The Legacy of Bones (Trilogía del Baztán #2)

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

This thread is to discuss The Legacy of the Bones, the second book in the Trilogía del Baztán series by Dolores Redondo.

Pages: 528 pages

Length: 1 month (May)

Participants: Lorraine, Valerie

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

[Valerie]

Planning to start this middle of next week. Looking forward to it.

[Lorraine]

Perfect!

[Valerie]

Read the first 10 chapters. Despite the initial incident in the courthouse, I thought this took a while to get going - not sure we needed the interlude with the in laws). As always, there is a lot of different threads which can seem a bit overwhelming but the actual crime thread is suitably gruesome, mysterious and spooky. Far too soon to have any real clue what is going on but I’m intrigued by the Agote link and the Vatican inquisitor involvement.

[Lorraine]

I agree with you about the interlude with the in-laws — although it was entertaining to see how the mother-in-law lost interest once things didn’t unfold the way she expected. I was also surprised that the baby turned out to be a boy. With all the technology we have today to determine a baby’s gender, that kind of surprise seems rare. And yes, the Vatican’s involvement is curious. Why would they be interested? It’s certainly not the first time a church has been used as the setting for a crime...

[Valerie]

At chapter 21. Well the pace and the intrigue has certainly increased now. Several questions:
(view spoiler)[ Is her mother only pretending to be insane whilst actually just fundamentally evil? What’s going on really with the inquisitor? And the Juez - what’s his game really? Oh and Flora and Anne - what’s the truth there? What is the story behind the ancestor? Is there a purely human element behind all this or some kind of supernatural force? (hide spoiler)]
I don’t have an actual suspect but I am suspicious about the motives of several characters!

[Lorraine]

I was so surprised to see (view spoiler)[ her mother was still alive! I honestly felt like the author brought her back from the dead just to mess with me! 😅 I know, it’s childish—but I was sure she was dead. I must have missed something in the first book, or maybe I just took my hopes for reality. I can’t believe Amaia is still stuck with her.

So, to answer your question: no, I don’t think someone with schizophrenia can fake being “normal” for long. Either she’s being medicated by someone, or she’s using something that helps her keep the symptoms in check. That said, I actually think she’s more evil than mentally ill.

Now I’m really worried about what might happen to Amaia if her mother wants to hurt her. And that guy from the Vatican? He makes me nervous too... is he a fanatic disguised as a priest? I’m one of those people who always suspects either the psychologist or the priest when one of those characters shows up in a story...

P.S. So you can imagine how it goes when the psychologist turns out to be the guilty one—my husband never misses a beat! He starts teasing me right away: “See? It’s always you or one of your colleagues!” 😂 (hide spoiler)]

[Valerie]

At chapter 32. We did know about the mother - Amaia and Flora had a fight about it at the end of book 1. (view spoiler)[ I’m going with sane but evil for her although maybe manipulated by the mysterious guru. Like you, I don’t trust Sarasola at all - he has some kind of agenda behind his pious mask. I’m also wondering about the old gardener because he definitely knows something, and Flora is definitely hiding something as well. Oh and the small matter of who is behind it all. Is it someone we have met because I don’t have a clue (hide spoiler)]
This part got dark and gothic very quickly and I was gripped especially after the big revelation (view spoiler)[ about the twin (hide spoiler)]. Let’s see how this all plays out.

[Valerie]

Finished. Well the pace was definitely fast and furious in the last part and it had me hooked. (view spoiler)[ I did feel a little cheated that the instigator of it all was such a minor character. There weren’t really any real clues to help the reader work out his identity and I’m not sure he was that convincing as a monster - but maybe that’s the point. Pretty sure we haven’t heard the last of the evil mother but I did guess that being a boy would keep Ibai safe. Quite a few loose ends and things that don’t quite get explained but maybe they’ll get tied up in the final book. (hide spoiler)]

[Lorraine]

I agree with your comments — (view spoiler)[ we didn’t get many clues about the killer. As for the mother’s escape, I would have preferred if the author hadn’t gone in that direction. Still, I have a feeling she’ll return in the next book, and that the story may evolve into a battle between kindness and evil. I’m also wondering about Flora’s role in all of this. More and more, she seems to be becoming like her mother. We’ll see. (hide spoiler)]

[Valerie]

Yes I’m wondering (view spoiler)[ if we will see witches in the next book but definitely some sort of battle between good and evil with supernatural forces I predict (hide spoiler)]

The Spanish film versions are available on Netflix here and I’ve seen the first one. As nearly always, they simplify down the plot but it was filmed in Navarra and gave a real feel for the setting - especially that terrible weather as virtually the whole film took place in torrential rain.

[Lorraine]

Valerie wrote: "Yes I’m wondering [spoilers removed]

The Spanish film versions are available on Netflix here and I’ve seen the first one. As nearly always, they simplify down the plot but it was filmed in Navarra..."

I’ll see if I can get the movie. Ido not speak Spanish but I am curious.