The Bone Garden

Julia is digging in her garden when she uncovers a human skull belonging to a woman which, according to medical examiner Maura Isles, is over a century old. he story goes back to the 1830s; a Boston teaching hospital where dirty-handed doctors spread infection, and where labouring mothers are crammed two-a-bed on sheets encrusted with the foul discharges of those dead before them and a medical student who is forced to perform the most disgusting and secretive job of all. orris is a body-snatcher, procuring cadavers from grave robbers in order to further his study of human anatomy, aided in his pursuit of knowledge by a fellow student, Oliver Wendell Holmes. Together they hunt down the most notorious killer of their time, a shadowy figure whom they track through graveyards and autopsy suites, glittering ball rooms and the luxurious drawing rooms of Boston. What neither of them realises is that the killer is far closer than they think. oven into this story is Julia's narrative. With Maura's help, she works to uncover a century-old secret that proves more shocking than she can imagine.