Dry Bones in the Valley

Henry Farrell #1

by Tom Bouman

When an elderly recluse discovers a corpse on his land, Officer Henry Farrell is drawn into a murder investigation that might tear his sleepy community apart. Tom Bouman's chilling and evocative debut introduces one of the most memorable new characters in detective fiction and uncovers a haunting section of rural Pennsylvania, where gas drilling is bringing new wealth and eroding neighborly trust.

Dry Bones in the Valley is the first book in the Henry Farrell series. Tom Bouman's Officer Farrell returns in Fateful Mornings, available in June 2017.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Noir, Suspense

284 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2014

About the author

Tom Bouman’s first Henry Farrell novel, Dry Bones in the Valley, won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He lives in upstate New York.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent piece of small town rural noir set in the Appalachians in Pennysylvania. I read this because I loved the second book in the Henry Farrell series, Fateful Mornings. Henry polices Wild Thyme with the aid of his Deputy, George Ellis. After an incident, Henry visits the home of the reclusive elderly Aubrey Dunigan, a man who is clearly struggling and neglected. Aub takes Henry to a badly mutilated male corpse with missing parts on his land that has been there awhile. Aub is taken in by the police despite Henry's conviction that the old man had nothing to do with it. Not long after, Danny Stiobhard takes Henry to the horrifying scene of the murder of his deputy, George, shot in his car. Henry is your archetypal loner, a man of few words and few friends. He knows the landscape he polices like the back of his hand, an expert hunter with the patience and downright stubbornness of a man possessed, determined to catch the killer.

The author gives us a picture of rural life and small town living in the US. There is the background of gas exploration and fracking, and the environmental destruction that comes in its wake. There is the community divisions and conflict between neighbours over selling their leases for fracking. The desperate poverty and inequality exemplified by the no go area of The Heights, where information is hard to come by unless you know people. The deep pervading prevalence of drugs and the illegal local meths labs and its consequent ravaging of marginal communities. There are those who think they know who killed George and are not averse to engaging in vigilantism. Bouman slowly drip feeds us Henry's traumatic backstory, the military, his wife, Polly and her painful death, closely followed by his mental disintegration in the aftermath and how his closest friends Eddie and Liz saved his life. Henry finds there was much about George he was unaware of, wondering if there was any connections with the dead man on Aub's land. Amidst the inadequate police resources, Henry stretches himself beyond his personal limits to find answers that lie in the past and uncovers familial secrets to find his killer.

A brilliant introduction to the series which I highly recommend. Bouman gives an immersive experience in the geography, politics, policing, and the issues that dominate in small town America. His characters are well defined, beautifully developed and above all else, compelling and gripping. A read for those who like depth in their crime fiction. A wonderful book!

[James Thane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A veteran of the Iraq war and a recent widower, Henry Farrell is a natural born loner who prefers his own company to that of anyone else. He's left rural Wyoming and taken a job as a township policeman in rural Wild Thyme, Pennsylvania. It's a sparsely settled area with a population that's mostly been in place for generations and that has more than a few deeply buried secrets. It's also an area in transition. The natural gas boom has come to northeastern Pennsylvania; the frackers are moving in and dividing the population into those who want to sell the rights to the gas below their property and those who simply want to be left alone.

In this midst of all this, a body is discovered on the property of an elderly man. It's winter, and there's no telling how long the young male victim has been there. The investigation is led by the county sheriff, but in a county and a township with very little money, the investigation is severely hampered by the lack of manpower and other resources.

Henry Farrell throws himself into the investigation full bore, at grave risk to his own health and personal safety. Then, when another body turns up, things are thoroughly confused. Are the two cases related, or is this simply a coincidence? Although Henry is a relative newcomer, he attempts to sort through the secrets and the tangled relationships of the community in an effort to uncover the truth.

Tom Bouman, expertly sets the stage and immerses the reader in the community of Wild Thyme, and that's the principal strength of the book. Tramping through the frozen woods with Henry Farrell, the reader gets to know the population and often feels that he's shivering right alongside Henry. If there's a problem, it lies in the fact that Henry is not a very interesting guy, and this reader, at least didn't really enjoy spending all that much time with him.

There's a lot of tromping through the frozen, desolate landscape in this book while the action proceeds at a very stately pace, and one wishes that Henry were a bit more engaging and that the plot moved a little more swiftly. This book is being billed as an entry in the new "country noir" genre, but it doesn't really fit into the noir mold and it's not quite on a par with books by writers like Daniel Woodrell.

Bouman is a talented writer who excels at creating the world in which this novel is set. It's a good book, but would have been better had the lead character and the story itself measured up to the setting.

[Heidi]

DNF after 55%.

Too many characters, too many backstories and not exactly a compelling crime.

Le sigh— next series please.

PS— this is more a case of “it’s me” as the quality of the writing was compelling enough to keep me reading longer than I usually do with a DNF.

[Ellen Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 & 1/2 stars.

This could have been so good! A mystery set in the Pennsylvania wilderness, full of murder, family rivalries, oil, meth, and a little more murder? Sounds great, sign me up! I wanted a creepy atmospheric mystery. Instead I got the literary equivalent of a shrug and a sadface.

"Dry Bones in the Valley" is humorless, bland, and worst of all, boring. None of the characters have any life or vivacity to them. The bare bones of the story are good, but the book's still a skeleton, there's no flesh to it. I could go on about the flat characters and the red herring that took up what felt like a hundred pages, but I'm so tired. This book exhausted me, and not in the the good way when you've stayed up all night finishing something fantastic. This was a chore to finish.

Three additional notes. One, the chapters are too fucking long. A 73 page chapter is just ridiculous. Two, I don't think the writing is at fault here. Grammar, spelling, and structure are all A+ in my book. Three, the title is great. Although it's weirdly inaccurate as the body in the march was extremely well-preserved

There's the framework for a great book here. But sadly, the frame is near empty.

I received a copy of "Dry Bones in the Valley" from Goodreads for free to review. Thank you Goodreads!

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The story takes place in rural Pennsylvania in the northeast corner of the state where lots of fracking is taking place and people are trying to come out of poverty. A body is found in the wooded area surrounding the town of Wild Thyme. A body that has been in the woods for a while and appears with the Spring thaw. Deputy sheriff Henry Farrell is trying to figure out who it is along with how and why he/she was killed.

During the investigation, the reader learns a lot about the troubles that are plaguing the town such as meth making and using, whether or not families sign with the gas companies, fights over property lines and ownership, and the usual turmoil of who is doing what that is illegal. Henry, along with one other deputy, is the only law in the county.

So, if such a good book, why only 4 stars? My main grievance was too many characters - I sometimes got lost with all the names, who was who. Also, lots of sub-plots, but again I only deducted one star for those because overall the book is really good.

[Peter Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, sinister, surprising book. Henry Farrell, the narrator and protagonist, is a wonderful and curious, indefatigable sad sack; early on, he eats a cold waffle with peanut butter on it--liked him, immediately--and I'm not sure he ate or slept from the rest of the book. Concussed, confused, bedeviled by his past, he gets to the bottom of some very surprising mysteries. At its heart, this is a strange thriller-mystery, and it should be said that it satisfies on all levels; I mean, I really read with abandon, wanted to know what would happen, and then I would surprise. But other thrillers that I've read have often disappointed me on the level of writing; they can be rife with cliches and lazy/bad characterization (in my highbrow opinion); Bouman writes so beautifully, here, and the patience with which he builds his world and brings dimension to a wide cast of characters is really a wonder. Also, plenty of wilderness know-how and firearms and ATVs!

[Jeilen · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia policíaca como tal no me ha impresionado mucho,pero si me ha gustado todo el ambiente y trasfondo dónde se desarrolla la historia.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Bouman's debut novel is a country noir wrapped in a mystery. His lone policeman Henry Farrell a conduit for exploring, what I always take to be the most important part of country noir stories, the sense of place, the broken nature of American society outside of major cities, the dichotomy between what people need and what they want, the declining sense of community and purpose to their existence, the never ending familial feuds, the power of the land over the people who inhabit it and the way we seem intent on destroying it through short term greed.

On top of that Farrell is the kind of protagonist James Sallis would be proud of creating, a flawed hero with a strong ethical code, several sad stories in his past and a tendency to reflect on how his history has guided him to be the man he is, whilst at the same time being a dedicated policeman intent on doing the best job he can for the people he represents, even if that means tearing at the heart of what's left of their community. Down these mean dirt tracks past ancient trees and disposable kit homes a man must go who is not himself mean, but who is tarnished and in spite of being afraid, because of one simple driving fact, it is the right thing to do.

And Farrell is given a great mystery to solve; most of a body is found dumped in the snowy woods of his rural Pennsylvania township and the case falls to Farrell by default, him being the towns only policeman - and even that position is under threat from the newly elected mayor. Bouman writes both an excellent procedural, the kind Sjowall and Wahloo would have been proud to write, and fills it with the kind of golden age sleight of hand that Agatha Christie would have been proud of; red herrings not of the flashy and without purpose Hitchcock kind but more through the abundance of plausible suspects and motives that are inevitably drawn out in the course of an investigation in the kind of town that Bouman has very carefully crafted.

So I come full circle back to the importance of place in these country noir stories, and Bouman's observation of life in his rural township elevates an otherwise enjoyable mystery novel to the next level of not just entertainment, but quality and importance. I'm struggling to think of a book in this subgenre that I've enjoyed more than this and I'm positively looking forward to reading more from Bouman and if I have to (because yes his second book will be a sequel) more from Henry Farrell.

[Marisolera · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sé si me he liado sola o no estaba atenta pero cuando por fin he sabido quién era el asesino, no he sabido de donde salía. Demasiada gente.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid rural detective read. Here's another widower sheriff/cop/detective with some military service background. Although somewhat younger than the usual 50/55/60 year old, it's still the middle-aged introverted loner. There should be a widower detective genre category the way its progressing, as there seems to be for the "hot" chick of young middle-age cop's daughter P.I. Why not some new original P.I. or police work characters? That's my only pet peeve with the routine snoop of 2014. Why not a geek science engineer gone nosy, or an undercover F.B.I. working as a nurse? Or some mix that is not the same/same.

This reached 3.5 star in characterizations. The plot was confusing but that overall effect was rather realistic with mixtures of various and different crimes as they usually occur.

Henry seems far closer to the acting cops I have known (dozens- they were returning for C.S.J. degrees)than many other widower book sleuths in vogue. For one thing, he is not really all that comfortable with chit-chat or actually much of a people person at all. Rural and urban cops both, many have personality traits similar to this, while you might think it might be quite the opposite. It's not.

Does Henry have a death wish? He was tracked in the bush wilds 3 or 4 times in this novel. There was a point when I became incredulous that he was putting himself in this crack once again. But eventually, his past marriage tale and the constant tracking and interchange of location works itself out to a tense reveal on all counts. Sometimes this is choppy in transition and the context to actions (beginning, middle, result) are poorer than 4. So I gave it a three. Holding my interest to a 3.5 star and in introspection, there's more to it than just the "well met" cop.

[Repix Pix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una historia regular y una gran ambientación. Aprobado.

[Pamela Small · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up DRY BONES IN THE VALLEY because it won The Edgar Award. It is a slow, intricate read with an overabundance of characters. The literary prose is stunning.Imagery, word choice, metaphors, personification....this book delights with literary elements:

My heart leapt along with a startled doe as it vaulted away from me.

Solitude and sun-dappled air is a kind of magic, a drug, like music.

The hemlocks swayed and sang me to sleep


The lyrical writing, however can not overcome the slow pacing. The beautiful imagery and sense of location can not overcome the tedious details. The characters are not likable, not even the protagonist, as he is sullen and flat. The mystery of two dead bodies is FINALLY solved in the end, after the laborious read. This is not a suspenseful thriller. There are MANY tangents and “loose ends” that take up space on the printed page but are not germane to the storyline. Why the three stars? I bumped a 2.5 rating up to 3 because the excellent, delightful literary elements are really above par.

[Robert Intriago · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New York Times calls it "Rural Noir" and in some ways I agree with the rural, I am not so sure that it meets my criteria of the noir. The setting is northeast PA along the Marcellus shale fields. Local township policeman Farrell tries to solve the murders of a John Doe and one of his deputies. Even though the book is a murder mystery the underneath story is the decline of rural farming community. The land is taken over by oil rigs or methamphetamine dealers. This setting could have been any rural place USA in which the death of the small farm has resulted in residents growing old full of resentment toward all our institutions.

The book reminds me of Philip Dawson's: "American Rust". It is a beautifully written book with a good story to tell. The author does tend to wonder around a little bit but overall it is a fine first try.

[Tripfiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novel set in Pennsylvania - US Rural Noir

A thriller set in fictional Wild Thyme, a remote township in rural North East Pennsylvania, Dry Bones in the Valley is a stunning debut novel from Tom Bouman who lives in the area, and whose intimate knowldege of both it and its ways is very clear. It is a well worked and very dark detective novel with more than its fair share of of blood and brutality.

The ‘hero’ is the local policeman, Henry Farrell, who fits flawlessly into the stereotype of the troubled loner. He is a widower who fought with the US in Somalia, and bears some of the scars. He married out West, his wife died poisoned by the effects of gas exploration and fracking – and he moved to rural Pennsylvania for an easy and peaceful life. But his peace is shattered. He is untiring and relentless (one could say obsessive) in his investigation into the murder of both a ‘John Doe’ (whose body is revealed high up on a ridge as winter snows retreat in the countryside) and of his own deputy – clubbed and gunned down in the early stages of the investigation. The ‘John Doe’ is discovered on the land of an old, and quite possibly mad, recluse who becomes the initial suspect.

The story is a complex one set amongst the somewhat strange and seemingly inbred families of the area. Wild Thyme is a community bitterly divided by the arrival of fracking and gas exploration – the great wealth it could bring, and the great changes to lifestyles that have spanned generations that could also materialise (the subject, of course, brings back memories for Farrell). Small bundles of land need to be tied together to be of a large enough size to sell to the developers – and there are tensions amongst adjoining landowners as they work out who is prepared to deal with whom (and who is prepared to shaft whom…). The nasty side of the community is very much to the fore. And it’s not just gas exploration and fracking that are moving East. With them (and the money they bring) come drug dealers and other undesirables. Dry Bones in the Valley is a very rough and a very tough novel set in idyllic countryside. Local families morph from existing as subsistence level farmers to being part of a much bigger plot. Poverty is displaced by some of the ‘advantages’ of new found wealth.

Much of the book is set in the woodlands and ridges of Wild Thyme, as Farrell tracks down the killer. Bouman’s obvious knowledge and love of the countryside and its ways makes for the painting of a very convincing picture of life in the area – from some somewhat macabre details of deer hunting to how to remain hidden and unobserved in pursuit of your quarry. It is a story well observed and beautifully told.

I do not imagine that it is Bouman’s intention for this to be the only Henry Farrell detective novel. In Farrell, he has created a character who people will want to see more of. He is complex, driven (don’t think he sleeps throughout the book…), damaged – and actually pretty believable.

Pop over to our blogpost for an author interview: http://www.tripfiction.com/novel-set-...

[Lisa Roney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't quite make it for me--at least not beyond the usual format of a crime procedural. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't great.

My biggest objection is that the overall plot and ending felt contrived to me. Deus ex machina all the way. In other words, the crime ends up being linked to something that has nothing to do with the fundamental setting or story. The author also felt it necessary to give his main character a love interest that was tacked on at the end in a way pretty entirely unconvincing. The characterization throughout seemed clunky and obvious.

The novel is set in fracking territory in northeast Pennsylvania, and Bouman does do a good job of capturing the rural backwoods atmosphere of such areas. He nailed the way that the complicated, hilly, wooded terrain creates a sense of secrecy and isolation. Even if only 10 miles as the crow flies, one valley can seem a world away from another, and people's activities are veiled.

So, the book is enjoyable to read. Just don't expect it to be anything other than a traditional who-done-it.

[Melissa B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book through GoodReads First Reads.
I couldn't put this book down, and never had an inkling of the outcome!
Fast paced, interesting characters what were well developed, great storyline!
It was interesting to me also because I am familiar with the area, and with the fracking, etc.
I highly recommend this book, and look forward to reading more from this author!

[Alan Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had this novel on my to read list since shortly after it was published. I went to a "Northern Irish Noir" panel at the local library featuring crime-writers Brian McGilloway, Stuart Neville and Steve Cavanagh and, from memory, at least two of them were reading it. I'm glad I finally got round to it.

An atmospheric slice of rural noir, 'Dry Bones in the Valley' is set in a Pennsylvania community full of simmering tensions and interfamily suspicions. Officer Henry Farrell, a melancholy widower, following the discovery of an unidentified corpse on the land of a reclusive neighbour, is drawn into an investigation hampered by these long held resentments and feuds, many brought into sharp focus due to the potential windfalls offered by a fracking company to the otherwise extremely poor landowners.

The key to the book is the atmosphere and sense of place, the cold sparse backwoods and Tom Bouman, in his first novel, proves an immediate master of suspense with several tense nighttime confrontations. His observations on the plight of the American poor - "Poor people aren’t thin anymore, like when I was a kid; now they’re fat on the cheap food feeding the ghost of the American dream." - are well-constructed and thought-provoking, some hoping that the natural gas that lies in the shale below their dwellings will be their salvation, others dealing drugs.

I liked Henry Farrell - he's no barrel of laughs but he is a compelling and authentic voice. I was drawn in by the descriptions of dark woodland and bogs, possibly due to the similarity with rural Ireland, and I look forward to revisiting when Bouman's second Farrell book is published later this year. I suspect, as I suspect does Farrell, that the fracking bonanza may not be the positive change some of his neighbours are anticipating.

[J.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solitary and introverted, Henry Farrell probably wasn’t meant to be a cop. But that’s the job he found after military service and the one he resumes on coming home to northeastern Pennsylvania after the loss of his wife. Between the job, a few friends and playing the fiddle he’s managed to lift himself a bit above the depression and self-destructive habits mourning had imposed when he first came home.

Wild Thyme, the fictional township he serves, is in those mountains atop the Marcellus Shale and families and neighbors are pitted against one another in a brawl over exploiting the land for the natural gas wealth it holds and the potential danger imposed by the fracking process. Scattered among them are the landless, seething with envy and beset with problems arising from unemployment, drug and alcohol addiction and ignorance.

Henry is called to a more serious line of enquiry when a mutilated body is discovered on the land of an eccentric old man, closely followed by another murder. Though the sheriff’s department and State Police are also involved, it’s Henry who takes the lead in the investigation, tramping through the woods, delving into the secrets of the township’s inhabitants and quickly putting himself in danger.

Bouman lives in the area and I enjoyed his insight into its peculiarities, his skill in bringing his characters to life, the tangled skein of his plot and his descriptive powers. All in all, a good read and I look forward to more from this writer.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henry Farrell is a cop (one of two) in a small fading town in northern Pennsylvania. The area is beset by fracking rigs, meth labs, and poverty. Bouman writes about the town and county and the people in it (many of them "sad and strange," as Henry says) with great skill and feeling. Henry's voice is articulate, even though his social interactions are clumsy. Spoiler alert: Three bodies are at the center of this good crime novel: that of an unidentified young man, that of Henry's deputy, and that of an unknown woman out of the fairly distant past. What ties them together--if anything in fact does--leads Henry to investigate beyond his jurisdiction, the local sheriff (another small department) being in charge of the formal investigation. I've read reviews that describe this novel as rural noir, but that's a convenient tag. Aren't all crime novels dark by nature, especially ones (most) that take place in areas of economic decline? Dark or not by definition, this novel is terrific.

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mystery set when people were worried about fracking in Pennsylvania. Other than that, It didn't do much for me.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

At least one reviewer has named Tom Bouman's debut novel, Dry Bones in the Valley, a work of rural noir, but as I read through the opening chapters, I couldn't help but think, I know this place. And I do. That is because Bouman's novel takes place in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, in a world not so different than where I grew up. So, I am going to reclassify Dry Bones in the Valley as a work of Pennsylvania rural noir.

Officer Henry Farrell, who is hiding his own painful past, spends his days breaking up bar brawls and looking for stolen farm equipment, so when he stumbles upon a body on the land of a local recluse, he finds himself deep in a world of meth labs, violence, and family secrets that date back for generations. Easily marketed as a crime novel exploring a who-done-it theme, Dry Bones in the Valley is more than just a mystery. It's an exploration of people and place and how secrets can tear both apart.

Bouman, whether he is exploring the landscape and its history or examining the lives of people, is a master of description. And it's his descriptions, more than the plot, that pull the reader into this world. For instance, when the narrator explores the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania, he sees "rusted strands of barbed wire" disappearing "into tree trunks that have grown around them." One dirt road that he travels is little more than a creek bed: "you could see great ribbons of muddy water cut through it." Bouman's characters also share similar descriptions, descriptions that often seem to mirror the environment around them. For instance, Aub Dunigan, the local crazy recluse, is described as a man with "stooped shoulders" and a "pink scalp" shining through "yellowed hair." His eyes are "dark and sunk deep."

Bouman's book is a solid read. I felt like I was traveling through the backwoods of Pennsylvania with every turn of the page. If anything, when I closed the book, I wanted more: more about this harsh world that somehow sparks both violence and hope.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half stars. A human and likable sheriff with a touching backstory. A great Eastern Pennsylvania back-woods locale, with fracking in the background. (Backstory, back-woods, background - I seem to be on a roll.) Exciting, even touching - a terrific two day read.

[Craig Sisterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a real sense of space in Tom Bouman's debut novel, which centres on a rural community in upstate Pennsylvania that is faced with the trials and tribulations of modern life as both meth dealers and fracking companies look to move in and make money from the area.

Officer Henry Farrell grew up among self-sufficient people who lived off the land and kept largely to themselves. Ridges, forest and wilderness separates homesteads from each other, and people 'head into town' when they need things, rather than just walking to the end of their street; there's not the sardine-like living arrangements of city folk, but there is still plenty of scope for clashes as lives intertwine via business and nature (human and environmental both).

Farrell is an intriguing character, a shy man who's left and returned, loved and lost, has rattlesnakes still hissing in his head, and now finds himself working for the law in the place he grew up. A place where there's money to be made and lottery tickets to be cashed for landowners partial to fracking, although Farrell knows from personal experience that promises made can be broken and a golden ticket doesn't always bring joy.

When a mangled corpse is found on the land of an elderly recluse, Farrell is sucked into a murder investigation with no leads, further complicated when a colleague is gunned down. What violence has come to Wild Thyme township, and why? Farrell has to pick his way through a minefield of long-held grudges, secrets kept, and clashes between folks old and new, locals and outsiders. Many with something to hide.

For me, Bouman has penned an absorbing tale that is remarkably assured. There are shades of Urban Waite, John Hart, or Daniel Woodrell in the elegant and evocative rendering of rural and smalltown life in DRY BONES IN THE VALLEY. Bouman soaks readers in the backwoods setting, giving us a vivid sensory experience as we follow his fiddle-playing, deer hunting local cop. There's a real understanding and appreciation of nature and wilderness in Bouman's writing, and of the characters that populate this world, which adds a lovely texture and richness to the mystery storyline of DRY BONES IN THE VALLEY.

The story tends to unfold more than racing along at helter-skelter pace, but it is gripping, and I really enjoyed the read. More than a pleasant change of pace from city-centric crime fiction, Bouman provides a fresh voice in the crime genre, as well as introducing a fascinating hero that I'd be keen to read more about in future.

This review was originally written for and published on Crime Watch: http://kiwicrime.blogspot.com

[Ross Cumming · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Tom Bouman's debut novel and I thoroughly enjoyed this backwoods thriller with its downbeat protagonist Officer Henry Farrell.
Farrell is a Policeman in the backwater that is Wild Thyme, Pennsylvania. When he goes to investigate an earlier shooting at old Abe Dunigan's place, the senile recluse leads him to the body of a young man, half buried by rock and snow and who has been obviously been dead for some time. Dunigan is taken into custody, more for his own good than anything else but he is obviously not the perpetrator. Farrell investigates the death in his own unique style, largely ignoring advice from his supervisors and colleagues. His investigation stirs up the local rural community and he receives some grudging co-operation but also a lot of hostility from his neighbours. When Farrell discovers a second body buried on Dunigan's land the enquiry takes on a whole new dimension.
I enjoyed this debut novel and its main protagonist Henry Farrell. He is a complicated character in that he is an ex-vet, having seen 'limited' action in Somalia, he is recently widowed and seeks his solace by playing his fiddle and exploring the great outdoors. His investigative technique is unusual and he is also very vulnerable, not only mentally but also physically, as he is disarmed on more than one occasion by a 'suspect'.
I also enjoyed Bouman's descriptions of the countryside which is obviously beautiful but is being ravaged by the fracking industry which is taking place throughout the county. For me, as a Brit, I got a greater understanding of rural American thinking ,with its gun culture, hunting, rising unemployment and drug abuse. There is also the dilemma being faced as to whether to lease out ones property or not to the oil and gas giants for fracking purposes.
I am certainly looking forward to Bouman's next novel and I'm not sure if this is the start of a series of Farrell novels or just a 'stand alone'.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dry Bones in the Valley is the first book in the Henry Farrell mystery series by Tom Bouman. It is also Bouman"s first book. I had heard great things about this book and am glad that I finally got around to reading it. I am looking forward to the next book in the series Fateful Mornings that will be released this year in 2017.

Dry Bones in the Valley is set in northeastern Pennsylvania, an area of which I know nothing so I found the setting very interesting. I also found it to be a dark place that doesn't have a lot of hope.

Dry Bones in the Valley introduces us to some very interesting characters. The main character Henry Farrell is a police officer in a very small community. The community is inhabited by families that have been there for generations. There are a lot of secrets Henry soon discovers. The backroads and the hills hide meth labs...it is a lot like other rural areas in the US that are suffering from a lack of an industrial base.

The background of the main character Henry Farrell is revealed as the novel moves along. Henry lost his wife to cancer...cancer he suspects was due to fracking. Henry is vehemently opposed to the fracking that is now finding a home in his area of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Great tale...great mystery...highly recommend. I am looking forward to Fateful Mornings and more from Tom Bouman.

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told in the first person, this is a modern day noir novel set in Pennsylvania that on publication earned excellent reviews comparing it to the likes of Wiley Cash.

Certainly it is of that ilk. It is though a personal story, and despite the fact that it's content is appealing, and it's story compelling, it isn't quite up to the Cash standard.

There are unexpected turns, perhaps not twists though. The seedy side of society is present, and the violence that is pretty much expected in the genre.

[judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the blurbs on the back suggested that if I liked Woodrell, I'd love this book. Almost set it aside upon seeing that. Amazingly the blurber was right. This is reminiscent of Woodrell in quality of description and sense of place. I enjoyed it immensely. Let me confess that it felt easier to relate to characters in this book. They are rural but not quite so wild as Woodrell's group. Ready for the next Bouman.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

(i think this is debut novel), blurbs say: woodrell! says donald ray pollock! if you know those authors, then you know you are in rocky land, dark deciduous trees that hide the darkside, poor ass modern day hillbillys cooking up whathave you: deer, corn, pseudoephredrine. and cops trying to keep the lid on. you will notice a distinct lack of books, teachers, libraries, jobs, justice or hope. you will find lots of fracking, four wheelers, fuckups and crimejobs.
who wins? not you.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent debut. If you are a fan of well written mysteries, then this is a book you should check out. The author is very good at revealing just enough, but not too much of characters backstory. I'm looking forward to his next book.

[Chris Conley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery, interesting characters. LONG chapters which are not my preference. I definitely will read the second one.