Featured debut author: Debbie Howells - The Bones Of You

[EmilyMumsnet]

Our latest featured debut author is Debbie Howells, with her gripping new thriller, The Bones Of You.

When eighteen-year-old Rosie Anderson disappears, the idyllic village where she lived will never be the same again. Local gardener Kate is struck with guilt. She'd come to know Rosie well, and thought she understood her - perhaps better even than Rosie's own mother.

Kate is convinced the police are missing something. She's certain that someone in the village knows more than they're letting on. As the investigation deepens, so does Kate's obsession with solving the mystery of what happened to Rosie.

This giveaway is now closed, but we're very pleased to offer this 40% off voucher exclusively to Mumsnetters. Scroll to the bottom of the book page to download the voucher, which is valid in WH Smiths until 29 July.

You can also read an exclusive extract of the book here.

Before embarking on her publishing adventure, Debbie worked as a florist in rural Sussex. Check out her top 10 writing and publication tips for aspiring authors here.

This giveaway is sponsored by Pan Macmillan

Thank you for my copy, I loved it! I got in to the book straight away and it had me guessing right to the end :-) It was really easy to read and the author's passions about animals and plants really come through for me. Thanks so much, I will definitely pass it on to a friend :-)

I so enjoyed this too. I was gripped from the start and really puzzling it out in my head. It was a bit dark for my taste as it progressed - I never like reading anything about abuse as it upsets ME. However this book kept me reading. Well done to the author on a great first novel.

I hate to be the lone voice, but I am not enjoying it that much at all. I'm half way through & I don't think she writes well & I loathe the interspersed chapters from the dead girl (& the fact that they are in a different typeface). I reckon I've already worked out 'who dunnit' & am v tempted to skip to the end & save some time for other things.

I really don't feel any connection or empathy to any of the characters & feel as if the author has jumped on a band wagon of 'GOne Girl' type of fiction.

I spent most of my working life in horticulture & don't really see a passion for gardening/plants coming through.

But, many, many thanks for a free copy.

Many thanks Mumsnet/Pan Macmillan for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
Story told in an interesting way from the perspectives of Kate and missing Rosie. A good thriller with plot & mystery that goes along at a steady pace and the suspicion falls on enough characters to keep you guessing. Quite subtle and for me a bit of a slow starter but it certainly held my interest and with enough twists and turns that kept me engaged. Possible tv film in it?
Overall a great debut novel - and I look forward to reading more in the future.

Thanks for my review copy. I'm afraid I'm also in a bit of a minority though - I found this book quite slow and I couldnt connect with any of the characters, including the narrator. I couldnt quite fathom her relationship with Rosie and her family either - it wasnt clear why she felt such a connection to Rosie. Plot device of the friend who was a journalist was irritating as well, and I guessed whodunnit quite early on. Found myself skipping pages just to get to the end. So,sorry, but not my cup of tea.....

(I bought this myself as opposed to receiving the free copy). I thought this book was a brilliant read: I flew through it as I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Lots of interesting characters and dark secrets... I thoroughly recommend it. I read it immediately after 'The girls' by Lisa Jewell and I thought it was a similar style of book to that one, and equally as good. Am now reading 'Black Rabbit Hall' which also seems promising - this is a good summer for books!

Thank you so much for the book. I enjoyed it, thought it was well written. I read it very quickly as was very good at keeping your interest. I wanted to know what happened next and was interested in the characters. Would definitely read more of her work.

I found this to be the type of book I would enjoy reading on holiday, more to it than chicklit but not too heavy. I began the book without great expectations as the beginning seemed, initially, very reminiscent of The Lovely Bones but, as the story gathered pace, it became more interesting.

I did find it a bit irritating to have the peripheral characters of extra friends and the victim's boyfriend, who did not seem to "flesh out" so they seemed to be there just to get plot points across. On the other hand I found the characters of Rosie and Delphine intriguing, they seemed very "pale" and hidden from us, which was a clever portrayal of the effects of abuse on them

I thought it was very obvious that the first suspect was a red herring and enjoyed seeing the suspicion shift although I spotted the murderer fairly quickly. It was interesting seeing the murderer unravel and I thought the most interesting twist in the book was that the friendship between two of the main characters was very real to one of them who genuinely cared and tried to support yet it was just a matter of convenience to the other who, in truth, despised her.

Thank you for sending this book. I enjoyed it and found I thought about it more as I knew I would be writing this.

Thanks Mumsnet/Pan for my free copy of The Bones of You.

When I first started reading I thought it was going to go down the usual route of Joanna Trollope-esque plot i.e tortured family relationships that eventually come good.
However it obviously became a thriller very quickly.

Can't say I enjoyed the story that much but couldn't seem to put the book down. Unlike others I didn't correctly guess the murderer until much later in the book.

Tbh I thought it overly long and found myself skip reading 'real life' sections to get to Rosie's narrative.

Too many peripheral characters (what was point of 'Laura'?) and sub plots. The marital issues between Angus and Kate didn't seem well formed although I appreciate it was a device to compare against Jo and Neal's relationship.

Small but critical things annoyed me. Surely fingerprints would have been taken at the murder scene? What about a post mortem when the pregnancy would have been confirmed and obviously Neal would have been told (can't recall if he ever knew that it was actually Rosie who was pregnant?).

All very Gone Girl but an interesting way to pass a couple of evenings
Thanks again!

I have finished this now and enjoyed it.

It was a very quick read, and I liked the way it skipped between Kate and Rosie.

I thought it was a bit odd that everyone seemed to forget about Delphine. It was almost like she was added in a bit later and the earlier chapters weren't updated to include her.

I would have expected that someone would ask about Delphine earlier. Rosie is missing. Oh no, does Delphine know where she might be? or Rosie is missing? How is Delphine coping?

But I enjoyed the story and it was interesting to see how the truth was slowly revealed (even though I guessed).

Thank you again for my copy.

Thank you for my copy first of all.

I have to admit, I was looking forward to reading this book.
I was disappointed though. It felt familiar, like the feeling you get when you've read a book before. I haven't of course, but I think the theme seemed borrowed.

I didn't enjoy the flow of the book either, the swapping between Rosie's thoughts and real time.

I got bored in the middle and would've skipped to the end but felt I had to give a proper opinion.
More time should've been given to flesh out Delphines character too.

I am starting my copy today and will report back!

I did quite enjoy this but did think it was a bit repetitive and padded out. It became fairly obvious what the outcome would be about two thirds of the way through, if not earlier. "All is not what it seems" was the rather overplayed theme across the board with this book and there was nothing very surprising about it.