The Bones of Amoret – A Novel by Arthur Herbert {Book Review}

The Bones of Amoret was a laid back mystery with one of the biggest twists I never saw coming!

Disclosure: I received this book to review through iRead Book Tours, I have volunteered to share my review and all the opinions are 100% my own.

In this enigmatic follow up to his critically acclaimed debut novel The Cuts that Cure, Arthur Herbert returns to the Texas-Mexico border with this saga of a small town’s bloody loss of innocence.

Amoret, Texas, 1982. Life along the border is harsh, but in a world where cultures work together to carve a living from the desert landscape, Blaine Beckett lives a life of isolation. A transplanted Boston intellectual, for twenty years locals have viewed him as a snob, a misanthrope, an outsider. He seems content to stand apart until one night when he vanishes into thin air amid signs of foul play.

Noah Grady, the town doctor, is a charming and popular good ol’ boy. He’s also a keeper of secrets, both the town’s and his own. He watches from afar as the mystery of Blaine’s disappearance unravels and rumors fly. Were the incipient cartels responsible? Was it a local with a grudge? Or did Blaine himself orchestrate his own disappearance? Then the unthinkable happens, and Noah begins to realize he’s considered a suspect.

Paced like a lit fuse and full of dizzying plot twists, The Bones of Amoret is a riveting whodunit that will keep you guessing all the way to its shocking conclusion. 

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I never saw it coming. Never.

The Bones of Amoret was different than what I am used to reading.

Dr. Noah Grady is relaying, or retelling, a story of his past. A time of a disappearing person; a time of sneaking people over the Mexico Texas border; a time when a child gets murdered… a time in Dr. Grady’s past that keeps you guessing at every turn.

The story wasn’t as fast paced as many mysteries I have read. It wasn’t what I would consider ‘gripping’ or ‘edge of your seat’ but the story flowed so naturally that you were invested (I mean, I certainly was). There were many nights that I couldn’t put the book down because I was involved in the story. I was involved in the character of Dr. Grady, his family and the town people. I wanted to learn more about them and learn about what was happening to this small town that seemed so peaceful until one day it wasn’t.

What I got was definitely some twists and turns that I never saw coming!

The Bones of Amoret was the first book I have read by this author and hopefully not the last as I truly did enjoy reading this curveball of a mystery!

About the Author

Arthur Herbert was born and raised in small town Texas. He worked on offshore oil rigs, as a bartender, a landscaper at a trailer park, and as a social worker before going to medical school. He chose to do a residency in general surgery, followed by a fellowship in critical care and trauma surgery. For the last eighteen years, he’s worked as a trauma and burn surgeon, operating on all ages of injured patients. He continues to run a thriving practice.

He’s won multiple awards for his scientific writing, and his first novel, The Cuts that Cure, spent ten days as an Amazon #1 Best Seller. His second novel, The Bones of Amoret, will be released on April 1, 2022 through Stitched Smile Publishers. Arthur currently lives in New Orleans, with his wife Amy and their dogs.

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