchett quote, maybe a nod to a famous Monty Python sketch, a trace of something not quite entirely unlike Douglas Adams.
The story is good, it twists, it has likeable heroes, believable perps. The character that underpins it all, though, is the city and it is written from a place of great love.
I did find the abrupt change of attitude of two of the minor characters a little jarring but maybe the next book will explain that.
It's an easy read and lasted me 2 days. I regret reading it so fast.
March 28, 2026
My first experience with this author and won’t be my last . The book was recommended by my favourite author Jodi Taylor which was good enough for me . The story is set in Norwich , which makes for a nice change . There has been an “ incident “ which causes Norwich to have portions of the city disappear and previous buildings from an earlier time in history appear along with the residents of the time . Although is sounds preposterous the story evolves to make this all very plausible . Enter a former Norwich police detective sent back to this city of her childhood to find and arrest a murderer. The characters are engaging and entertaining and I can’t wait to read the next in the series !
May 6, 2026
Flint In The Bones was a fun and unique Urban Fantasy story with a bit of a twist. It contains everything from uncovering the secrets of a powerful government entity to solving a murder mystery. The story is set in modern day London where magic is not only common but used for everything including powering devices. Yet in the town of Norwich, magic is actually dangerous and can cause users to go mad.
Our main character (Bish) is tasked with hunting down a supposedly dangerous magical practitioner who has fled to Norwich to hide from his pursuers. Bish tackles this assignment while also coming face to face with a past she has tried to forget.
Our main character (Bish) is tasked with hunting down a supposedly dangerous magical practitioner who has fled to Norwich to hide from his pursuers. Bish tackles this assignment while also coming face to face with a past she has tried to forget.
April 25, 2025
Prepare to enter a new world where magic is now the order of the day. When used in a controlled fashion, magic helps society to live in comfort but when magic goes sideways, it creates a new reality for the city of Norwich. Join Bish, her dog Harry and a cast of characters pulled from multiple centuries as they raced to save Norwich from a murderer who is cutting a path of fear through the city while also trying to apprehend a rogue practitioner. Flint in the Bones is the first book in a new series from author Eva St. John whose Quantum Curator series is a must read also.
July 24, 2025
After a slightly rocky start (i.e. the bit in London) this settles down to be a very good read for people that like Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London. People like me. So I very much enjoyed Ms St.John’s first novel. I liked the deep local knowledge of Norwich and the principles underpinning magic. I sincerely hope that there will be a follow up novel continuing the adventures of Bish Barnaby in the malleable reality of Norwich
November 30, 2025
It was amazing! What would happen if magic was still among us, was in the maps and magicians would screw things up? Would past and presence meld together, leading to earthquakes, madness and map running? This book is all about such possibilities, as well as colourful characters and seemingly mundane issues like fitting in, solving a murder, standing up for oneself. Great start to hopefully a long series and I can't wait to read about Bish's next adventure and find out more about this world.
December 1, 2025
Flint in the Bones
Absolutely loved this book and was gutted when I reached the end…Will definitely get book 2 when it comes out ..
It’s the sort of book where after you finish it you think this would make an absolutely epic film..A sort of Golden Compass for adults…
I am surprised that no one has bought the rights to do exactly that…it was such an imaginative book that as I say it would be soo gold brought to life on the big screen..
Absolutely loved this book and was gutted when I reached the end…Will definitely get book 2 when it comes out ..
It’s the sort of book where after you finish it you think this would make an absolutely epic film..A sort of Golden Compass for adults…
I am surprised that no one has bought the rights to do exactly that…it was such an imaginative book that as I say it would be soo gold brought to life on the big screen..
December 28, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the second installment. It was a fun, engaging read from the very first pages, with well-developed characters who felt real and easy to invest in. The plot moved at a great pace and kept me hooked throughout, always giving me just enough to make me want to read “one more chapter.” A very satisfying read, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this series goes next.
April 6, 2026
I'd never heard of this author before and read this book based on a review by another author I love Jodi Taylor, she recommended it on a Facebook post and a few fans followed up saying how good it was. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, I wasn't sure if I would understand the process and the map running it all seemed a bit complicated but the more I read the more I just simply understood it which shows the sign of a good writer, looking forward to starting book 2!
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