The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly - Book Review

The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly

Genre: Family Drama 

3.7 Stars

One Liner: Interesting but could have been much better

Nell arrives at her family home to celebrate the fifth anniversary of her father’s famous book, The Golden Bones. The book has become a cult favorite and eventually put Nell in danger. She still spends her life like a nomadic traveler. After all, the Bonehunters are still actively searching for the missing bone to revive Eleanor (from the book). 

Frank Churcher, the author of The Golden Bone, is all set to reveal the location of the missing bone and launch the mobile app version of the puzzle. However, he unleashes the buried past on everyone in the Churcher and Lally family. 

With secrets coming out one after another and threats mounting pile high, Nell has to choose between family, her life, and doing what’s right. 

My Observations: 

I’m glad I read it as a family drama rather than a mystery. I expected the story to be centered on the dysfunctional family and wasn’t disappointed (thanks to my brain that forgot the blurb). 

The overall premise is excellent, and some scenes are very well-written. But the book feels a little heavy with many things happening and the constant shift between past and present. 

The pacing is slow and uneven. The story has a loop within a loop that keeps the reader going in circles. It doesn’t help that the book is 500+ pages long (something I missed when I requested the ARC). 

There are multiple POVs in different timelines. While I’m used to this, the ARC I had didn’t have proper formatting. It was hard to know which POV belonged to which character. The saving grace was that except for Nell’s first-person POV, the others are in the limited third-person. 

The middle of the book was info heavy. Though it revealed more information, the process was laborious and long-winded. Sometimes, ‘telling’ works better. The book would have worked much better if it was 70-100 pages shorter. 

The last 15% to 20% left me with mixed feelings. In fact, I should say it made me dislike Nell when I should have been supporting her. None of the characters were likable except Billie, but that wasn’t an issue. There weren’t supposed to be liked anyway. 

What annoyed me was Nell’s holier-than-thou attitude in the climax. What Frank did was a greater crime than murder, in my books. I give this one 4 stars (despite my rants or because of them) for the ending. 

I like how the book ended. Some families are clearly not meant to be together, and the author worked the plot to reach this stage. Nell’s actions gave the story the ending it needed. I dislike her character, but I like the story and its closure. 

The epilogue is a master touch. It confirms my assessments of the characters. It actually makes me feel justified for siding with the family, lol. A definite plus. 

To Summarize, The Skeleton Key is a cleverly plotted novel about unlikeable characters, dysfunctional families, and human fallacies. It would have worked a lot better if the plot was presented with more precision in fewer pages. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

#NetGalley #TheSkeletonKey