Bone Valley, Gilbert King
Bone Valley, Gilbert King
List: $32.99 | Sale: $23.10
Club: $16.49

Bone Valley
A True Story of Injustice and Redemption in the Heart of Florida

Author: Gilbert King

Narrator: Gilbert King

Unabridged: 14 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/07/2025


Synopsis

From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gilbert King comes a chilling exploration of one of America’s most haunting wrongful conviction cases. Based on the hit podcast, Bone Valley dives into the dark heart of rural Florida, where a young man’s life was upended by a tragic miscarriage of justice.

This program is read by the author and contains interviews (some previously unheard) and audio from the Bone Valley podcast by Lava for Good, plus a bonus conversation with Gilbert King and Leo Schofield.

In 1987, Leo Schofield was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, Michelle. Always insistent on his innocence, he was poorly served by his legal defense: The investigation was sloppy, the case flimsy, and numerous pieces of evidence were ignored. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Over thirty years later, Gilbert King is tipped off to Leo’s case and is astonished by what he found: layers of corruption, flawed evidence, and deep-seated errors. He can’t shake the story and starts to get to know Leo and his family. Leo shows an incomprehensible amount of grace and love about his situation, which spurs Gilbert even more to tell his story.

Bone Valley is at once a revelatory investigation into a murder, a chilling portrait of the criminal justice system, and a uniquely powerful story of grace and redemption. Gilbert King has written a new classic of narrative nonfiction.

“Captivating, enraging, and all too true.” —Bob Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road

“Bone Valley is a work of rare moral clarity and deep compassion.” ―Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

Podcast: ℗ and © Lava Productions, LLC 2022

About Gilbert King

Gilbert King is the writer, producer, and host of Bone Valley, a narrative podcast about murder and injustice in 1980s central Florida, from Lava For Good podcasts. He is the author of three books, including Devil in the Grove, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. A New York Times bestseller, the book was also named runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. King has written about race, civil rights, and the death penalty for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic, and he was a 2019-2020 fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars at the New York Public Library. He lives in Brooklyn.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brendan on August 23, 2025

Leo Schofield is somehow both the unluckiest and luckiest man I have ever heard of. Let's do a quick rundown: Unlucky: 1. His wife, Michelle, is murdered 2. He is convicted of the murder 3. He is actually innocent 4. The state of Florida doesn't care Lucky: 1. He isn't executed by Florida (and Florida love......more

Goodreads review by Heather~ Nature.books.and.coffee on October 12, 2025

The first book I've ever read/listened to by Gilbert King, and now I want to read them all. I'm a huge true crime junkie and this one was really fascinating!! I had actually never heard of the Leo Schofield case. The injustice is shocking and mind blowing. In this book, King goes into detail about L......more

Goodreads review by Deanna (she_reads_truth_365) on October 10, 2025

How far will a legal system and people go to get a conviction?! This question is at the heart of this story. A true story. This book was fantastic on audio. Filled with snippets of interview clips. I felt like I was listening to a podcast. Indeed, Bone Valley first started off as a podcast and now ha......more

Goodreads review by Darcia on October 13, 2025

True crime books can sometimes feel exploitative and a bit icky, like we’re being entertained at the victims’ expense. Then there are books like BONE VALLEY, which is careful, compassionate, engaging, and a powerful examination of our flawed justice system. Leo Schofield’s case goes far beyond a wron......more

Goodreads review by Kim on August 29, 2025

A retired judge asks a true crime podcaster/journalist to help get a man, who he believes is innocent, released from prison. For over 30 years Leo Scholfield had been sitting in a Florida prison convicted of killing his wife. In all that time he had never wavered from maintaining his innocence. What......more


Quotes

“You won’t read any thriller this year as spellbinding as Bone Valley. It’s captivating, enraging, and all too true—and its astounding conclusion will leave you in tears” —Bob Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road and Lost Girls

Bone Valley is a work of rare moral clarity and deep compassion. Gilbert King’s investigation reveals not only a grievous injustice, but the grace that can emerge when truth is pursued with empathy and integrity. In the spirit of Just Mercy and Dead Man Walking, this story reminds us that true justice requires more than facts—it requires heart. I urge you to read it.” —Sister Helen Prejean, bestselling author of Dead Man Walking

“With depth, humility, and an open, timid understanding of its inadequacy within the legal system, this orientation of King’s reporting grants human gravitas to the mind-blowing frustrations of procedural technicalities. Both infuriating and hopeful, a story about the ultimate integrity of truth.” —Kirkus


Awards

  • Washington Post Best Books of the Year