Tall Bones: The engrossing, hauntingly beautiful Sunday Times bestseller

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An elegant, mesmerizing debut-Anna Bailey explores festering secrets with a with a sharp, yet tender gaze. This book reads like a whisper in the dark. DANYA KUKAFKA, author of Girl in Snow They are like pieces of very big puzzle! Reading about all those vivid characters is quite fascinating but also compelling experience that tires you a lot. And sometimes you feel like this whodunnit story loses its direction, wavering a lot and changing its main focus!

In Anna Bailey's debut novel, we get a deep dive into the small town of Whistling Ridge, Colorado, where 17-year old, Abigail, has gone missing. Seventeen-year-old Abagail (Abi) goes missing after attending a party in the woods of Whistling Ridge. Her best friend, Emma feels tremendous guilt over leaving Abi alone at the party. She wants to know what happened to her friend and searches for the truth. The police, initially believe that Abi ran away but when evidence is found, it changes everything. The Town, the people, the woods all hold secrets and with this discovery those secrets are threatened. Original title of the book is Tall Bones and now it’s gonna be releasing with a new name: “Where the truth lies” which is more convenient name for the story. Debut author, Anna Bailey, was able to bring these characters to life in a way that felt so real. They each have their own quirks and sense of individuality which maintained my interest. Especially, the enigmatic Romanian, Rat who sweeps into town like it’s nobody’s business. And, whose presence has resulted in a good amount of trouble in Noah Blake’s life.

The last part of the story seems to pull itself together. It's as if what resolution that we get seems to pour down a cleansing rain on the people and place, giving just about everyone, who isn't crushed by their misdeeds, some hope of a brighter days in the future. This would have been more believable if we hadn't seen so much vileness throughout the main part of the story. Cleverly written, Anna Bailey's debut shines a light on the darker and more oppressive side of small-town society. INDEPENDENT

Her best friend, 17 years old Emma Alvarez cannot forgive herself not insist more to drive her to the home. She couldn’t identify the dark figure waiting for Abigail that ominous night she’s gotten missing. All of these books go to dark places and examine some of the worst things we are capable of doing to one another. I enjoyed them immensely. We need thrillers now more than ever because they thrill us, yes, but also because they allow us to go through the dark and come out the other side. And right now, I think that’s what we keep waking up for About Tall Bones:

When Emma leaves her friend Abi at a party in the woods, she believes that their lives are just beginning. Many things will happen that night, beneath the stark beauty of the stars, but Emma will never see her friend again. Smart and compassionate, full of poetry and rage and shy hopes and shredded dreams and missing girls and family secrets and the dark, shameful underbelly of small town life." - Tammy Cohen We meet Abigail’s family – the abusive father, her two brothers, and a mother who has retreated into isolation under a very religious husband. There’s also the handsome Romanian immigrant, Rat, who has a strong connection with Abi’s brother Noah. Whistling Ridge, the idyllic town with an uplifting community where everyone is cheerful and you get all the milkshakes you could possibly drink, on the house. You have your life all planned out and know exactly where you’re headed, the only worry being how much you’re going to miss those god- awful milkshakes. How lovely does that sound? 👀 The author is not a bad writer, but this story and its characters were not well developed. I felt as if all characters were one-dimensional and the story just fell flat.

Anna Bailey’s debut novel Where the Truth Lies brings readers a dark, disturbing, emotional, and atmospheric crime novel set in small town Whistling Ridge, Colorado. A teenaged girl, Abigail Blake, disappears after leaving a party and going into the woods. She had come to the party with her friend Emma Alvarez who feels guilty for not waiting on her friend and commits to finding out what really happened to Emma. Did she meet someone; and if so, who? Most, including the police, believe she ran away from home. But is that what really happened? This is a striking first novel, a chilling insight into an oppressive world, where bad thoughts and bad deeds ripple just below the surface, out of sight. Alison Flood, OBSERVER This town is full of unlikeable characters who are simply horrible and do terrible things to each other. All the characters introduced have some part to play in the book. As Emma attempts to learn what happened to her friend, she learns that her friends had sad secrets as well. Haunting... Emma's path to where the truth lies will carry the reader's soul along in both moving and compassionate ways. Maxim Jakubowski, CRIME TIMEAnna Bailey writes like a dream about teenage love and lust, the terror of knowledge and the claustrophobia of families and of small towns. EMMA FLINT, author of Little Deaths Tall Bones is essentially about outsiders in a small-town community. It covers a whole host of issues and does so phenomenally. Abigail Blake is seventeen and like all girls her age, she believes she’s going to live for ever. Deep down, Emma believes it too, and that is why she leaves her friend there.”