No stranger to crime and detective fiction with the Jake Sawyer series, author Andrew Lowe now brings us a compelling new duo who couldn’t be more different. The procedural mystery The Whispering Bones introduces DCI Oswald Lennox and PC Olivia Blackwood, two Met officers at opposite ends of their careers. Blackwood is a young upstart looking to make a name for herself with great instincts but a habit of ruffling feathers. Lennox is a brilliant yet jaded detective, hamstrung by a personal loss and the occasional brain fade without explanation. This instantly has the ingredients to become a huge success.
Blackwood is tasked with shadowing Lennox after annoying those above her one too many times. Lennox, after some initial reservations, quickly comes to see her aptitude for puzzle solving.
Of course, no crime novel would work without a compelling mystery at its core. Thankfully, Lowe has crafted a mystery to confound even this duo with an ending few will see coming. The streets of North London are the hunting ground for a crazed killer who drains victims of their blood and leaves corpses surrounded by small animal bones. What is the significance of this ritual-like act? The sequences from the killer’s perspective are genuinely chilling…
Having contrasting characters is not always a recipe for success, but both Lennox and Blackwood are so well-rounded characters they are instantly likeable, but for different reasons. The coffee-obsessed Lennox seems calmer but no less driven, and Blackwood who is out to prove herself. There’s more to her than meets the eye.
With at least two more planned instalments in this series, there will be plenty more opportunities to dive into the characters’ psyches, but this does what all first entries in a series should do and gives us reason to like the characters and start to understand the darkness that blights both their lives. Blackwood’s ADHD is handled delicately, crucial to her development but never a distraction; Lennox’s memory issues are also vital and look set to be key in the following books. The supporting cast is also well drawn, with room to expand the roster in the coming books.
This is a fast-paced thriller, but never so fast that we lose the sense of pacing; we still have room to breathe and for the plot to develop organically. There are touches of humour throughout to offset some of the more macabre passages. The case and our introduction to the characters allow ample room for things to play out. Character development is never sacrificed for a cheap thrill; the buildup and payoff feel genuinely earned.
Lowe is a dab hand, having honed his craft with prior novels. Even if you’re not familiar with the Jake Sawyer books, which was the case for me, fans of detective fiction of all sorts will find plenty to admire here. It really whets the appetite for The Vanishing Room, due out in hardback later in 2026. Even if it doesn’t radically reinvent the crime fiction wheel, this is a real page turner with all the ingredients many love about the genre.
It is easy to picture The Whispering Bones making a smooth transition to the screen should producers come a calling. The compelling characters and plot would make for a dream TV adaptation, but even if there isn’t a smash hit BBC or ITV show in the offing, there is much to enjoy in the pages of this novel.
Read our interview with the author here.
Vinci Books
Paperback
£9.99
CFL Rating: 4 Stars
