When the Bones Sing

Romance, secrets and mystery and a teenage girl who hears the bones of the dead… Perfect for fans of Holly Jackson, Adalyn Grace and Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing

17-year-old Dovie doesn’t believe in magic even though she comes from a long line of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, and for the past few years the bones have been crooning nonstop, calling out to Dovie to dig them up. Because there is a killer on the loose – someone is snatching hikers from the miles of tracks, leaving their mutilated bodies for Dovie to find. And the body count grows ever higher.

Some of the old-timers believe that it’s the monstrous Ozarks howler snatching people off the Aux Arc Trail. Well Dovie doesn’t believe in the howler, and she doesn’t believe her best friend – the gorgeous Lo – when he tells her he is being haunted by dark shadows. All she believes in is her talent that guides the local sheriff to the bones when they begin their song, then reuniting the dead with their families to give them some peace.

But the truth of their deaths isn’t buried with their bones; it’s hidden somewhere deep in the hills. And Lo and Dovie must unearth it before anyone else is killed…

Reviews

‘Dark and Shallow Lies oozes atmosphere and dread […] An intense and brooding thriller laced with the supernatural and killer twists.’ – Observer

‘A page-turning thriller . . .’ – IRISH TIMES

“Few books have stuck with me quite as much as Dark and Shallow Lies did this year. Like its ominous and isolated Louisiana bayou setting, Ginny Myers Sain’s debut YA novel is a story that’s as alluring as it is unnerving and unfathomable. Blending small-town supernatural thrills with a haunting coming-of-age murder mystery, it’s the kind of deeply atmospheric book that makes you live every second with its heart-breaking cast of young and troubled characters. Taking place, as Ginny Myers Sain describes it, in the “in-between spaces where magic feels most possible”, it’s a story that crackles off the page and into readers’ hearts, where it will stay for a long time to come.” Culturefly

“Don’t even try to resist—Ginny Myers Sain will lure you into the spellbinding world of the deep Louisiana bayou with this riveting missing girl mystery populated by a bewitching cast of characters; spun to life in lush, atmospheric prose; and teeming with a dark mythology that is part folklore, part psychic mysticism, and entirely compelling.” —Kit Frick, author of I Killed Zoe Spanos

“Haunting and arresting, this is one stunning debut. Ginny Myers Sain has written a totally engrossing small-town mystery about what happens when you finally dig up long-buried secrets.” —Jessica Goodman, bestselling author of They Wish They Were Us

About the author

Ginny Myers Sain enjoys creating dark, tangled, mysterious stories that exist in the in-between spaces where magic feels most possible. She especially loves writing for young adult readers because those years between childhood and adulthood are full of so much possibility…and so many big fears and questions.

Ginny currently lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her teenage son and a very cowardly doberman named Shipley. When she’s not working in the theatre or writing, you're likely to find her listening to true crime podcasts, taking pictures of alligators, eating tacos, or planning a trip to Walt Disney World. When the Bones Sing is her fourth novel for young adults.