Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh

 A son's love for his vanished mother sets him on a dangerous quest to discover the truth in this thriller set in New Zealand.

Aarav Rai, a bestselling author, is recovering at his family home after a car accident that has left him with limited mobility and some neurological damage. As he convalesces, he's reminded of when his mother disappeared ten years previously along with $250,000 of his father's money. No trace of her has ever been found and she's never been in touch with Aarav. His father divorced Nina Rai and subsequently married and had another child. Aarav is haunted by his fractured memories of what happened on the night he saw his mother for the last time. When her bones are found in her damaged car at the bottom of the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park right near his home, Aarav is determined to find out what really happened the night she walked out and slammed the front door, got into her car and almost immediately crashed and died. Aarav is convinced that someone in their exclusive cul-de-sac of private luxury homes knows more than they're telling. Turns out that many of them have been keeping some big secrets. NO SPOILERS.

I really wanted to like this and was glued to the pages with a narrative that irritated me but kept me guessing up until the disappointing ending. REALLY? That's what you've got for me? I stuck through the trope I hate most in fiction -- memory loss -- and really thought the payoff was going to be worth it. Despite the lush descriptions of the forest and the area, I felt let down. I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters, especially the unreliable narrator, Aarav, and the story is told from his point of view with an abundance of red herrings. This definitely is geared toward fans of psychological suspense who appreciate a slow pace and a wrap that ties up all the loose ends and answers the questions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre - psychological suspense, mystery