Petty thefts unearth a chilling homicide in this multi-perspective mystery.
It’s summer, and seasonal homeowners are returning to town. But shortly after their arrival, the calls begin. They’ve been robbed. However, when the inspectors arrive, it’s hard to keep a straight face due to the seemingly frivolous nature of the complaints—missing tops, jeans, bikini, wine, and jars of peanut butter. The actual valuables haven’t been touched. And there are no signs of any break-ins. Initially, it’s tagged a prank by bored locals or simple forgetfulness. But the third call indicates otherwise. An already confusing situation becomes chilling when a shocking discovery is made in one of the newly renovated riverfront homes.
Tessa Wegert’s In the Bones uses multiple perspectives to expose the many hidden things happening in what appears to be a boring, quiet town where the rich come to relax. In the midst of all this drama is Nicole, a cleaner with a far more personal mission beyond the extra cash she’ll get from cleaning the home of the newly arrived and retired NHL star, Mikko Helle. She needs proof that he has pulled her husband into a shady financial scheme and this might be her only chance. Already working under pressure with her goal weighing heavily on her mind, fear and tension spike when she starts hearing strange noises and items going missing. That’s when she notices a message traced into dust: “I’m watching.”
Eventually, a young woman, Jenny Smith, is found hiding in the attic. With some probing, she is revealed as the mysterious phrogger responsible for the bizarre seasonal thefts. It doesn’t end here, though.
She leads investigators to a crawlspace containing skeletal remains, beginning a homicide investigation. Now the story centers on the frantic search for the victim’s identity and the killer, while the tightening domestic turmoil surrounding Nicole’s household worsens. State Police investigator Tim Wellington and Sheriff Maureen “Mac” McIntyre (Nicole’s half-sister) try to piece together a maze of incomplete information amid the rising anxiety in the community. Is anyone truly who they seem?
The book switches between events occurring in the present day and chapters from a separate timeline involving a woman called Molly and her friend Gigi. These two young women were exploring the Thousand Islands months before the body is found. Author Tessa Wegert uses these chapters to create an eerie, slow-building sense of dread as readers recognize connections before the investigators do.
Cape Vincent, the book’s setting, is rendered with a richness that captures both its seasonal beauty and its off-season isolation. Wegert creates a sharp contrast between locals and the wealthy summer residents that amplifies the sense that everyone is guarding something, and the empty waterfront homes provide the perfect environment for a story where secrets are easier to hide than to escape.
Nicole’s choices, meanwhile, come from a very real place: money running thin, her marriage buckling under strain, and that constant, creeping fear that her family’s future is slipping out of her hands. Sheriff McIntyre, as Nicole’s older sister, brings emotional texture to the law-enforcement storyline, and her quiet frustration with Nicole’s evasiveness feels natural rather than manufactured: “It was the fact that Nicole worked alone in strangers’ houses that irked Sheriff Maureen McIntyre. Nicole liked to call Mac paranoid, but Nicole hadn’t spent half her life in law enforcement.”
The introduction of multiple characters early in the story can be a bit overwhelming to track, with some of the supporting characters remaining on the periphery. Eva Ki and Jeremy Solomon serve the narrative but rarely stretch beyond their defined functions, and Mikko’s arrogance at times verges on caricature, which may be intentional but slightly diminishes the impact of his involvement in the financial subplot. While compelling, Jenny Smith’s phrogging occasionally stretches believability, as the number of undetected break-ins is quite a lot. Though the emotional payoff is well-worth-it.
Overall, Wegert’s prose is crisp and attentive to sensory detail, especially when drawing out the claustrophobic tension inside hidden crawlspaces. Transitions between viewpoints and timelines unfold smoothly, often closing chapters with just enough emotional or investigative pressure to propel readers forward.
The multiple mysteries pull readers in, but it’s how they all begin to connect that truly stands out. The motive behind the thefts, the identities of the victim and the killer, what happened nine months ago, the reason Woody made such a risky investment, the real nature of Mikko’s business dealings—everything grabs attention and solidifies the intrigue.
Sometimes quiet places hide a whole lot more than loud places can. Tessa Wegert’s well-constructed thriller In the Bones shows this brilliantly through its portrayal of small-town dynamics.
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