Frank’s daughter, Eleanor (Nell), is reluctantly attending as after being stalked by dangerously obsessed fans unable to tell fantasy from reality, she had become a recluse. What were her parents thinking giving her a name so close to their fictional character? The book that emerged from this visit to the Rawthey is a paean to what Gerard Manley Hopkins called “wildness and wet”, a rich mix of history and mythology, of science and nature writing at its very best. It’s not just about rivers but also water generally, including its mysterious origins billions of years ago and the invisible rivers of water vapour flowing through the atmosphere: “we come from water, and water runs through us. It carries our chemistry and our stories. It shows us more than itself: all the colours and none.” Spearheading a new wave of Succession-esque fractured family tales . . . Erin Kelly's The Skeleton Key is the ultimate entertaining thriller * Evening Standard *

Alcohol, too, once provided Darrieussecq with an escape from sleeplessness, as it did for Jean Rhys and Nathalie Sarraute, who treated her insomnia with “a small glass of vodka and a few slices of saucisson” in the middle of the night. While the mystery is great, it's the characters that make this book. Actions that start out with good intentions become derailed and disastrous making it an unpredictable and rewarding read. The story inside is every bit as stunning, intricate and enticing as the cover art. An intricately plotted thriller, full of detail and invention, with impeccably realised settings and characters as monstrous as they are believable. Above all it is a completely addictive story of two families destroyed by success. Erin Kelly is a genius’ JANE CASEYDISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Skeleton Key via Netgalley for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. A twisted treasure hunt with a fatal family secret at its heart. Powerful, playful and deeply disturbing. I loved it * Sarah Hilary * My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Skeleton Key’ by Erin Kelly. I complemented my reading with its unabridged audiobook edition. I really liked the main character of Nell with her splashes of humour and wry observations. I really felt for her when her life was uprooted by the hunt, putting not only her life in danger but also her relationship with Billie, a young woman she is caring for on the line. Their relationship too was really well written capturing the genuine affection as well as the teasing and the tensions. I've not read any books by Erin Kelly before but the beautiful cover and intriguing blurb caught my eye. In her foreword, the author explains that the inspiration for this story was one of her favourite childhood books: Masquerade by Kit Williams, which contained clues for a treasure hunt - the prize being a jewelled hare. In this book the prize is the tiny gold skeleton of a woman, broken into pieces and buried at locations around the UK.

Spanning 50 years, this really is an absolutely gifted telling of a twisted tale. I really di Inspired by the author's love for Masquerade, this is a taut, mesmerising novel of danger and obsession. Timewise, ‘The Skeleton Key’ starts in the 1960s where Frank Churcher writes a new folkstory about Elinore, whose bones have been scattered across England in mythical locations. The story is illustrated with beautiful pictures full of hidden clues to the real-life whereabouts of some of the bones, cryptic clues and the like. Frank and his best friend Lal find a tiny model skeleton, decorate the bones and bury each bone in one of the locations. The book is an overnight success, and all the bones are found by the Bonehunters – all except the pelvis. The Bonehunters are obsessed with finding the missing bone, believing that if they can uncover all the bones, Elinore will rise again.Kelly’s narrative flows smoothly between the past and the novel’s present with the dates and locations clearly indicated in the chapter headings. Somewhat like a puzzle, this builds up a sense of the characters’ motivations revealing mysteries along the way. The intricacies of the main plot are astonishing. We are on shifting ground and never quite know what the main characters are capable of. There's Frank Churcher, artist with an eye for the ladies, and Cora, his wife, who drifts about in a dope-induced haze; there's Lal, Frank's best friend, also an artist, and an alcoholic, and his wife, Bridget, who keeps him under control.

The storyline is wonderfully plotted with some excellent plot twists that just make this such an intriguing story and one that is extremely hard to stop reading. The characters are wonderful with great depth that is slowly revealed the more you read – they all have their baggage, making some more likable than others, some becoming more despicable the more that is revealed about them, but all written with such expertise that you can’t help wanting to know more about each and every one. The characters are superbly portrayed. Who could not love and admire Nell for abandoning the claustrophobic craziness and striking out on her own? Or Dom for becoming the quintessential 'city boy' in retaliation to his parents loose and louche lifestyle?While the main thrust of the story is the Golden Bones, it has many layers and subplots so the reader is kept fully entertained throughout - fame, ageing, family, secrets, money, ego, jealousy- so much going on but all beautifully held together. A special mention to the portrayal of how men and women are treated differently by society as they age through the characters of Cora and Frank (oh I could happily have slapped Frank!!) From the bestselling author of He Said/She Said and Watch Her Fall, this is a taut, mesmerising novel about a daughter haunted by her father’s legacy . . . You both did brilliantly,' says Bridget. She puts one hand to my forehead and the other to my wrist.