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DI Fenella Sallow #1
Spoken Bones
This dark secret could finally break her…
Detective Inspector Fenella Sallow is obsessive about her work and driven by her own demons. When the body of a retired artist is discovered atop the blackened embers of the town bonfire, the community is rocked to the core.
It falls to DI Fenella Sallow and her team to find out how she came to be there. In her fifties, the veteran detective inspector thought she had seen it all. But behind the curtained windows and closed doors of the idyllic Cumbria coastal setting lurks pure evil.
Fenella must confront her dark past. Haunted by the unsolved case of a missing girl, she knows it is a race against time. Can she stop this death from slipping through her fingers, too?
Before long, it becomes disturbingly clear that the killer is playing a twisted game and will do anything to conceal the terrible truth of what happened on the beach on Bonfire Night.
Set against the backdrop of beautiful coastal Cumbria, an ancient land of legend, folklore and myth, Spoken Bones is the first book in the Detective Inspector Fenella Sallow series.
This page-turning crime thriller will keep you hooked until the very end. If you like police procedurals with psychologically complex characters and shocking twists, then you’ll love Spoken Bones.
Perfect for fans of L. J. Ross, JD. Kirk, Simon McCleave, Stuart MacBride, Matt Brolly, Angela Marsons, Alex Smith, JM. Dalgliesh, JE. Mayhew, David J. Gatward, TG Reid, Jack Gatland, Robert F Barker and JR. Ellis.
Detective Inspector Fenella Sallow is obsessive about her work and driven by her own demons. When the body of a retired artist is discovered atop the blackened embers of the town bonfire, the community is rocked to the core.
It falls to DI Fenella Sallow and her team to find out how she came to be there. In her fifties, the veteran detective inspector thought she had seen it all. But behind the curtained windows and closed doors of the idyllic Cumbria coastal setting lurks pure evil.
Fenella must confront her dark past. Haunted by the unsolved case of a missing girl, she knows it is a race against time. Can she stop this death from slipping through her fingers, too?
Before long, it becomes disturbingly clear that the killer is playing a twisted game and will do anything to conceal the terrible truth of what happened on the beach on Bonfire Night.
Set against the backdrop of beautiful coastal Cumbria, an ancient land of legend, folklore and myth, Spoken Bones is the first book in the Detective Inspector Fenella Sallow series.
This page-turning crime thriller will keep you hooked until the very end. If you like police procedurals with psychologically complex characters and shocking twists, then you’ll love Spoken Bones.
Perfect for fans of L. J. Ross, JD. Kirk, Simon McCleave, Stuart MacBride, Matt Brolly, Angela Marsons, Alex Smith, JM. Dalgliesh, JE. Mayhew, David J. Gatward, TG Reid, Jack Gatland, Robert F Barker and JR. Ellis.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 15, 2021
8914 people are currently reading
3790 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 379 reviews
November 7, 2021
I have no idea what book the other readers/reviewers read who all gave it 4 or 5 stars. I was pushed to give it 1 star.
It was one of the worst books I've come across. It was supposedly set in the Lake District in a coastal town, but there was no sense of the setting and topography at all. The only concession to northern speech was the main character called everyone 'luv'. The language was both simplistic and convoluted with many errors such as 'he shined a light' and 'discrete' instead of the correct 'discreet'. The author latched onto to a figurative idea and wouldn't drop it for several pages following. One was someone being like a 'palmate newt' (WTF?) and then there was someone compared to a Kung-Fu master ad nauseam. There was some weird fascination with people in wheelchairs, not particularly sympathetic or useful to the plot. The main character (female DI in her fifties) was bland and her sidekick DS was just horrible to everyone. The boss character was even worse. The plot went round the houses with various suspects being discounted. (One had alibis for both murders as he was out meeting two schoolgirls, individually, both of whom he had impregnated, as well as his wife.) The final reveal of the perp was from left field late in the day and totally silly. In addition I could see no relevance in the title to the story. I won't be reading any more of this or his other series of crime stories.
It was one of the worst books I've come across. It was supposedly set in the Lake District in a coastal town, but there was no sense of the setting and topography at all. The only concession to northern speech was the main character called everyone 'luv'. The language was both simplistic and convoluted with many errors such as 'he shined a light' and 'discrete' instead of the correct 'discreet'. The author latched onto to a figurative idea and wouldn't drop it for several pages following. One was someone being like a 'palmate newt' (WTF?) and then there was someone compared to a Kung-Fu master ad nauseam. There was some weird fascination with people in wheelchairs, not particularly sympathetic or useful to the plot. The main character (female DI in her fifties) was bland and her sidekick DS was just horrible to everyone. The boss character was even worse. The plot went round the houses with various suspects being discounted. (One had alibis for both murders as he was out meeting two schoolgirls, individually, both of whom he had impregnated, as well as his wife.) The final reveal of the perp was from left field late in the day and totally silly. In addition I could see no relevance in the title to the story. I won't be reading any more of this or his other series of crime stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2022
Entertaining...
But not in a good way. This is the most laughably awful writing I have encountered in a long time, and the worst EVER as to stretching and abusing and mauling similes and metaphors. This writer can hardly write a sentence without an absurdly erroneous comparison . A rundown house on the beach is like a deserted Roman fortress????? HOW? Spinning a coffee cup around so that it is like an exhibitionist flasher?!?!? Reacting to a loud noise like a Frankenstein demented ballerina!?!!!!!!! She was either like a puppy or a particular type of newt - both biological?!?!? Huh?
Is this some kind of joke? It is as pathetic as Napoleon repeatedly trying out for the Lakers - aarh, aarh, I crack myself up like the last egg in the carton that is as lonely as a cat in a dog and pony show... Help! I think I have caught Lewis' imbecility.
But not in a good way. This is the most laughably awful writing I have encountered in a long time, and the worst EVER as to stretching and abusing and mauling similes and metaphors. This writer can hardly write a sentence without an absurdly erroneous comparison . A rundown house on the beach is like a deserted Roman fortress????? HOW? Spinning a coffee cup around so that it is like an exhibitionist flasher?!?!? Reacting to a loud noise like a Frankenstein demented ballerina!?!!!!!!! She was either like a puppy or a particular type of newt - both biological?!?!? Huh?
Is this some kind of joke? It is as pathetic as Napoleon repeatedly trying out for the Lakers - aarh, aarh, I crack myself up like the last egg in the carton that is as lonely as a cat in a dog and pony show... Help! I think I have caught Lewis' imbecility.
December 6, 2021
I chose to read this as it was set in Cumbria, and so it may be, but not in any part of Cumbria that I recognise! I have been unable to find out more about the author's origins but, to me, this reads like a book written by an author from the USA who stuck a pin into a map to find a location in which to set the book. There seems to be no personal knowledge of the area, and the constant use of the annoying spelled "luv" [sic] by the police detective is both irritating and not reflective of my experience of the people of the area. "Love" as an endearment is more a south Lancashire thing than a north Cumbrian one, where "marra" is a more usually heard endearment.
The setting close to the Solway Firth, in the north of the county, is a beautiful area but the author does not make the most of its location. The characters are untypical of people from the area, the male Cumbria Police personnel are frequently portrayed as having a drink problem, and the ambulance person was extremely rude - all frankly so far removed from the reality of the place.
The story I found tedious, plodding and tortuous with its twists, whilst the main character's reveal of the murderer at the end was a complete "out of the blue" moment with no clue as to how or why she reached that conclusion. This is the first book I have read by N.C. Lewis, and it hasn't encouraged me to seek out more of them.
The setting close to the Solway Firth, in the north of the county, is a beautiful area but the author does not make the most of its location. The characters are untypical of people from the area, the male Cumbria Police personnel are frequently portrayed as having a drink problem, and the ambulance person was extremely rude - all frankly so far removed from the reality of the place.
The story I found tedious, plodding and tortuous with its twists, whilst the main character's reveal of the murderer at the end was a complete "out of the blue" moment with no clue as to how or why she reached that conclusion. This is the first book I have read by N.C. Lewis, and it hasn't encouraged me to seek out more of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2022
This book needs an editor.
January 16, 2022
New to author Lewis, we didn’t find much to like in this debut novel to feature Brit DI Fenella Sallow. The lengthy plot, divided into over 70 chapters, was mostly just boring, as a motley collection of constables of various ranks plodded through searching for clues to a murder that occurred early on. A second murder mid-way did nothing to ratchet up the suspense; and a bounty of red herrings only made the poorly supported solution at the very end more insulting. A really silly cliffhanger to a supposed follow-on story just added injury to insult.
The protagonist was unlikable; her grumpy police superior was nothing but a publicity hound; and the setting could have been anywhere where it mostly rains all day. Our rating of two stars seems quite generous.
The protagonist was unlikable; her grumpy police superior was nothing but a publicity hound; and the setting could have been anywhere where it mostly rains all day. Our rating of two stars seems quite generous.
December 28, 2021
Fenella Swallow is a detective in a small English seaside town where it seems to be perpetually cold and rainy. A popular women is murdered there, and Fenella and her team have several suspects. Could it be the handsome minister? Or maybe the strange woman who hears voices? I liked a lot about this police procedural, especially the dismal seaside ambiance, but was disappointed at the very end when a cliffhanger ending seemed almost tacked on--three and a half stars.
February 7, 2022
I read this farily quickly. It came recommended for fans of Colin Dexter, but honestly it was not a patch - and Dexter's books make better TV films than reads in my opinion.
The story itself was not uninteresting, but the book felt odd. The title was redundant. with no relevance to the plot. There were so many story lines which went nowhere, and the end of the book was a surprise, but felt more like a device to get you to buy the next one in the series. The few references to a jailed serial killer through out the book felt clunky at the time, and by the end, interpolations to give some degree of sense to the last pages.
There was too much mystery, characters introduced anonymously, with their part in the story becoming clear only later. Similarly, characters provided themselves with unreliable narratives, which were miraculously revealed after discovery by the police outside of the novel's scope. Others were introduced as if they were to be main players, then were hardly seen again. There were so many mental recollections byt DI Sallow of past cases, presumably to give the character a back story, but it was too much. These all made the book confusing and a little unsatisfactory.
The setting was allegedly Cumbria in England, but there were plenty of Americanisms to dispute this. Also, while I applaud the diversity in the novel, with plenty of black and disabled characters, it felt overdone, with little purpose other than political correctness. .
TLDR: OK story, needs more research and focus, and a better title
The story itself was not uninteresting, but the book felt odd. The title was redundant. with no relevance to the plot. There were so many story lines which went nowhere, and the end of the book was a surprise, but felt more like a device to get you to buy the next one in the series. The few references to a jailed serial killer through out the book felt clunky at the time, and by the end, interpolations to give some degree of sense to the last pages.
There was too much mystery, characters introduced anonymously, with their part in the story becoming clear only later. Similarly, characters provided themselves with unreliable narratives, which were miraculously revealed after discovery by the police outside of the novel's scope. Others were introduced as if they were to be main players, then were hardly seen again. There were so many mental recollections byt DI Sallow of past cases, presumably to give the character a back story, but it was too much. These all made the book confusing and a little unsatisfactory.
The setting was allegedly Cumbria in England, but there were plenty of Americanisms to dispute this. Also, while I applaud the diversity in the novel, with plenty of black and disabled characters, it felt overdone, with little purpose other than political correctness. .
TLDR: OK story, needs more research and focus, and a better title
January 19, 2022
Not recommended
I bought this book after seeing it recommended for fans of Angela Marsons. What a disappointment, and an insult to Angela! It's meant to be set on the Cumbrian coast, but the accents are more like someone from the Wigan area. The police characters wouldn't be out of place in the Keystone Cops and are completely unbelievable, as are the rest of the people in the story. As for the ending .... pathetic doesn't begin to describe it. I definitely won't be buying any more books in this series.
I bought this book after seeing it recommended for fans of Angela Marsons. What a disappointment, and an insult to Angela! It's meant to be set on the Cumbrian coast, but the accents are more like someone from the Wigan area. The police characters wouldn't be out of place in the Keystone Cops and are completely unbelievable, as are the rest of the people in the story. As for the ending .... pathetic doesn't begin to describe it. I definitely won't be buying any more books in this series.
December 20, 2021
To be honest I probably shouldn't be leaving a review, I gave up at chapter 12. Absolutely convoluted tosh. Confusing, and confused characters, totally unbelievable police officers. Surely by chapter 12 I should know who is doing what and who the main characters are. To top it off it isn't even well written. Do not waste your money.
January 28, 2022
Disappointing!
This book needs an editor and proof-reader; there is no excuse for poor spelling and grammar
Also the layout on Kindle is awful with huge gaps between associated paragraphs
All in all I'm glad I didn't pay for a printed book!
This book needs an editor and proof-reader; there is no excuse for poor spelling and grammar
Also the layout on Kindle is awful with huge gaps between associated paragraphs
All in all I'm glad I didn't pay for a printed book!
April 8, 2025
New author for me. Not bad at all. A bit repetitive at times and it dragged a bit in the middle. Also how the detective came to the conclusion and found the culprit when nothing pointed to her was weird but still enjoyable.
February 8, 2022
So, so much rain, every second paragraph involved a lengthy description of tapping rain, slicing rain, pounding rain, drizzle – there was no escaping it unless you were a detective questioning suspects who all seemed to have a never ending supply of freshly baked sponge cake at the ready. As for the mystery, meandering would best describe it. I honestly wanted to give this book a one star rating but the fact is, writing is difficult and takes a lot of commitment. I also didn't want to rule out the possibility that it was me and that the writing style just didn't work for me because based on the reviews, it worked for a lot of other people.
February 12, 2022
This book was really quite odd, the plot was good, lots of red herrings and a nice twist at the end. However, there was something not quite right, I wondered if it was written for an American audience? The characters kept referring to the police officers as 'Detective', this just isn't the case in Britain, we always say, constable or sergeant or officer never detective. There were other things that were off kilter. Set in a fictitious town on the Solway Firth, I expected more about the spectacular scenery but we just seemed to get lots about dreadful weather. I think this series has potential but it needs better editing for a British audience.
December 15, 2022
I rarely review books
, because everyone else seems to do so more expressively than I do. HOWEVER, I noted the following after entering this book into my “books read list on my iPad”: “Terrible book. Disjointed, trying too hard, too many very loose ends. Read but thrown in the bin.” I should add I NEVER throw books in the bin. If I could give it zero stars, I would.
, because everyone else seems to do so more expressively than I do. HOWEVER, I noted the following after entering this book into my “books read list on my iPad”: “Terrible book. Disjointed, trying too hard, too many very loose ends. Read but thrown in the bin.” I should add I NEVER throw books in the bin. If I could give it zero stars, I would.
March 20, 2022
Lots of rain, lots of possible "bad guys," but ending comes out of blue, with no clue how Detective Sallow figured it out.
December 20, 2025
This was my first N.C. Lewis book. I saw a blurb on FB about a series of murder mysteries set in Scotland so I took the plunge. I love a good series, like the Three Pines books, or that Scandinavian bunch, so I was excited about this one. I liked the book and really liked the main character, D.I. Fenella Sallow. The mystery was good. Two gruesome murders, red herrings everywhere, false leads, mounting pressure. I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 because when D.I. Sallow finally makes the collar, it was on someone seemingly out of left field. No hints, no lead up, nothing to make me say, "I should have known." But despite that disappointment, I liked the book.
November 12, 2024
Who in their right minds would give this book 5 stars? So bad and there is literally no ending. Such a waste of time and money.
April 21, 2025
I’m enjoying the continued characters in these Vera style books.
May 2, 2022
Confused
As the first in a series of is expected that time is spent building up a picture of the characters however, we never get a clean picture of anyone. The plotline is simple but several subplots are created and left in unanswered. When the ending comes it is not just a surprise but completely out of left field. There is no real case building, just a lot of thoughts thrown about.
I am hoping that this first book is just laying the groundwork, it was, in turns, simplistic and difficult to read. In my opinion it was very unputdownable however I will read the second in the series to see if the author settles into a style , the characters more rounded and the storylines more developed.
As the first in a series of is expected that time is spent building up a picture of the characters however, we never get a clean picture of anyone. The plotline is simple but several subplots are created and left in unanswered. When the ending comes it is not just a surprise but completely out of left field. There is no real case building, just a lot of thoughts thrown about.
I am hoping that this first book is just laying the groundwork, it was, in turns, simplistic and difficult to read. In my opinion it was very unputdownable however I will read the second in the series to see if the author settles into a style , the characters more rounded and the storylines more developed.
February 18, 2025
If I had owned a hard copy rather having read the book on my Kindle, I would have put a line through every ridiculous simile or metaphor throughout the book. Then the length of a long, drawn out story could have been cut by about 200 pages. The writing itself is amateur and I will definitely not read another of this author’s. He’s pumped a lot of books in a relatively short period of time. One or two good ones would have been better…maybe.
December 9, 2022
I'm on the fence as to how much I liked this, or not, so rounded down rather than up. There were a few characters that made no sense to me and were a bit of a distraction, but not in a way to help the story. How the story came around to its conclusion was a bit of a head scratcher, and so my 3 star rating.
May 9, 2022
I was disappointed by the character development. The reveal of the guilty one at the end with no explanation or follow up. Several plot lines were left hanging. Not sure if the last chapter leading into the next case( book) will resolve any of the threads. But not very satisfactory.
October 30, 2025
a good old Brit detective who dunnit with lots of red herrings
November 2, 2025
This is an excellent British procedural mystery. The plot is very good, the characters are excellent, and there are plots twists to keep the reader turning pages.
November 15, 2025
cant believe I read the whole thing
Very basic elementary book. I read it based on an Amazon review/recommendation and regret having invested so much time in it.
Very basic elementary book. I read it based on an Amazon review/recommendation and regret having invested so much time in it.
December 6, 2021
When a body is discovered by the beach on Bonfire Night by a local at dawn in Port Saint Giles, DI Fenella Sallow and DC Hugh Earp are called in to investigate. DC Hugh Earp was formerly a DI in the Carlisle Divisional Headquarters before he got demoted to uniform.
The victim is later identified to be a septuagenarian lady who was struck with a blunt object before being pushed or fell onto a bonfire nearby where she was scorched.
What was she doing on the beach in the early hours of the morning? And what’s the killer’s motive?
The victim is later identified to be a septuagenarian lady who was struck with a blunt object before being pushed or fell onto a bonfire nearby where she was scorched.
What was she doing on the beach in the early hours of the morning? And what’s the killer’s motive?
June 8, 2024
I’m headed to an English pub now.
February 27, 2025
Disappointing. Dialogs between first responders and police were so made up they spoilt the story. Looked more like some axe to grind aka The Crown in its later episodes.
Very light weight. If you like fairy tales then go for it.
Very light weight. If you like fairy tales then go for it.
November 28, 2022
An Exciting read!
This book was recommended by another author and I’m glad that I went ahead and read it.
NC Lewis is fabulous in her characterizations, plot and expert use of descriptions, both verbally and visually!
I’ll be reading her next book in the series.
This book was recommended by another author and I’m glad that I went ahead and read it.
NC Lewis is fabulous in her characterizations, plot and expert use of descriptions, both verbally and visually!
I’ll be reading her next book in the series.
February 26, 2025
Terrible writing. Ridiculous similes and metaphors. One dimensional characters. The killer is revealed at the end with no explanation as to how the police solved it. Wanted to try this new to me series. Won’t be reading any more.
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