Five-Star Review - A Body To Bones

 

Top reviews from the United States

Michael P. Hartnett

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Gothic of Charming Complexities

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2021

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Donan Berg’s A Body To Bones offers an enthralling mystery that is evocatively embedded in middle-American small town life of the 1960s. Berg’s ability to draw the reader completely into this Iowa town, using the Tom Hamilton’s local newspaper as both the historical and social heartbeat of community, makes this novel stand out from most in the genre.
Yes, the presence of hidden bones in a factory provide intrigue that will carry the reader through the deftly crafted plot, but it is the immersion in the small-town of fifty years ago that makes the work such a pleasure. Berg knows how to develop characters. The shady lawyer George Windhurst is folksy hoot, constantly cajoling Tom and others in ways that can be alternately effective and incompetent. Myron is also memorable, a young dreamer who is navigating both the careful construction of a glider and a wholesome romance with Wanda. And Wanda is another live wire, whom Berg described, “She lives at home to save money for her dreams, not yet completely defined, which include stylish clothes.”
The village gossip and the expanding discoveries about the bones give the novel other layers of intrigue, as does a lurid history connected to the priest Father Cornelius Murphy. While Tom’s wife Sarah (with her reticence and her secrets) certainly is the emotional and moral locus of the novel, so many other characters contribute both curious theories and discoveries. Indeed, A Body To Bones is American Gothic as an entertaining ensemble play.
As a local resident explained about the increasingly disturbing revelations, “It’s been too gruesome around here lately. All the black humor.” Such is the nature of a novel that will grippingly propel forward right through to its satisfying conclusion. So I highly recommend you pick up A Body To Bones as much for the neighbors you get to visit as for the mystery they have to solve.

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"A Body To Bones" Book Reviews

A Body To Bones, First Skeleton Series Mystery Author Donan Berg Review Number One: By E. Harris (Reader) 6/25/2018 Ten years ago Sarah Hamilton made a mistake. Never far from her mind were the reminders of the consequences. Not wanting to dwell on the past, she tried to look towards the future. This was not to be when an investigation into recently found skeletal remains threatens not only her secrets, but her safety as well. Will she survive the turmoil? The author has crafted an intriguing and suspenseful mystery novel. The tension builds slowly and keeps the reader engrossed throughout. When least expected, the narrative takes unexpected twists and turns. The well-drawn characters are an interesting group as are their roles in the story. I found this to be a well written and engrossing novel. Highly recommended. I received a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed are my own. Review Number Two: By Laura H. (Reader) 5/8/2018
The meticulous and lengthy descriptions of the characters in this story are an integral piece of recognizing the clues. The masterful way Berg entwined them into the story shows the extent of his creativity, imagination, and depth of writing. As a debut novel, this book deserves the praise it has received. If this publication is any indication, this writer has a prolific career ahead as a novelist. The twisting and turning storyline keeps the reader enthralled and wondering 'who done it' and 'why' to the end. What this reader supposed happened and why--was way off! The reader quickly becomes invested in the character's lives as horrific findings are unveiled. The complex secrets, lives changed, and Sarah's role--brings the town and its events into focus. Sarah's difficult decisions and finally confrontation with the past are written beautifully. The book highlights how incredibly complicated a police investigation is and how the simplest observation, say: a key, can change the future of an entire town. This reader is looking forward to reading the next novel in this series. One can hope it is as well-written and engaging as this one. Also a big plus is the price is reasonable.  Review Number Three By Glenda Bixler (07/2018) Reading the Prologue of Berg's first book certainly will grab readers and have them continue to learn what happens! Ten years has passed for Sarah Hamilton with a burden hanging over her... Clearly she had not yet felt God's forgiveness for her act... I have often thought that God sees our contrite heart and forgives us long before we are able to fully accept that... Then, too, what of the man who had been involved? Had he even thought to seek forgiveness, especially when we later learn, that Sarah was not the only woman with whom he had been involved... The small-town intrigue and gossip is alive and well in Clinton... The morality of the characters in the novel plays an important part as, ten years later, a body is found...or should I say, bones of a body... For this skeleton had missing bones that soon became part of the mystery... There was mystery in town this past week as every citizen wondered about the disappearance of Father Cornelius Murphy, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church of Clinton. ~~~ But before then, we learn more about the lives in Clinton a small town, of less than 900...for, of course, each is known and involved in some way in those events that the Pioneer Ledger shares to its readers once a week. Sarah and her husband are well-known and respected, and involved with local church activities. Sarah Hamilton is married to the editor/owner. One of those moral issues she has suffered under was her mother's dictates of how a Christian woman should act. One definitely was that she should take care of the home and not work outside it. But the Hamiltons actually lived in the building where the newspaper was created and printed... and her husband really did need her help. So, while agreeing to help with the paper, once more she buried her personal feelings of guilt and sense of doing something wrong... I had great sympathy for this woman living very much like I did in a small town... Throughout the story, the Hamiltons, not only because of their news-gathering activities, remain involved...We soon learn that there had been two disappearances around the mid-50s... One of them was the wife of the neighbor of the Hamiltons, who also owned a large warehouse in which the bones were later found. The other was the disappearance of a local priest... The officials, including local and federal, do an excellent job in pulling the investigation together and the created characters add greatly to the enjoyment of the hunt for whodunit! And the possible villains, including even Sarah, are explored as we learn more about the bodies, keeping us guessing. My intuition was right again, but the author keeps readers on the edge until almost the end of the book, as Sarah faces danger from the killer! I was pleased how the author allowed our main character's family to come together after all that had happened and we find a quite satisfactory ending after more than a decade of hidden secrets... A solid whodunit mystery that I highly recommend! GABixlerReviews (End of Reviews) Read this and other reviews of Author Donan Berg novels at Author Donan Berg Website . In addition, Author Berg's most popular story, "Inspiration" and most popular article "Aisle Two Romance, Chapter One" are both at the above website. Also see earlier post of "Inspiration" that appears on this blog. Thank you to E. Harris, Laura H., and G. Bixler and other readers for your continued strong support.

Writing Analysis - The Bones Dance Foxtrot

Statistical fiction writing analysis is a fun exercise.

How the results are interpreted becomes a writer's individual journey.
A dash of faith is required to accept the topic ranges as fair or supported
by empirical data.

I submitted The Bones Dance Foxtrot, Second Skeleton Series Mystery.
It's a novel available in trade paperback and e-book worldwide,
free on Amazon's KindleUnlimited. Author Donan Berg Amazon Page

Here is what was determined by the word analysis.

Generic words 2.15%  (Less than acceptable range, which should be good.)

Flesch Kincaid Grade 5.73 (Reads at sixth grade level.)

Adverbs 5.19%  (Less than acceptable range, which should be good.)

Passive sentences 4.37% (At range bottom.)

Adjectives 6.24% (Within range.)

Sentence length 9.47 words. (At range's lower end.)

Initial pronouns 2.07% (At range's lower end.)

Difficult sentences 19.79% (At range middle.)

Best genre is mystery/detective/police procedural. (44.69% )

To forge a conclusion from the above results adds further subjectivity.
The novel's length is approximately 86,000 words. Lower than the acceptable
range of generic words suggests the words written were specific. This may account
for the mid-range sentence difficulty, however, the sixth grade comprehension
level indicates readability wasn't hindered, nor was it a PhD dissertation.

Perhaps, the short sentence length coupled with active sentences (i.e., a low
number of passive sentences) mitigated the difficult sentences effect? The low
number of initial sentence pronouns supports sentence variety.

Authors should remember that the typical reader doesn't parse sentences or
count words. He or she reads. If the author makes the story interesting and easy,
the more read the work will be.

New 2015 A Body To Bones novel reviews at Amazon.com

Four new 2015 reviews for Donan Berg's A Body To Bones, First Skeleton Series Mystery, have been posted at Amazon.com. One was quoted in its entirety by this blog on April 1, 2015. The first one below is the one reproduced earlier. Snippets of three others follow. You are invited to read all in full at Amazon.com.

Karsun, April 1, 2015:

"A Body To Bones by Donan Berg . . . immediately drew me in.

"I loved this from the start . . ."

Grady Harp, March 15, 2015:

"Donan writes with the skill of a practiced artist, retaining some of the special Irish flavor that flows in his system. He creates characters about whom we care and with whom we can easily identify despite the rigor of mystery that surrounds them. His use of his little town newspaper headlines and stories adds a clever and credible aspect to his writing.

"Donan has his pen so polished that he leaves us with the need to read more of his work. He is a find."

bertiejf, April 14, 2015:

"I enjoy a good mystery and this is a good mystery.

"This is a good story well paced with some very good twists."

Joy Fox, April 18, 2015:

"If you enjoy mysteries, this book if for you.

"This is a well-crafted book, with likeable characters and a well thought out plot."