The Book:
The Family Bones by Elle Marr
Published March 7, 2023 by Thomas & Mercer
Date read: March 12, 2023
The Family Bones spoilers can be found below, but they’re hidden under a spoiler tag so you’re safe to keep scrolling if you’d just like to read my review.
The Characters:
Olivia
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The Plot (from Goodreads):
What makes a psychopath? A young woman delves into her family’s shadowy legacy.
Psychology student Olivia Eriksen’s family is notorious among true-crime buffs. Faced with a legacy of psychopathy that spans generations, Olivia has spent much of her academic life trying to answer one chilling question: Nature or nurture?
Although she’s kept a safe distance from her blood relatives for years, Olivia agrees to attend a weekend reunion. After all, her fiancé is eager to meet his future in-laws, and the gathering may give her a chance to interview her elusive grandfather about the family traits.
But nothing is ever peaceful among the Eriksens for long. Olivia’s favorite cousin is found dead in a nearby lake. Then another family member disappears. As a violent storm isolates the group further, Olivia’s fears rise faster than the river.
And an uninvited guest is about to join the party. True-crime podcaster Birdie Tan has uncovered a disturbing mystery in her latest investigation―and she’s following it right to the Eriksens’ mountain resort. There’s a deadly twist in the family plot that even Olivia doesn’t see coming.
The Family Bones Spoilers
The Reveal:
The killer was Olivia’s cousin Rick, recently released from prison, who hadn’t been invited to the family reunion. He had come anyways and stuck to the woods around the resort, watching the family members. He had killed Albert and Uma. He was framing Olivia because he felt she was responsible for him going to prison.
Olivia was the child in the journal–the journal had belonged to her mother, Elise, not to Sasha. The journal details how Elise could tell that her baby was a psychopath, just like the rest of the family. Edgar had witnessed Olivia’s psychopathic tendencies as well. Elise decided to cut ties with the Eriksen family to try to raise Olivia normally.
At the previous family reunion, Olivia had tripped Sasha, who hit her head when she fell and died. Olivia charmed Rick into helping her hide the body. Rick left the reunion in a rush, which was why he had no money and had to rob the convenience store. He didn’t even have a gun on him, he just pretended. The clerk brought out the shotgun, and in a scuffle the clerk’s shotgun was the one that was discharged, but Rick was arrested anyways.
Olivia’s cousin Shane was just a convenient distraction from Rick, because Shane was indeed crazy. He had killed the elk, but Rick had convinced him to display it.
Birdie arrived at the resort, immediately found Sasha’s body, and then was captured by Shane, who brought her to Rick to decide what to do with her. Birdie managed to pepper spray Shane to get away from him. Someone had a gun and Shane was accidentally shot. (I don’t remember the details, but he fell down a hill and was later found alive by an EMT). Olivia fed Rick some hemlock which killed him. Edgar helped Olivia remember that she was a psychopath after all.
The Ending:
Howard breaks up with Olivia after the disaster of a weekend. Olivia decides to let herself be her true psychopath self.
I hope these The Family Bones spoilers were helpful!
The Review:
This was a fun family reunion thriller with a locked room/ Agatha Christie feel. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t one that stuck with me long term without help from the spoilers I wrote.
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