The Bone Readers

The Bone Readers is a 2016 novel by Grenadan British author Jacob Ross, the second in his "Camaho Quartet."[1][2] In 2017, it won the inaugural Jhalak Prize.[3][4][5] In 2022, The Bone Readers was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[6]

The Bone Readers
First edition cover
AuthorJacob Ross
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesCamaho Quartet
Subjectracism, grief
GenreNovel, crime fiction
Set inCaribbean and London
PublisherPeepal Tree Press
Publication date
24 September 2016
Media typePrint: hardback
Pages224
AwardsJhalak Prize
ISBN9781845233358
OCLC969574038
823.92
LC ClassPR9275.G73 R678
Preceded byPynter Bender 
Followed byBlack Rain Falling 

Plot

The novel is set on the island of Camaho, based on Ross's native Grenada (Kalinago: Camerhogne).[7]

Michael "Digger" Digson testifies in a murder case and is recruited into a plainclothes homicide squad led by the mysterious Chilman, who is obsessed with the disappearance of a young man several years ago. Digger is also researching a cold case: his mother's, who was murdered by police when he was a child.

Reception

The Bone Readers was praised in The Guardian by Bernardine Evaristo, who wrote: "Ross's characters are always powerfully delineated through brilliant visual descriptions, dialogue that trips off the tongue, and keenly observed behaviour. He excels at creating empathetic female characters. […] The Bone Readers is a page-turner, but its insights and language are equally testament to a literary novel of impressive depth and acuity."[8]

It won the inaugural Jhalak Prize in 2017,[9] with judge Musa Okwonga describing it as "by turns thrilling, visceral and meditative, and always cinematic", and Catherine Johnson saying that it "effortlessly draws together the past and the present, gender, politics and the legacy of colonialism in a top quality Caribbean set crime thriller".[10][11] Co-founder of the prize and chair of judges Sunny Singh characterised the novel as "not only as an exemplar of the genre but for rising well above it".[9]

In 2022, The Bone Readers was included on the Big Jubilee Read, a list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors produced to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.[12][13]

References
  1. Creighton, Al (20 June 2021). "Caribbean disunity: The impoverishment of Caribbean writers". Stabroek News. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  2. Ross, Jacob (30 July 2018). The Bone Readers. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 9780751574470 – via Google Books.
  3. "The Booktrekker: Grenada". Global Literature in Libraries Initiative. 20 June 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  4. "Review no 138: The Bone Readers by Jacob Ross (Grenada)". Imogen is Reading and Watching the World: On Books, Film, Art & More. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  5. Onwuemezi, Natasha (17 March 2017). "Jacob Ross wins inaugural Jhalak Prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  6. Sherwood, Harriet (18 April 2022). "The God of Small Things to Shuggie Bain: the Queen's jubilee book list". The Guardian.
  7. Lee, John Robert (11 May 2020). "Depth and drama in Ross's Grenadian crime fiction". Repeating Islands: News and commentary on Caribbean culture, literature, and the arts. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  8. Evaristo, Bernardine (28 September 2016). "The Bone Readers by Jacob Ross review – into a Caribbean island's sordid underbelly". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  9. "Caribbean crime thriller wins inaugural prize for BAME writers". The Daily Observer. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  10. "The Bone Readers". www.peepaltreepress.com. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  11. Wilson, Laura (20 March 2020). "The best recent crime novels – review roundup". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  12. Sherwood, Harriet (18 April 2022). "The God of Small Things to Shuggie Bain: the Queen's jubilee book list". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  13. "The Big Jubilee Read: Books from 2012 to 2022". BBC. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
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