The Bone Queen, Will Shindler
The Bone Queen, Will Shindler
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The Bone Queen
A Novel

Author: Will Shindler

Narrator: Tamsin Kennard

Unabridged: 7 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/03/2026


Synopsis

A chilling horror-thriller debut where a mother's search for her missing daughter battles against the shadows of a historic, dangerous legend.

Single mother Jenna arrives on the tranquil shores of Athelsea fueled by the desperate hope to find Chloe, her teenage daughter who’s disappeared from their London home. She has no idea why–all she knows is that Chloe had changed in the previous two weeks, haunted by something, or someone, and the ferry ticket here is the only clue she has.

As she explores the village and interacts with the locals, Jenna soon realizes a macabre secret is being hidden in plain sight. A dark legend of a vengeful woman called the Bone Queen is spoken of in hushed tones amongst the villagers, some of whom are frantically trying to suppress the tale that has long terrorized their lives.

As Jenna starts to learn more about the Bone Queen and her previous victims, the village’s grip on reality begins to loosen and no one can say for sure who, or what, is responsible for the deaths and disappearances on Athelsea. Suffering from what she can no longer distinguish between paranoid hallucinations or real manifestations, Jenna must act quickly before Chloe is next…

The Bone Queen has left her mark, and one day she’ll collect.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

About Will Shindler

WILL SHINDLER has spent most of his career working as a broadcast journalist for the BBC. He also spent nearly a decade working on a number of British television dramas, working for both the BBC Drama Series Department, and Talkback Thames Television as a writer and script editor. He has been writing novels since 2020, including the five-book critically acclaimed DI Alex Finn series: The Burning Men, The Killing Choice, The Hunting Ground, The Blood Line and The Cold Case. The Bone Queen is his first novel for Minotaur Books in the US. He currently combines reading news bulletins for BBC Radio London with his novel writing and has previously worked as a presenter for ITV West, a reporter for BBC Radio Five Live, and as one of the stadium presenters at the 2012 London Olympics. He lives in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on May 23, 2025

This spine-tingling, eerie, and absolutely horrifying debut is a knockout start—one that’ll have you sleeping with the lights on, whispering a prayer that the Bone Queen doesn’t mark you next. Blood for blood, she demands. At its heart, this is a chilling story wrapped around a fractured mother-daugh......more

Goodreads review by Kayla ✧♥︎ on January 09, 2026

3.25 ⭐ The Bone Queen was a very atmospheric read that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I mean who doesn't love a mystery on a spooky island that has a dark history? While I liked this, I didn't love it. I liked the folklore it gave us about the island, but found the conclusion a little lackluster......more

Goodreads review by Trisha on December 09, 2025

A missing daughter? A spooky, gothic island with a dark history? I was so excited to jump into this one. It's a fast start - 2 sisters arrive on the island looking for the missing teenager. There are lots of characters and, pretty quick, a few POV and it was a tangle at first to keep it all straight.......more

Goodreads review by Maven_Reads on December 24, 2025

The Bone Queen by Will Shindler is a grisly, atmospheric horror‑thriller that blends folklore, small‑town mystery, and a mother’s desperate fight against both real and supernatural forces. The story begins when Jenna Tipton, a single mother and former journalist, follows the sudden disappearance of......more

Goodreads review by Quinn on May 23, 2025

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review 3.5 stars rounded up. I really enjoyed my time in this world with these characters. From when Jenna steps onto the island the atmosphere just thrusts you into a creepy, foggy, small town world. The island its......more


Quotes

“A haunting and memorable debut that weaves one mother’s deeply personal quest through a terrifying legend. Shindler’s prose is confident and evocative, making The Bone Queen a twisty, can’t-miss horror novel.” —Alex Segura, bestselling author of Alter Ego and Secret Identity

"Chilling and poignant, perfectly balancing the deep fears of modern parenting and small town secrecy with the deadly menace of a vengeful local legend." —C. J. Dotson, author of The Cut

"The Bone Queen is an elegant, subtle, and deeply creepy novel of ancient evil and the power of a mother’s love. Will Shindler takes a big juicy bite out of the horror genre!” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Burn to Shine and Mystic