160,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ 

Overnight Shipping! Auckland Store open 7 days, 8:30am-5pm πŸ“š

The Skeleton Man

The gripping mystery series set against the Cambridgeshire fen
By Jim Kelly
Series: Dryden Mysteries
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.7 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 294 ratings, 40 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Skeleton Man by Jim Kelly is a crime thriller that explores a long-held mystery in a quaint village. It follows a determined detective as he unravels the secrets behind a skeleton discovered with an enigmatic past linked to an infamous heist. As the investigation deepens, buried truths emerge, intertwining the past with present repercussions.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're fascinated by intricate crime puzzles woven with history and character depth. Its gripping narrative and well-developed plot twists will keep you guessing until the last page, making it perfect for fans of atmospheric mysteries and thrillers.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Following on from Allison & Busby's extremely popular Nighthawk series of Jim Kelly crime novels set in Cambridge during World War II.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

For seventeen years, the Cambridgeshire hamlet of Jude's Ferry has lain abandoned, requisitioned by the Government for military training. In its thousand-year-old history, it had been famous for one thing, never having recorded a single crime.

But when local reporter Philip Dryden joins the Territorial Army on exercise in the empty village, its spotless history is literally blown apart. For the Territorial Army's shells reveal a hidden cellar beneath the old pub. And inside the cellar hangs a skeleton, a noose around its neck...

Series: Dryden Mysteries

View all
  • The Coldest Blood
    A man lies hidden in an abandoned boat. Stifling screams, he draws a knife across his arm, letting the blood flow free. Soon he'll be dead and life can begin again. Three decades later, Declan McIlroy, a 39-year-old loner, is found frozen to death in his flat as Arctic temperatures grip the cathedral city of Ely. His is not the...
    By Jim Kelly
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Skeleton Man
    For seventeen years, the Cambridgeshire hamlet of Jude's Ferry has lain abandoned, requisitioned by the Government for military training. In its thousand-year-old history, it had been famous for one thing, never having recorded a single crime. But when local reporter Philip Dryden joins the Territorial Army on exercise in the empty village, its spotless history is literally blown apart. For...
    By Jim Kelly
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Water Clock
    In the bleak, snowbound landscape of the Cambridgeshire Fens, a car is winched from a frozen river. Inside, locked in a block of ice, is a man's mutilated body. Later, high on Ely Cathedral, a second body is found, grotesquely riding a stone gargoyle. The decaying corpse has been there more than thirty years. When forensic evidence links both victims...
    By Jim Kelly
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Skeleton Man by Jim Kelly is praised for its intriguing plot and well-developed characters, blending historical mystery with gripping suspense. Reviewers commend Kelly's atmospheric writing style and the novel's ability to keep readers engaged with its twists and turns. Some mention the compelling setting and the rich detail that brings the story to life.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780749030605

Publisher: Allison & Busby

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 22 June 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Allison & Busby

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 416

Collections

Crime & Thriller Fiction General Fiction Jim Kelly Series: Dryden Mysteries

About the Author

Jim Kelly was born in 1957 and is the son of a Scotland Yard detective. He wentto university in Sheffield, later training as a journalist and worked on theBedfordshire Times, Yorkshire Evening Press and the Financial Times. His firstbook, The Water Clock, was shortlisted for the John Creasey Award and he hassince won a CWA Dagger in the Library and the New Angle Prize for Literature.He lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Also by Jim Kelly

View all
  • The Coldest Blood
    A man lies hidden in an abandoned boat. Stifling screams, he draws a knife across his arm, letting the blood flow free. Soon he'll be dead and life can begin again. Three decades later, Declan McIlroy, a 39-year-old loner, is found frozen to death in his flat as Arctic temperatures grip the cathedral city of Ely. His is not the...
    By Jim Kelly
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Cambridge Siren
    Autumn, 1941. The third year of war and still the siren sounds, driving the people of Cambridge from their beds to trudge to one of the city's crowded bomb shelters. At dawn, the body of a young man is found in a shadowy corner. Everything points to suicide, but Detective Inspector Eden Brooke has his doubts given the unidentified man...
    By Jim Kelly
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The American Suspect
    May 1942. Thousands of American GIs are stationed across eastern England building airfields to bomb Germany. Cambridge is a 'liberty town' - a hot spot for 'Yanks' on leave. DI Eden Brooke is called to the aerodrome five miles east of the city when the remains of an airman, identified by his dog tag, are uncovered as workmen extend the...
    By Jim Kelly
    Hardback
    $7000
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • The Water Clock
    In the bleak, snowbound landscape of the Cambridgeshire Fens, a car is winched from a frozen river. Inside, locked in a block of ice, is a man's mutilated body. Later, high on Ely Cathedral, a second body is found, grotesquely riding a stone gargoyle. The decaying corpse has been there more than thirty years. When forensic evidence links both victims...
    By Jim Kelly
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Mathematical Bridge
    Cambridge, 1940. It is the first winter of the war, and snow is falling. When an evacuee drowns in the river, his body swept away, Detective Inspector Eden Brooke sets out to investigate what seems to be a deliberate attack. The following night, a local electronics factory is attacked, and an Irish republican slogan is left at the scene. The...
    By Jim Kelly
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from Crime & Thriller

View all
  • New Release
    King’s Ransom
    Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller. A DARING ABDUCTION The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children. THE DEADLY CHALLENGE The kidnapper's demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing...
    By Matthew Reilly
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The French Illusion
    Bestselling author John Grisham delivers a new gripping, suspenseful page-turner about aParis honeymoon gone horribly wrong - and the nightmare that follows. After Paul and Chelsea Tanner's fairytale wedding, their future is full of promise. But their honeymoon to Paris takes a dark, shocking turn when they are kidnapped while on a day trip to the French countryside. Who would...
    By John Grisham
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • King’s Ransom
    New Release
    Eve's Pick Eve's Pick
    King’s Ransom
    Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller. A DARING ABDUCTION The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children. THE DEADLY CHALLENGE The kidnapper's demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing...
    By Matthew Reilly
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $4999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    Chain Reaction
    Jack Reacher, \"the coolest continuing series character\" (Stephen King), returns in a brand new, pulse-pounding read from Lee and Andrew Child. The world’s bestselling hero is back in a brand new, high-octane adventure! β€˜She knew that finding Reacher would not be easy . . .’ Washington DC. General Susan Turner needs help from the only guy she knows will get...
    By Lee Child and Andrew Child
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Family Cross
    In the gripping new thriller in James Patterson's globally bestselling series, Alex Cross faces his most personal case yet as a ruthless conspiracy targets Washington's most vulnerable... and his own family. Discover the latest gripping thriller in the globally bestselling Alex Cross series - now the inspiration for the original series CROSS on Prime Video starring Aldis Hodge as Alex...
    By James Patterson
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Heights
    InΒ The HeightsΒ by #1Β Sunday TimesΒ bestselling author Sir Ian Rankin, murder comes to London's most exclusive high-rise - and every resident is a suspect... MURDER COMES TO LONDON'S MOST LUXURIOUS HIGH-RISE: AND EVERY RESIDENT IS A SUSPECT. The Heights: a gleaming, high-end high-rise looming over Hyde Park. Newly built from steel and smoked glass, it is a billionaire's playground offering sumptuous suites...
    By Ian Rankin
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Death Row
    With all hope of an appeal fading away, the fate of a condemned murderess takes a shocking turn in a breathtaking short story from the #1Β New York TimesΒ bestselling author ofΒ The Housemaid! A thrilling novella from #1Β New York TimesΒ bestselling author Freida McFadden! Death is coming for her… unless she finds the truth first. Talia Kemper is on death row for murdering...
    By Freida McFadden
    Paperback
    $2299
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Signed Copy
    On Sale
    19% off
    Dying Days
    Award-winning writer delivers a pulse-pounding espionage thriller. Missing soldiers, MI6 secrets and European partisans collide in a deadly game where the lines between lies and reality are fast disintegrating. In the dying days of the Second World War, a new conflict is about to ignite. May, 1945: After fighting to liberate Europe from the Nazis, Tito's Yugoslav Army and Allied...
    By Anthony Byrt
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    19% off
    New Release
    Fury In Death: An Eve Dallas thriller (In Death 63)
    In the new crime thriller from the bestselling author, Lt. Eve Dallas journeys into the darkness where murder is born… NYSPD homicide detective Eve Dallas has seen a lot in her time but even she is shocked by the savagery of a beating which leaves a wealthy biotech executive dead in his home office. The victim’s corpse is so mangled...
    By J. D. Robb
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    19% off
    New Release
    Tom Clancy Pressure Depth
    Jack Ryan Jr leads a team of divers in a race to beat the Chinese Navy to a weapon of terrible destructive power in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. Jack Ryan Jr. is on Guam to work on a project for Hendley Associates. It's a perfectly ordinary insurance matter, but trouble finds the Ryans...
    By Jack Stewart
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Country Road Murders
    On Sale
    10% off
    The Country Road Murders
    From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a pulse-pounding thriller about justice, vengeance and the roads that lead us home. No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades β€” LEE CHILD Cross Rivers is the kind of small town where everyone knows your name – and your secrets. Silas Tucker...
    By James Patterson
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    15% off
    Every Lake
    Scary stories are fun... until your life becomes one. When Alice was fifteen, her father killed Mia Heywood in their lakefront cottage before vanishing into the trees. At least that's what the locals think happened. Over a decade later, Alice has lost her job as a journalist, she's going through an expensive divorce and she desperately needs to sell the...
    By Adam Perry
    Paperback
    $2800
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 160,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

Crime & Thriller lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all