The Bone Mother, by Suzy Aspley (Orenda, £9.99)
Two years on from her debut, Crow Moon, the second Martha Strangeways book confirms that what we can expect from this series is murder mysteries with supernatural overtones. Crow Moon dealt with a death apparently brought about by a moonlit ritual that went awry. The Bone Mother also flirts with the uncanny, always providing real-world explanations but still leaving the door open for the possibility that there might be something more than is dreamt of in our philosophy.
A woman’s severed ear is found on a railway line near Ben Cruachan, adorned with a hammer-shaped earring symbolic of the witch-goddess Cailleach. The body of the unfortunate victim turns up a few days later, ritualistically posed on a gravestone. This gets the attention of investigative journalist Martha Strangeways, mainly because her heavily pregnant friend and neighbour Orla had let the woman, Emma, stay at her house for a few days before setting off on a hike, having met her through a Facebook group called Sofa Sistas.
The group was set up to encourage women to go on a pilgrimage trail called the Cailleach Way, leading to a shrine dedicated to the goddess, and to post updates on their progress. It’s also intended to raise awareness of how the valley where the shrine resides will be flooded if plans go ahead for a hydroelectric power development – headed, ironically, by a man named Wilding. Those who volunteer to hike the trail are sent a piece of Cailleach-themed jewellery by the group’s founder, like the one found on Emma’s ear. So when a disembodied hand is found, again on a railway line, it starts to look as if this Facebook group might exist purely to lure women into remote areas where they will be easy prey.
Emma’s earring reawakens Martha’s memories of reporting in Bosnia in the ‘90s and meeting probably the world’s only forensic pathologist of jewellery, who now lives in Scotland and could advise on the case. She’s also on good terms with DI Derek Summers, who doesn’t mind passing her information or letting her contribute to the investigation, as long as it doesn’t conflict with police procedure – which it usually does, the tenacious journalist’s leads not always being the kind that would be admissible in a courtroom.
But as well as having contacts and a good relationship with the police, Martha’s also the type of reporter who blurs the distinction between pursuing a story and wading knee-deep into it. Having lost her twin sons in a fire some years earlier, the deeply compassionate and motivated Martha needs no prompting to take to the road herself to prevent another young woman suffering a grisly fate.
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The Bone Mother is an easy book to while away a few hours with. Aspley writes visually evocative prose, conjuring up the wilds of the southern Highlands with ease and imbuing them with a sinister presence. Her knack for solid characterisation shines through in Martha’s slightly awkward but mutually respectful relationship with DI Summers and in characters as diverse as hydroelectric CEO Adam Wilding, his rebellious 18-year-old daughter Sophie and poor pregnant Orla back in Strathbran, whose suspicions that she’s being watched are dismissed by Martha as just her hormones going into overdrive.
With poor mobile phone coverage and failing batteries ratcheting up the tension, all lines converge on an ancient stone shrine in a remote valley where a malevolent plan is about to come to fruition. Strong on characterisation, atmosphere and storytelling, it’s a novel that sprints along with justifiable confidence.
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