Bodies are appearing in state parks, mutilated and bearing scars of a serial killer. FBI agent Kelly Jones is stuck playing with local policemen and women each carrying their own issues (And in some cases a side order of delusions of grandeur). Can she figure out who's killing people before the multi-state spanning bone yard grows bigger? No. No she can't, but there's a good chance she can at least find the murderer and bring him or her to justice.

Book Title: Boneyard
Book Author: Michelle Gagnon
Book Publisher: Mira
Release Date: July 1, 2008
Retail Price: $6.99
Buy it at: Various Outlets

Boneyard revolves around a police investigation spanning Massachusetts, Vermont, and even slipping into New York a bit. Bodies keep turning up with the same MO, but very little about where they're found and what's happened to them is adding up. It's up to Kelly Jones to figure out just who knows what about the murderer before things get even worse.

And she has one heck of a time with it, between Detective Lieutenant Doyle's constant pissing matches (figuratively, thankfully), a surprise visit from her quisi-lover Jake, and a growing friendship with police woman Monica and her son make for a continuously entertaining story. And as for whom the killer is, it took me a good while to figure it out. I had my suspicions but Ms. Gagnon kept me guessing until the final reveal.

With the book rapidly rotating through first person perspectives from characters it made for an interesting style to read through. It gives the reader an eagle eye view of the whole plot. Catch is, the killer isn't just named. The killer doesn't think his or her name while in his or her perspective. (I'm not going to tell you who it is, you'll just have to read it for yourself, mwuahahaha.)

This was a story where it was hard to figure out just who my favorite character was. Kelly made for a strong character against the odds and all, but I think I enjoyed Dwight's character a bit more. As he tried to get into the mind of the killer to figure out just what it felt like to torture a person to death, while waiting to be inducted into the FBI...or was it the CIA...perhaps it was the Canadian Mounties, he did seem to get around.

I cringed at any of the real descriptive torture scenes. Descriptive torture and pain is a personal squick. That's why I never got through watching the Saw movies (The Saw plots are creative and interesting, the bits where bodies go squish, not so much.) So, I could have done without those parts, but the fact that it made me cringe, shows that it's effective writing. And I was engaged with the characters, at least until they went squish.

When I read this book I didn't one imagine that it was published under a Harlequin romance publisher. And I still find it hard to believe. Yes, there were two romance subplots interweaved through the killing and the detective work, but I didn't think of it as a Harlequin. To be fair though, I don't read Harlequin (At least not on purpose). I have nothing against it, I prefer my straight up sci-fi, fantasy, and the occasional murder mystery. That's what caught my eye with this one. That and I got it a used book sale for $0.25. For that price how could I say no?

If you're into the whole murder mystery with romantic entanglements then by all means search this one out. Just beware the torture-y bits.