Written In Bone
In “Written in Bone” David Hunter is called out to the Hebridean island of Runa. In a cottage in the woods a body has been found. It is almost entirely burnt, except for the feet and one hand, which miraculously are nearly unscathed. Though mysterious, the incident is set aside as an accidental death by the local police. But David’s instincts tell him otherwise. Even though, without special equipment, there is little he can do, David is forced to stay on the island as a mighty storm makes it impossible to leave Runa and severs all communication to the mainland. As the killing continues, the residents of Runa realise that, after all, the first victim did not die by accident. Now fear reaches its climax: cut off from any outside help, the inhabitants are entrapped on the island, with the murderer among them. For David Hunter, coming closer to finding the murderer’s identity, means becoming a target of his own.
Again Simon Beckett masterfully manages to captivate the reader from the very beginning. The atmosphere of the cold and barren island of Runa, miles away from the British mainland and engulfed in a raging Atlantic storm, adds to the already sinister and oppressive subject of death.
“At 250° centigrade, flesh will ignite. Skin blackens and splits. The subcutaneous fat below it starts to liquefy, like grease in a hot pan. Fuelled by it, the body starts to burn. Arms and legs catch first, acting as kindling to the greater mass of the torso. … But bone is, quite literally, a different matter. Bone stubbornly resists all but the hottest fires. And even when the carbon has burned from it, leaving it as dead and lifeless as pumice, bone will still retain its shape.”
Written In Bone. Bantam Books. 494 pages. First published in 2007.
Again Simon Beckett masterfully manages to captivate the reader from the very beginning. The atmosphere of the cold and barren island of Runa, miles away from the British mainland and engulfed in a raging Atlantic storm, adds to the already sinister and oppressive subject of death.
“At 250° centigrade, flesh will ignite. Skin blackens and splits. The subcutaneous fat below it starts to liquefy, like grease in a hot pan. Fuelled by it, the body starts to burn. Arms and legs catch first, acting as kindling to the greater mass of the torso. … But bone is, quite literally, a different matter. Bone stubbornly resists all but the hottest fires. And even when the carbon has burned from it, leaving it as dead and lifeless as pumice, bone will still retain its shape.”
Written In Bone. Bantam Books. 494 pages. First published in 2007.