Bone Pendant Girls

Terry S. Friedman, Camcat Books (JAN 30) Hardcover $27.99 (368pp) 978-0-7443-0792-4

Paranormal horror and true crime elements blend together in Terry S. Friedman’s haunting novel Bone Pendant Girls.

Andi has been clairvoyant since her childhood; she is used to being followed by spirits. But when a force urges her to purchase two pendants carved to look like faces at a gem show, she doesn’t expect to be entangled in a missing girls’ case.

The pendants bear an uncanny resemblance to two missing teenagers, Mariah and Bennie. They begin to communicate with Andi, warning her about a mysterious, dangerous man, Fisherman. Andi works with the girls’ spirits to find their killer; she also collaborates with other investigators, though she trusts few people. To prevent Fisherman’s next attack, Andi has to confront her past.

Andi, Mariah, and Fisherman share narrative duties. Andi’s perspective emphasizes her unique connection to the spirit world—and also alludes to a past trauma that factors into a later discovery. Indeed, she is a dimensional heroine. And Mariah’s ghost world-set perspective is at once haunting and comedic; she and Bennie are prone to meddling in the lives of the living. When Fisherman interjects, his contributions are brief, eerie, and often inscrutable.

With its lyrical prose and descriptions (as of the gingko leaves that fall when Mariah’s spirit is near) and plot full of mysteries, the novel is captivating. It moves forward steadily; moments of misdirection and speculation abound. The list of untrustworthy characters grows as people’s motives are revealed.

Full of paranormal twists, Bone Pendant Girls is a supernatural thriller about trust and acceptance.