Set in Newfoundland in October 1902, this historical mystery is very difficult to synopsize without giving away too much … and spoiling the fun for readers … so I won’t. Gifts and Bones’ main characters are members of McDonald household – all female – and two other families whose lives they intersect: those of Henry Stevens and Cyrus Norton. What emerges is a well-crafted story of blackmail, deceit and murder – all harkening back to the laying of the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable in the mid 1800s.

I have read more than 2,000 mysteries and I can’t say there’s one Gifts and Bones reminds me of – it’s that unusual. Barbara Murray is very adept at creating a sense of place – and a dark place it is, with grey weather, more than one scary and secretive character and a sense of foreboding that never goes away (until the end, of course). Add to the mix a paranormal element that unfolds gradually over the course of the story and that makes Gifts and Bones an engrossing read.

Right up until the night of Tuesday October 14th, Natty Cooke had thought that young Brian Stevens suffered a mental affliction. He reminded her of patients at the home for the feeble-minded, where she'd once worked. All that beating at the air with his hands, all those delusions of long-ago transatlantic cable ships. As the maid in the Stevens household, she had befriended Brian, and it was a good thing considering how his family treated him. But on that evening of October 14th, Natty Cooke discovered the horrible truth about Brian.

Gifts and Bones is not a quickie read – so I suggest saving it for a rainy afternoon that cries out for a meaty book to immerse yourself in.