The Bone Readers

When Michael (Digger) Digson is recruited into DS Chilman’s new plain clothes squad in the small Caribbean island of Camaho, he brings his own mission to discover who amongst a renegade police squad killed his mother in a political demonstration. Sent to London to train in forensics, Digger becomes enmeshed in Chilman’s obsession with a cold case – the disappearance of a young man whose mother is sure he has been murdered. But along with his new skill in forensics, Digger makes rich use of the cultural knowledge he has gained from the Fire Baptist grandmother who brought him up, another kind of reader of bones. And when the enigmatic Miss K. Stanislaus, another of Chilman’s recruits, joins him on the case, Digger finds that his science is more than outmatched by her observational skills. Together, they find themselves dragged into a world of secrets, disappearances and danger that demands every ounce of their brains, persistence and courage to survive.

Jacob Ross brings the best traditions of crime fiction to the Caribbean novel with a fast-moving narrative, richly observed characters, a powerful evocation of place and a denouement that will leave readers breathless. Set on the small Caribbean island of Camaho, The Bone Readers introduces DC Michael (Digger) Digson and his partner Miss K. Stanislaus as they are dragged into a world of secrets, disappearances and danger that demands every ounce of their brains, persistence and courage to survive. With its compelling sense of place and cast of characters with real emotional depth, The Bone Readers artfully delivers for the Caribbean what Ian Rankin does for Scotland.

The Bone Readers is the first in Ross's Camaho Quartet.

“Ross’s characters are always powerfully delineated through brilliant visual descriptions, dialogue that trips off the tongue, and keenly observed behaviour.” - Bernardine Evaristo, The Guardian

Winner of the inaugural Jhalak Prize 2017

Media