The Secrets of Bones (Jazz Ramsey #2) by Kylie Logan

The Secrets of Bones (Jazz Ramsey #2) Reviews

• 
  Liz

  I’m a sucker for mysteries that include working dogs. The Secret of Bones is aptly named. Jazz Ramsey is giving an impromptu exhibit of how a cadaver dog works when the dog finds a skeleton hidden in the girls’ school where Jazz works. The skeleton is that of a teacher that didn’t return after Christmas break three years ago.
  The plot gives us some background on the super religious teacher, Bernadette Quinn. “Bernadette is more nunny than any nun I’ve ever met.”
  Don’t go into this book expecting the dogs to be a major part. They’re not.
  Jazz takes it upon herself to investigate. In fact, for major sections of the book, you’d think the police weren’t interested in solving the murder.
  I found this book disappointing. It moves at a slow pace. The characters seem two dimensional. It relies on a lot of improbable situations and coincidences. And does anyone else roll their eyes when a witness can remember someone they saw in passing from years ago? The cover of the book was the best thing going for it.
  On the plus side, I didn’t know who the murderer was until right before the reveal.
  My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.
• 
  Carolyn Walsh

  Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this clearly written, intriguing mystery plot. 3.5 Stars. From the cover picture and summary, I hoped to learn more about the training and work of police search and cadaver dogs. This was well done at the beginning and led to a well written, believable mystery story, but for the remainder of the book, the dogs were mostly forgotten. The plot was complex, slow-paced, relaxing and easy to follow.
  
  Jazz is an assistant administrator at an all-girls school. I am unsure what that position entails as I have not read the previous book in the series. She seems to have the full trust and cooperation with the school principal. She also trains search and cadaver dogs and seems to have time to act as an amateur sleuth.
  
  The school is holding a Career Day where the girls are exposed to various adult professions. Jazz is training a puppy but since he is not yet fully trained as a cadaver dog she borrows an adult dog for her participation in the event. After hiding two small bones in a seldom-used attic room, she demonstrates the adult dog’s technique. The dog finds the first bone but then leads to a long-locked closet. When this room is unlocked the girls are dismissed. The full skeleton of a woman is found hidden within. The remains are identified from her cross and clothing as that of Bernadette, a teacher who resigned and disappeared three years previously.
  
  Bernadette was considered a good teacher, but strange, withdrawn, and too devout even for this Catholic school. She lectured students against boyfriends and activities she felt non-religious. She led girls in prayers, even for the healthy recovery of sick and almost dead cat she found. She claimed to hear angels talking to her. Some of the girls retaliated by playing tricks on her. Most troubling was her devotion to a younger student, spending time alone with her, although ordered not to do so. Her loving parents complained that she was stalking their daughter outside of school. She was in danger of being transferred from her teaching position or dismissed. Before she disappeared she seemed distraught and to be losing her faith. A letter of resignation arrived shortly after she was last seen.
  
  Jazz becomes obsessed with discovering who killed Bernadette and hid her body in the locked room. She distrusts the competence of the police officer leading the murder investigation, so she decides to solve the mystery on her own. Luckily her boyfriend is also a policeman, and is willing to back her up.
  
  Very few liked Bernadette. She did not follow school rules, was disliked by most students, and refused to socialize with the rest of the staff. Everyone at the school is under suspicion, especially where she threatened a lawsuit against the school if removed from her teaching position. There are the girl's parents who were angry that she was too close to their daughter and following her outside of school. There was also a mysterious man seen at her gravesite, and earlier lurking on school grounds and arguing with Bernadette. Jazz has many suspects to investigate for the murder.
  
  I rarely guess twists and revelations that unravel the mystery, but the conclusion was obvious to me and credible. Well done!
• 
  Linda Strong

  
  St. Catherine's all-girl school has arranged for professional woman all over the country to gather and talk to their schoolgirls about potential careers.
  
  Jazz Ramsey has signed up to promote her passion ... cadaver dog training. Her adorable new puppy Wally hasn’t been certified yet, so she borrows the fully-trained Gus from a friend and hides a few bones in the unused fourth floor of the school for him to find.
  
  Gus surprises them when he signals a find .... behind a door that no one has opened in ages, is a human skeleton.
  
  The clothing and a necklace point to the identity of the skeleton belonging to Bernadette Quinn, an ex-teacher who abruptly quit her job 3 years ago. Evidently she may have quit .. but she never left the school.
  
  The story takes the reader back to the years prior to Bernadette resigning and her obsession with a student, Mandy. Bernadette was not well liked, she was religious to the point where she felt all students should abide by her own personal rules of conduct. But who disliked her enough to kill her?
  
  There are plenty of suspects, as Jazz discovers, who have varied motives for wanting the woman dead. Jazz learns that Bernadette also had secrets that are just now coming into the light.
  
  The more Jazz searches out the truth, the more personal danger she faces.
  
  This is a page-turning mystery with deftly drawn characters. Suspects abound with varied, multiple motives leading to a surprising ending. Although second in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone. I do recommend reading THE SCENT OF MURDER first, though. The dogs are always a bonus and Wally, Jazz's pup, is a pure delight.
  
  Many thanks to the author /Minotaur Books / St Martin's Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime/mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
  
• 
  Ami

  Jazz Ramsey brings one of the cadaver dogs to St. Catherine's Preparatory Academy for Girls - where she works as principle's assistant - to give learning to the eight grade girls about cadaver dogs. Only for Gus, the dog, to discover a dead body of a teacher on the school's fourth floor.
  
  Yes. St. Catherine's Preparatory Academy for Girls definitely doesn't have the best of luck 😆
  
  I'm reading this series back-to-back and I found that yep, I loved it. Since the dead body is a former teacher, again, I thought that Jazz trying to find answers by asking questions to be, well, believable. Her interest is justified (in the previous book, the victim is a former student). I enjoyed the mystery and the resolution of the murder.
  
  There's not much progress about her love interest, Nick, the detective who is actually also her ex. But in this kind of book, I want any touch of romantic interest to take the second seat behind the mystery anyway. What I really liked is the progress of Jazz meeting her mother's new boyfriend (Jazz's dad died in a fire) - I felt that her uneasiness rings true. Jazz clearly is closed with her father so it's going to be hard for her to see another man ready to take his place.
  
  All in all, I can definitely see this series as one that I'm following.
• 
  LORI CASWELL

  Dollycas’s Thoughts
  
  Jazz Ramsey works at St. Catherine’s Preparatory Academy, an all-girls school as an administrative assistant. She has been working on Assembly Day at the school where professional women come into speak about careers to the students. Jazz is given the chance at the last minute to share her passion, cadaver dog training. She is training her new Airedale puppy but brings along Gus, a fully trained dog as well. After hiding a few bones for Gus, the students are pretty impressed with his first find. His second find confuses Jazz because it is focused behind a door where she didn’t hide anything.
  
  After clearing the room of students, Jazz opens the door to find a grisly discovery, a human skeleton wearing a necklace Jazz immediately recognizes. The necklace belonged to Bernadette Quinn, a teacher who left the school at Christmas break 3 years ago.
  
  Now, tons of questions arise. The teacher had been difficult during her time at St. Catherine’s. Very demanding of her students and not friendly with her co-workers. She was on probation when she submitted her resignation. Jazz can immediately think of several suspects other than the police’s prime suspect. She just needs to dig into all the clues, but she is putting herself in danger too. She knows when all the secrets are revealed, the killer will be revealed as well.
  
  _______
  
  I enjoy these characters. Jazz is a strong protagonist. She is clever and thinks on her feet. She has the full trust of her boss, Sister Eileen. She is dealing with such huge things in her personal life too and needs a little TLC. Her best friend, Sarah Carrington, an art teacher at the school, tries to keep Jazz grounded, focused on her rekindling romance with Nick, but also is a great sounding board. These characters continue to evolve nicely throughout the book. The dogs did not play much of an integral part after the body was found, but Wally is a curious pup still coming into his own. It will be fun to watch him continue his training.
  
  The mystery was pretty straight forward until the author served up a nice twist. I was tuned in early to where the story was leading but the clues were not adding up right. A murder at Catholic school really drew me in, the delay in finding the body believable, the investigation was intriguing, and that final twist set everything into place.
  
  The author has a wonderful descriptive writing style which was so important in this story. A little-used part of the school is pressed into service and it needed to have a backstory and reason for its lack of use. Ms. Logan presented this in a believable way and depicted the area so well with her words.
  
  The cadaver dog training is something that interests me. I hope there is more of that in the next book.
  
  The Secrets of Bones is a great addition to this series. Quite the whodunit!
• 
  Mark Baker

  It’s Assembly Day, a day set aside near the end of the school year when professional women from Ohio come to talk about their careers. Jazz winds up as a last-minute replacement, so she sets up in the unused fourth floor, hiding a few bones for Gus, a friend’s cadaver dog, to find during a demonstration. However, Gus goes to an unused closet. Sure enough, Jazz opens it to find a skeleton. Things left with the body make it easy enough to identify the victim as Bernadette Quinn, a teacher who resigned abruptly 3 years ago. Obviously, she didn’t really resign, but what happened all those years ago?
  
  After enjoying the first in this series, I couldn’t wait to get back and visit Jazz again. I wasn’t disappointed at all. The book is so well written I was engrossed from page one. Jazz’s world and the characters all come to vivid life, and the animals are fun. The plot gives us several good suspects and clues that are confusing until Jazz pieces it all together at the end. If you are familiar with some of Kylie Logan’s lighter cozies, know that this is a few shades grayer, falling more in the traditional realm instead of being a pure cozy. However, that is no reason to skip this book. I was so engrossed in this book, I read almost two thirds of it in one day instead of saving some for the next day like I normally would. Now comes the long wait for the next book in the series.
  
  NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
  
  For my full review, please visit
  Carstairs Considers.
• 
  Barb (Boxermommyreads)

  I read the first book in this series last year and was really excited to get my hand's on the sequel. I was looking forward to learning more about Jazz and getting to know her new cadaver dog in training, Wally.
  
  This installment opens with an assembly day at the Catholic school where Jazz is employed. A sudden guest cancellation leads Jazz to do an presentation with her cadaver puppy, Wally and a friend's trained dog, Gus. The presentation is set to take place in the school attic for lack of a better space, and no one suspected that Gus would find an actual decayed body.
  
  So basically we learn that about three years back, one of the teacher's Bernadette Quinn, left under special circumstances and she always wore the cross found on the body. The police immediately start to suspect Jazz's boss, but Jazz knows that isn't possible. She she decides to do some of her own detective work to save her boss and find out what really happened to Bernadette.
  
  Now I have to say, while I find this series really enjoyable, I also think it could be described as a cozy series disguised as a procedural novel. There's really very little about the actual work done with cadaver dogs and I kind of find myself wanting more. I do enjoy all the characters and can say that in the first book, I was concerns with Jazz's relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Nick. This book delves into that some more and I'm much more comfortable with where things are heading. The mystery was satisfying although in the last 20% of the book I was able to see where the resolution was headed. It did't quell my enjoyment of the story though.
  
  If you are a fan of cozy mysteries, especially ones featuring dogs, then I would recommend this series. I'm curious to see what the next book brings and hope it delves more into Jazz's father's death, as it has been eluded that there may be something mysterious behind it.
• 
  Kim

  Assembly Day has arrived at St. Catherine’s. One lady that was scheduled to present info on her career is a no show so Jazz is asked to step in. Jazz brings in her new puppy which she is training to be a cadaver dog and Gus a certified cadaver dog. Jazz hides a couple of bones around the classroom. When Gus easily finds the first bone the easily the girls are impressed. When Gus is supposed to find the second bone he confidently goes to a place Jazz didn’t put any bones. Jazz believes he just lost the scent. However, when Jazz checks where Gus has alerted sure enough there is a full skeleton. Is this the skeleton of a monk from decades before or a teacher who went missing just a few years earlier? Can Jazz help find out who the skeleton belongs to and how they ended up in there?
  
  This is a great follow-up to the first book. This can be enjoyed as a stand-alone mystery. The story is well-written with a great plot full of twists and turns. The characters are well-developed and realistic. The chemistry between the regular main and secondary characters is evolving nicely. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
  
  I voluntarily agreed to read a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced by anyone.
• 
  Sue Em

  Really enjoyable cozy that came close to being 5 stars for me, but after an exciting opening section, it dragged a bit for me. But by the last third of book, the pages just flew by. I also wish there were a bit more about the dogs and their training. Mystery was well plotted with a fair reveal that I never saw coming. I'm hoping the next book will look into solving the mystery of death of Jazz's father. Jazz works as an administrator at a Catholic girl's school when a skeleton is found in the fourth floor. Jazz and Sister Eileen deal with the repercussions with the students. Jazz starts to look into the death when Sister Eileen is implicated. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Sharon :)

  Love K-9 work dogs 🐾🐾🐾🐾
• 
  Mary Brown

  Synopsis:
  
  Second in a new series from national bestselling author Kylie Logan, The Secrets of Bones is a riveting mystery following Jazz Ramsey as she trains a cadaver dog.
  
  Assembly Day at St. Catherine's dawns bright and cloudless as professional woman gather from all around Ohio to talk to the schoolgirls about their careers in medicine, at NASA, and as yoga instructors. Administrative assistant Jazz Ramsey is involved herself, giving the girls a taste of her lifelong passion: cadaver dog training. Her adorable new puppy Wally hasn't been certified yet, so she borrows the fully-trained Gus from a friend and hides a few bones in the unused fourth floor of the school for him to find.
  
  The girls are impressed when Gus easily finds the first bone, but for the second Gus seems to have lost the scent, and heads confidently to a part of the floor where Jazz is sure no bones are hidden—at least not any that she's put there. But Gus is a professional, and sure enough, behind a door that shouldn't have been opened in decades, is a human skeleton.
  
  Jazz recognizes the skeleton as Bernadette Quinn, an ex-teacher at the school who'd never returned after one Christmas break, though letters and postcards from her had seemed to indicate there was no cause for worry. But now it seems Bernadette never left the school at all, and her hiding place makes it clear: this was murder.
  
  Bernadette's strident personality means there are a plethora of suspects inside the school and out of it, and as Jazz gets closer to the truth she can't help but wonder if someone might be dogging her footsteps . . . (Amazon)
  
  
  Review:
  
  The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The mystery was well plotted and there were enough suspects to consider and clues to sort through. I was actually surprised how the book ended, and it was a pleasant surprise.
  
  The characters are well rounded and well developed. I like the fact that Jazz works at a catholic girls school, that can provide a lot of interesting situations in the future. I like Sister Eileen, she is spunky and smart and she and Jazz work good together. Nick is back and Jazz is getting closer with him, and that is a good thing. I am disappointed that Wally was not in the book more, he only made an appearance a few times. I wish that Wally was in the book more, with his training and doggies antics. Maybe in book three, Wally will be more present.
  
  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series when it is published.
  
  I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.
• 
  Patrizia

  Ho apprezzato questo libro. A un certo punto ho capito cosa ci fosse dietro l'omicidio, ma non riuscivo a capire chi fosse il colpevole; la svolta finale è stata quasi una sorpresa, ma sono riuscita a risolvere il mistero qualche istante prima che la protagonista si cacciasse nei guai e capisse tutto. Mi domando perché gran parte delle volte le protagoniste debbano cacciarsi nei guai quando si arriva al momento della soluzione finale...
• 
  Annette

  This mystery certainly kept my attention. I didn’t realize it’s book two in a series. I hadn’t read book one but I had no problems following this book. I thought the story interesting and enjoyed the twist at the end! Will be watching for more in this series. Thanks to Netgalley for the early copy
• 
  Cathy Cole

  The first book in this series, The Scent of Murder, showed a lot of promise, and this second entry certainly begins fulfilling a lot of that. Jazz has learned a better way to question her suspects (in the first book she tended to infuriate everyone which is dangerous), and her relationship with a local detective aids in her investigation. There's the usual cop who poo-poos everything she says, but he's not obnoxious to the point where I wanted someone to run him down with a patrol car. (I take out any latent aggression in the fiction I read.)
  
  Logan has a main character with a voice that captures my attention and won't let it go. In The Secrets of Bones, she's also crafted an excellent mystery that kept me guessing all the way to the reveal. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book, although this author stomps all over one of my pet peeves.
  
  Cozy mysteries usually have some sort of "hook" to capture a reader's attention and make them pick up and read the book. When Logan once again fell hook, line, and sinker for one of my peeves, I had to look up two things. One was my reading history with this author. She's written several series, and I've read books in two of her others. One button shop series I picked up because I love buttons. Yes, there was some information about buttons at the beginning of the book, but if they showed up again it was because someone threw all the buttons on the floor and the main character had to pick them up. Buttons were the hook that was quickly dropped after the beginning of the book.
  
  The second thing I had to look up was more information about the literary or narrative hook: "It appears at the beginning of the story and may contain several pages of a novel, several paragraphs of a short story, or it might be only an opening sentence..." So I learned that my expectations were rather high, and Logan is following the letter of the literary hook law. But... my expectations are still high. If this series is supposed to be about a woman who trains cadaver dogs, may we please have more than a couple of pages about the process? Pretty please?
  
  Will I read the next book in the series? I've already said yes because I do like the main character and the mystery was excellent. I just wish I could train myself not to be so annoyed when hooks don't last as long as I want them to!
  
• 
  Dawn Michelle

  I think this one just might be a little better than the first one. There was some serious intrigue and mystery here [and boy was I as flabbergasted as Jazz by the end]. I *WAS* annoyed when I figured some stuff out and then had to wait for the characters to catch up [I texted a friend about how annoyed I was. Clearly I have been alone with my books for too long], but they finally did and it was all takeadeepbreathanddontletitoutuntiltheend from that moment on. And I like a book like that. And that is what keeps me reading book series'.
  
  At one point something happens to Jazz and I was annoyed because I thought the author had used the same kind of thing in both her first book and then this one - turns out I was in the wrong mystery. LOL LOL LOL I had just finished another mystery where something similar happens to that MC as what happens to Jazz and I just had them both totally confused. It was hilarious when it finally dawned on me. This is the kind of stuff that happens when you read close to 100 mysteries a year!!
  
  Jazz is a great main character and I love her interaction with Sister Eileen and even with Nick [he's much less of an asshat in this book and that is a nice change] and I ADORE the addition of Wally. I cannot wait to see how training goes for the pup and for Jazz and he to go out on a case together. That was the only thing that was really missing here - more about the cadaver dogs and what they do. This one was based more in Jazz' day job [and was very good - I just missed the dogs].
  This is absolutely a series that I will keep reading.
  
  Thank to NetGalley and St. Martin Press/Minotaur Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Leah

  The big reveals and twists weren't a shock to me sadly, and I have to say I enjoyed the first book much more. Still, The Scent of Bones was a decent read for a sunny day and I'm interested to see what Jazz gets into next.
  
  For the mini-review and more, head over to
  The Pretty Good Gatsby!
• 
  Jen

  I thought this one was just OK. I didn't want to abandon it, but I don't think I'll remember it tomorrow.
• 
  Daniele

  Wonderfully descriptive and gripping, THE SECRETS OF BONES is a well written yarn heralding more to traditional mystery than author Kylie Logan’s other cozier mysteries. Its Catholic School historic building setting provides the perfect backdrop in which to find a long dead murder victim.
  
  Jazz is the administrative assistant at the school, but her real love is training cadaver search dogs. Given the opportunity to show off a friend’s dog’s skills at the school’s career day, all goes well until Gus tracks to a door, not part of Jazz’s setup, in the unused fourth floor of the school. Behind the door, they find skeletonized remains whose clothing and jewelry suggest the victim is Bernadette Quinn, a fervent teacher who resigned three years ago. But she has been dead since before the letter was submitted, so who sent the letter? Jazz puts her investigative skills to the test as she seeks answers.
  
  I really enjoyed this book. Bernadette is an unappealing yet interesting victim whose brusque, devout, demanding nature led to many a person with motive to want her dead. The suspects are varied, including estranged family, students, and even the school’s principal (who is also a nun) among others. Jazz unearths many clues along the way, but they do not all fall into place until the book’s final twist and tense climax. The mystery is well thought out and executed, and the pace is brisk.
  
  The characters are finely executed, complex, and engaging. Jazz is clever, quick thinking, and does not take many unnecessary risks. The supporting characters, particularly Sister Eileen, are compelling and fun to get to know. I particularly like the cadaver training aspect, and the inclusion of a rambunctious puppy in the story is never a bad idea to me.
  
  THE SECRETS OF BONES is an excellent mystery with an intriguing “hook”. Highly recommended.
  
  I won an ARC of this title from Minotaur books through Goodreads and voluntarily shared my thoughts here. #minotaurbooks
• 
  Noreen Trotsky

  I thoroughly enjoyed this second book in the series, better than the first book. Though I thought the plot of the series was based on the idea of cadaver dogs, there was very little in this book about them. The mystery of a dead nun kept the pace moving, but about half way through the book, I had figured most of it out. I have always enjoyed Kylie Logan’s style of writing and I am anticipating the continuation of this series.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. This review can also be found on Goodreads.
  
• 
  Marie McNary

  This book was full of so many twists and turns. At a few points I thought I knew where the story was going, which only made me want to read faster. I enjoyed the way the author wove in more serious topics in a way that didn’t get too deep or stressful for the reader. I am a dog lover, but did not know anything about cadaver dogs or what training they go through, so the nuggets of info sprinkled into this series on that topic are always of interest to me.
• 
  Donna

  The Secrets of Bones is a wonderful follow up to The Scent of Murder (Jazz Ramsey #1). This installment finds a much happier version of Jazz dog training her adorable new puppy Wally but that doesn’t stop her from getting involved in another murder mystery. This mystery takes us on a twisted path filled with dead ends and fake trails. I second guessed myself throughout the book. Jazz has wormed a place in my heart and I can’t wait to see what trouble she gets into next.
• 
  Cathy Thompson

  Wow ! A mesmerizing and heartwarming cozy murder mystery that will keep you perched on the edge of your seat until the very last page ! I highly recommend !! Thanks to Netgalley , St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review this book ! Opinions are solely my own !
  #Netgalley # St.Martin'sPress #MinotaurBooks #TheSecretsOfBones
• 
  Maggie Bermann

  Good book and had me guessing to end! Recommend!
• 
  Lynn

  I am such a sucker for twists and these are SO good! I was shocked and I loved it. That ramp up of suspense and anticipation is the cherry on top of a mystery suspense book.
• 
  Susan

  After enjoying the first book in this series, I was excited for the second, so I jumped at the chance to grab it from NetGalley. Unfortunately, I didn't end up liking it nearly as much as I did its predecessor. I still enjoy Jazz as a heroine, but something about the mystery/plot of this one didn't keep me as hooked as I wanted it to. It was a bit far-fetched, with some annoying plot holes, and a predictable outcome. I kept turning pages for sure, it just didn't end up being quite as engrossing as I wanted it to be. Also, I'm hoping Nick gets a personality in the next book ... isn't he super clichè and blah?
• 
  Rebecca

  Thanks to the publisher, via Netgalley, for an advance e-galley for honest review!
  
  Really enjoying this series! (Crossing my fingers for a book 3 that leans more heavily into Jazz's cadaver dog training gig.) This one had a lot of good plot turns (not all unpredictable), and I liked the general premise, which felt fairly original. I felt like we got to know Jazz quite a bit better in this one, and it was a good second book in the series for the way it moved characters along.
• 
  Kathy

  The Secrets of Bones by Kylie Logan is an engrossing cozy mystery. Although this newest release is the second installment in the Jazz Ramsey Mystery series, it can be read as a standalone.
  
  Administrative Assistant Jazz Ramsey fills in for a no show during Assembly Day at St. Catherine's Predatory Academy.  Because Jazz works with cadaver dogs in her spare time, she borrows a friend's dog Gus to show off his skills to  the students. Jazz has placed a couple of "finds" and the students are excited when he discovers one of her items. But when Gus alerts a second time, Jazz knows something is very wrong since he is indicating a spot where she did not place anything for the demonstration.
  
  Quickly ushering the girls back to class, Jazz is shocked to find a skeleton. And based on the clothing and a distinctive piece of jewelry, she and her boss Sister Eileen Flannery believe they have just found missing teacher Bernadette Quinn.  The Religion teacher could be a bit difficult, but neither Jazz nor Eileen can guess who would have murdered her.  Jazz is dismayed that Detective Gary Lindsey seems to have settled on a suspect so she begins investigating on her own. Will she unmask the killer before it is too late?
  
  Jazz cautiously begins searching for answers in an effort to find Bernadette's murderer.  Quinn was a good teacher but her interpersonal skills left a lot to be desired. She was also ultra religious which ordinarily would not be a problem but her beliefs took an unusual turn. Bernadette's relationship with student Maddie Parks was also a little troubling. Neither Sister Eileen nor Jazz believe there was anything inappropriate going on but Sister Eileen did take steps to put the relationship back in a professional setting.
  
  As Jazz questions some of her co-workers, she unearths some intriguing information. She also learns that Bernadette's only family is her cousin Sam Tillner who does not seem to have been overly worried about her disappearance. Jazz also recalls finding Bernadette very upset on one occasion and she is surprised when she finds out the reason for the teacher's out of character distress.   All of this is very interesting, but will Jazz figure out who is responsible for Bernadette's murder?
  
  The Secrets of Bones is a well-written mystery with an intriguing plot and fantastic cast of characters. Jazz is too curious for her own good on occasion but her heart is always in the right place as she tries to find Bernadette's killer.  Jazz's ex-boyfriend Detective Nick Kolesov makes a few timely guest appearances and gives her some inside information. Although now just friends, Jazz is encouraged that they might eventually reconcile. Late in the story, Jazz's investigation takes a shocking turn and Kylie Logan brings this clever mystery to an exciting, unpredictable conclusion.  Old and new fans will enjoy this newest addition to the Jazz Ramsey Mystery series.
• 
  Christa

  I enjoyed this mystery that is the 2nd Jazz Ramsey book. It was a good followup to the first one in the series. I like Jazz more and more as we get to know her better in the books. Nick is also a great character, and I liked the way he was there for Jazz in this one.
  
  The girls' school where Jazz works as an administrative assistant is having a Career Day when a skeleton is found by a trained cadaver dog that Jazz brings in when one of the participants has to cancel. The skeleton is quickly determined to be that of a teacher who taught in the school for a short time before resigning. What follows is an investigation by Jazz that puts her in danger and leads to some surprising truths.
  
  I enjoyed the characters and storyline in this one, but would have liked to see more with Wally, his training, and the cadaver dogs throughout the book. That aspect of the story was pretty much done near the beginning of the story. After enjoying this and the previous book, I'm already looking forward to seeing what comes next for Jazz.