Publication Date: March 11, 2025
For Dash Fuller, Hollywood’s underbelly is home sweet home. He’s spent years helping to disappear the film industry’s worst secrets, and it’s left him a cynical burnout who loves bourbon a little too much. But when a young woman named Madeline Ironwood comes to him with a peculiar quest, Dash sees it as a chance for redemption.
Madeline is the daughter of Ken Ironwood, a notorious smuggler and murderer who disappeared 20 years ago. Ken’s skeleton was recently discovered in a barrel at the bottom of a dried-up lake, and Madeline wants to know who killed him.
Dash agrees to help, and as this desperate daughter and jaded cynic claw their way through a world of sun-bleached secrets, crooked cops, and Hollywood thugs, they soon uncover a massive conspiracy involving some of LA’s most powerful people.
Nick Kolakowski’s noir, Where the Bones Lie is receiving rave reviews from New York Times and award-winning authors and readers alike.
Loaded with action and suspense, based in Hollywood, this book is more mystery and suspense than cozy. The description states it’s an amateur sleuth/women sleuth mystery, which generally implies it’s cozy, but it was anything but.
The characters and plot were very complicated, which made keeping track a little difficult. However, the writing was exceptional, the characters believable, and the plot original.
This book is also gritty and, as the description states, “darkly funny,” with a twist you truly don’t see coming.
Conspiracies amongst Hollywood’s elite drive the plot of Where the Bones Lie, with an ending you don’t expect.
Nick Kolakowski is the author of several crime novels, including “Where the Bones Lie” and “Payback is Forever.” His work has been nominated for the Anthony and Derringer awards, and his short story “Scorpions” appeared in The Best Mystery and Suspense 2024. His short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, including Mystery Weekly, Shotgun Honey, Rock and a Hard Place Press, and more.
