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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780345497611
ISBN number: 0345497619
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 512
Printing Date: July 29, 2008
Publishing house: Ballantine Books
Release Date: July 29, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 33285
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Unknown bones, untold secrets, and unsolved crimes from the distant past cast ominous shadows on the present in the dazzling new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.
Present day: Julia Hamill has made a horrifying discovery on the grounds of her new home in rural Massachusetts: a skull buried in the rocky soil–human, female, and, according to the trained eye of Boston medical examiner Maura Isles, scarred with the unmistakable marks of murder. But whoever this nameless woman was, and whatever befell her, is knowledge lost to another time. . . .
Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, Norris Marshall, a talented but penniless student at Boston Medical College, has joined the ranks of local “resurrectionists”–those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the grey market. Yet even this ghoulish commerce pales beside the shocking murder of a nurse found mutilated on the university hospital grounds. And when a distinguished doctor meets the same grisly fate, Norris finds that trafficking in the illicit cadaver trade has made him a prime suspect.
To prove his innocence, Norris must track down the only witness to have glimpsed the killer: Rose Connolly, a beautiful seamstress from the Boston slums who fears she may be the subsequent victim. Joined by a sardonic, keenly intelligent young man named Oliver Wendell Holmes, Norris and Rose comb the city–from its grim cemeteries and autopsy suites to its glittering mansions and centers of Brahmin power–on the trail of a maniacal fiend who lurks where least expected . . . and who waits for his subsequent lethal opportunity.
With unflagging suspense and pitch-perfect period detail, The Bone Garden deftly interweaves the thrilling narratives of its nineteenth- and twenty-first century protagonists, tracing the dark mystery at its heart across time and place to a finale as ingeniously conceived as it is shocking. Bold, bloody, and brilliant, this is Tess Gerritsen’s finest achievement to date.
'An old mystery is crossed with a modern story in the latest from Gerritsen (The Mephisto Club, 2006, etc.).Julia Hamill, newly divorced and still smarting, purchases an old house outside Boston. Determined to dig a garden, she instead finds the bones of a long-dead woman–the apparent victim of murder–which starts her on a journey to ferret out the story behind her death. Julia connects with Henry, a no-nonsense 89-year-old with boxes of documents that once belonged to the now-deceased previous owner of Julia’s home. The two discover a mystery dating back to the 1830s. At the heart of it is a baby named Meggie, born to the beautiful but doomed Irish chambermaid, Aurnia. Married to a man who cares nothing for her, Aurnia lays dying in a maternity ward with her sister, Rose, at her side. Rose, a spirited 17-year-old, takes Meggie to protect her from Aurnia’s husband, but soon finds herself the target of a bizarre manhunt. Someone is after the child–and Rose, as well, because she witnessed a horrifying murder. The body count piles up as Rose struggles to remain free of those who would take Meggie from her. Meanwhile, a young medical student becomes the chief suspect of the West End Reaper killings when he stumbles onto another terrible homicide. Although he fights the prospect, eventually he and Rose join forces to solve the murders and protect the baby at the heart of the mysterious deaths. Readers with delicate stomachs may find Gerritsen’s graphic descriptions of corpse dissection hard to take, but the story, which digs up a dark Boston of times long past, entices readers to keep turning pages long after their bedtimes.'
- Kirkus Reviews (starred)
From the Hardcover edition.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
The Bone Garden starts off in the present day. Julia Hammill is clearing the garden of her new house in the outskirts of Boston, when she uncovers some old bones. When the experts are called in, it is discovered that they date back to the 1830s. Through contact with a relative of the previous owner of the house, the story of how the bones got there is slowly revealed.
Set mainly in the year 1830, this novel gives a depressing and graphic look at the harshness of life back in that era, particularly in the area of childbirth, were the lack of decent hygiene, led to many, many unnecessary deaths. If that wasn't bad enough, in this novel, a serial killer, is murdering nurses who have worked on the maternity ward, of the Boston hospital, where the story is set.
I have to admit I have an interest in history, so it was the parts of the novel, that were set in 1830, that held my attention the most. The story has some very good and interesting characters, in particular, poor immigrant Rose Connolly, and struggling medical student Norris Marshall, whose lives are greatly affected by the actions of the serial killer.
What I particularly enjoyed about this novel was that as it progressed, the story became more and more interesting, and the characters grew, so by the end, I did not want it to finish. Graphic, and very depressing in places, but certainly worth a read.
Rated by buyers 
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This book was a real disappointment to me. It was billed as a story over two time periods, yesterday and the past, and while it technically was that, the present storyline was just a few pages and the ending of that part made very little sense to me (can't say more without giving it away, but I reread the last chapter and I'm still mystified - I hate that in a book!).
I don't want to give story away, but it seemed to me that in both the ending of the book and some key exciting parts near the end of the 'past' story, the author was far too brief when most of the other bits of the story were verbose. I mean, really, Gerritsen, almost 500 pages and the key elements, key passages, get a page or two and you go on and on and on about the filth and cold and poverty of 1830...
The 'bad guy' was a bit unbelievable for the time frame and just a bit over the top on motive, I sure didn't believe THAT PERSON would do what was done... Pretty far fetched.
Also, if you're thinking it has anything to do with Maura Isles, the medical examiner from the Rizzoli books, forget it, she's got a page in there, if that.
That all said, I read the entire book, it was captivating. It absolutely gave you some real sense of medicine in the early 19th century in America.
Very gritty. You really felt for how the poor lived in that time period, as well, and it made me appreciate our modern conveniences and modern medical standards, that's for sure.
I would highly recommend The Keepsake by Gerritsen or Sinner, or Vanish or Body Double, all Rizzoli books. I really loved those.
Rated by buyers 
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I really enjoyed this book! Rose was a very compelling character. She gives you a glimpse into the life of the poor during the 1800's and helps us see how hard it was and what a miracle it was that more didn't die. This book also gives us a good picture of what medicine was like 200 hundred years ago and makes one greatful for the advancements in medicine we have today. I really enjoyed how Julia delved into the past to find out who Rose was, putting a person and a life with a name and Julia's search to find out who the bones in her backyard had once been.
Rated by buyers -
Bone Garden by Tess Gerrittsen has an interesting premise. Julia Hamill, recently divorced, has recently purchased an old house. While digging around in the yard trying to plant a garden, she comes across some old bones. Intrigued by who the house belongs too, she looks into the previous owner and discovers that the previous owner had kept 30 boxes of old documents and newspaper clippings. Julia visits Henry, a cousin of the deceased homeowner, and together they research the history of the family.
That's the set up. Most of the novel takes place in the 1830s and is about Rose Connelly. Rose is an immigrant who just watched her sister die after giving birth. Rose takes the baby and vows to never let anything happen to the baby. Rose is being pursued by Eben Tate, her brother-in-law. Rose has other problems. She was a witness to a murder by the West-Side Reaper. As more nurses are killed by the Reaper, Rose fears that her neice is at the center of it all. Rose, poor and homeless, struggles to find a home for the baby while finding the truth about the reaper, and other sins that high society might be hiding.
Norris Marshall is a farm boy going to medical school in Boston. Marshall is also witness to the murders in which two school nurses are killed. Marshall struggles to fit in with the upper class students, but does find a friend in Oliver Wendell Holmes.
I've read Body Double and Vanish by Gerritsen, and this book is nothing like those. Despite what the book summary says, all of the suspense and action takes place in the 1830s. And there isn't much suspense. There are too many relationships and character brooding going on for a suspense novel. If you are prepared for this, then you should enjoy the historical aspects of the novel. Gerritsen gets a lot of the 1830s time period right, but she doesn't completely nail it. I always got the impression that the characters in the novel were the only people living in Boston. Still, it kept me listening on the audio book I had. Fans of Gerritsen should enjoy this thriller, even though it doesn't include her main characters Iles or Risotti (I think those are their names). This isn't one of her best, but is still a good story.
Rated by buyers 
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I found myself skimming over many pages, especially those with "Norrie" and Rose, to get on with the main thrust of the book - an historical who-dun-it. Rose's plight was established and then dwelt on over and over, as if the reader hadn't already gotten the idea! It's a 370 pge hardcover edition that could be cut by 100 pages.
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