Ok, so … this is the third in a series of which I hadn’t read the previous two books. It’s easily read as a standalone but I need to say off the bat that although this is the case, and the author does a good job of filling the reader in on the backstory, this does impede on the pace of the plot slightly. Don’t get me wrong … it didn’t put me off at all, but I just felt like I kept stopping because someone was whispering in my ear to tell me something I needed to know.
What the book’s about: Art student, Aiden Blake, witnesses a gruesome attack on the London towpath, next to his houseboat. The police need him to identify the assailant without delay. But there’s a problem: he’s refusing to leave his canal boat and is traumatised by the shock. Aiden is rendered mute by the horror of the event and is unable to speak to anyone.
In a desperate bid to gain vital information before Aiden’s memories fade, The Met call in Clinical Psychologist and trauma expert, Dr Samantha Willerby, giving her only seven days to get a result. When Aiden finally starts to communicate through his art, however, the images he produces are not what anyone expects and before Sam can make sense of them, another murder takes place.
With her professional skills stretched to the limit and the clock ticking, Sam strives to track down a killer who is as clever as she is – someone who always manages to stay one step ahead.
Sam actually gets duped into working on this case, and feels that she’s been brought in under false pretenses in the beginning – especially as she was meant to be on her first holiday in ages, together with her sister. But it’s immediately apparent that this is where she’s meant to be, and her sister is directly connected to the victim, so any ideas of sunshine and cocktails on sunloungers are immediately forgotten as Sam gets down to the task at hand.
We learn (if we don’t already know from reading the first two books) that Miranda, Sam’s older sister, has deep-seated psychological issues of her own and that Sam’s sense of responsibility to the case and her sister’s proximity to it are bound to become more than just professional. In fact, I felt that Sam herself didn’t seem to have much of a sense of self at all with her all-consuming responsibility to everyone else: her sister, the victims of whoever was perpetrating these brutal attacks, and Aiden, who’s displaying increasingly disturbing behaviour. I couldn’t really get a grasp of who Sam is – but maybe this is to be revealed slowly in future books, which would certainly be a great idea!
I would describe this more as a psychological police procedural more than a psychological thriller. It leans more on the investigative side and looks into the in-depth workings of the psyche and emotional backgrounds which I found really interesting. I’m wavering between 3.5 and 4 stars for this one. It’s highly readable, and I’d definitely get excited if I heard there was another Dr Sam Willerby book coming out!
Author Bio: AJ Waines is a number one bestselling author, topping the entire UK and Australian Kindle Charts in two consecutive years, with Girl on a Train. Following fifteen years as a psychotherapist, the author has sold nearly half a million copies of her books, with publishing deals in UK, France, Germany, Norway, Hungary and Canada (audio books).
Her fourth psychological thriller, No Longer Safe, sold over 30,000 copies in the first month, in thirteen countries. AJ Waines has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and The Times and has been ranked a Top 10 UK author on Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).
She lives in Hampshire, UK, with her husband. Find her books here and visit her website and blog, or join her on Twitter, Facebook or on her Newsletter.
Social Media Links
Pay attention here because I think it’s seriously brilliant to see an author with such a well established social media footprint! I am well impressed!:
All Books: http://viewauthor.at/AJWaines
Website www.ajwaines.co.uk
Newsletter http://eepurl.com/bamGuL
Blog: www.awaines.blogspot.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AJWaines
Twitter: www.twitter.com/AJWaines @AJWaines
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/AJWaines
Instagram: www.instagram.com/ajwaines
Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/authors/a-j-waines
Thank you to the lovely Emma Welton and Bloodhound Books for inviting me along on the Blog Tour. Go and see what others are saying about Perfect Bones …
Jan's Book Buzz 
Lovely review… I liked the book 1 in this series. I didn’t like book much… I downloaded this book. Hope I like it… You review was perfect…
I wish AJ Waines would write more standalones
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Thanks for the feedback. I liked the writing – I’d like to go and read the first 2 books when I get the chance, and as I said, would definitely read further books from this author.
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