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Reviewed by Susan Sewell for Readers' Favorite
The Skeleton Friend by R.C. Johansen is a unique and fascinating crime mystery and forensic thriller. Meredith Carlyle, or Carly to her friends, is an EMT and she is having a bad day. Her day starts with a shooting. In the midst of the gunfire, Carly leaves her position in the ambulance to help a woman who has been shot. Even though Carly saved the woman's life, she didn't follow protocol. Now she is suspended, and there is an investigation pending in regards to her actions. Carly leaves the station, knowing she no longer has a job. Feeling down, Carly stops at a bar and, although she never drinks, she orders a whiskey. While walking home, the effects of the strong liquor hit her. To regain her equilibrium, she stops at a bridge to catch her breath. The smell of something rotting reaches her and makes her feel nauseous. She walks off the path beside the bridge and vomits into the bushes. Some kids playing on the bridge scream and in her inebriated and stressed out state, Carly is startled. She slides down into the bushes and lands on a decomposing body. When she discovers the body, something clicks within Carly. She becomes obsessed with finding the identity of the skeleton. The head is missing, she doesn't have a degree in forensics, but Carly doesn't let either of those details deter her. Carly's stubborn single-mindedness places her in the path of a desperate and dangerous murderer, but nothing and no one will prevent her from reaching her goal.
If you like forensic thrillers, then you'll love The Skeleton Friend by R.C. Johnson. It is a fascinating and intriguing book! It is rather slow to get into at first, but it begins to pick up the pace and crescendos to a very satisfactory conclusion. Carly's character tells the story in first person. Her introspection reveals that she is a strong person with a lot of personal issues that she is working through. You catch fleeting glimpses of Carly's history, giving you an inside look into her character. Carly herself is a mystery and these glimpses tease you, leaving you curious about her past. I can't wait to read more about Carly and her forensic investigating! If you liked Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan, then The Skeleton Friend is right up your alley!
