Jenna shows up on Athelsea’s tranquil shore on a mission: she desperately needs to find her teenage daughter Chloe who disappeared from their London home. Over the past weeks, Chloe has changed, and Jenna doesn’t know why. It seems her daughter was haunted by someone, or something, leaving a ferry ticket for Jenna as the only clue to her whereabouts.
Exploring the village and interacting with the locals, Jenna discovers an unsettling secret hidden in plain sight: the legend of a vengeful woman … the Bone Queen … mentioned in hushed tones by the villagers, frantic to suppress the tale holding terror over their lives.
Jenna learns more about the Bone Queen and her previous victims. The village descends into madness, and soon no one can say who is responsible for the rash of deaths and disapperances. Unable to separate reality from paranoid hallucinations, Jenna has to act fast before Chloe is the next victim.
The Bone Queen has left her mark, and one day she’ll collect.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Will Shindler cut his teeth in journalism with the BBC, then started writing police-procedural thrillers, and now he’s ready to try his hand at horror. The author of The Burning Men, The Killing Choice, The Hunting Ground, The Blood Line, and The Cold Case (all part of the DI Alex Finn series), Shindler has also done script editing for Born and Bred and Doctors, and written for The Bill, working for both BBC Drama Series and Talkback Thames. With his first foray into horror fiction, Shindler summons an ancient legend in a strange village while an anguished mother searches for her daughter. Alex Segura (Secret Identity) says: “A haunting and memorable debut that weaves one mother’s deeply personal quest through a terrifying legend. Shindler’s prose is confident and evocative, making The Bone Queen a twisty, can’t-miss horror novel.”. C.J. Dotson (The Cut) says: “Chilling and poignant, perfectly balancing the deep fears of modern parenting and small town secrecy with the deadly menace of a vengeful local legend.” , and Jonathan Maberry (Mystic) says: “The Bone Queen is an elegant, subtle, and deeply creepy novel of ancient evil and the power of a mother’s love. Will Shindler takes a big juicy bite out of the horror genre!”
Releasing from Minotaur Books 3 February 2026, The Bone Queen by Will Shindler is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA