A child’s bones, a lost girl, a mind adrift – sometimes what is lost comes back to haunt you … What the Bones Know is a contemporary gothic tale of guilt, grief and redemption.
In the village of Kiln Creek in the Victorian Highlands, a ghost gum falls in a storm. Tangled in its roots are the bones of a small child and the tattered remains of her clothing, including a pair of bright red sneakers.
Single mum Jude Mees is in her early forties and struggling to get her business off the ground while raising her ten-year-old daughter Katie, and managing a fractious relationship with her controlling ex-husband. But when Jude learns that her mother, Nance, who still lives alone on the family property in Kiln Creek, is showing troubling signs of dementia she has no option other than to return and check on her.And indeed, all is not well at the farm. Nance is slowly drifting off into her own world, and there are other disturbing occurrences. Strange smells, inexplicably wet footprints, a voice in the night. As her daughter starts to sleepwalk and Jude’s nightmares begin to take over her days, she begins to wonder whether her imagination is out of control or if something more sinister is happening …
A taut, claustrophobic exploration of what it means to be haunted – by our past, by fractured relationships, by a place we thought we knew and by our own unreliable memories.
∞
‘A skilfully woven tapestry of grief and memory, of what’s been – and might yet be – lost. McDermott’s latest is a rather brilliant specimen of Australian Gothic, a tale of haunting, tenderness and the possibilities of redemption. Masterful.’ A.G. Slatter, author of A Forest, Darkly
‘A richly textured story of how home can become the most haunted place of all.’
Kimberley Freeman, author of The Secret Year of Zara Holt
‘. . . an exceptionally well-constructed ghost story in the mode of Shirley Jackson and M.R. James . . . brilliant, eerie, engrossing . . .’
Ian Mond, Locus
‘McDermott evokes the claustrophobia, fear, and frustrations of Covid Lockdown in this tense, atmospheric thriller. The vivid opening scene sets the tone for what lies ahead; a stark, disturbing, beautiful novel that explores families, retribution, guilt, and consequence. The ending broke me in a good way and the story in between held me tight.’
Kaaron Warren, author of The Underhistory
‘A superbly crafted and compulsive tale that’s as intense and meaningful as it is extraordinarily unsettling. Original and haunting, it explores the capriciousness of memories, the fragility of relationships, and how the past refuses to be contained in the safe shadows of time. I couldn’t tear myself away from this sensational story. I didn’t dare . . .’
Karen Brooks, author of The Whisky Widow
‘With tension that rises like fog, What the Bones Know is a chilling and beautiful haunt of a novel by Australia’s very finest teller of dark tales. A powerful and unflinching yet deeply compassionate portrayal of the costs of burying the past, this is an utterly compelling story with stunning prose and characters so wonderfully flawed and true, you’ll forget they’re fiction. I snorted this book in one sitting — it was simply impossible to put down.’
Lisa Hannett, author of Yet She Lives
‘A chilling reimagining of the Australian lost-child-in-the-bush myth as a ghost story.’
Dmetri Kakmi, author of The Woman in the Well
∞
What the Bones Know was released in February 2026 by HarperCollins/HQ and is available for order in print, digital and audiobook from your local bookstore and all the usual outlets:
Kirstyn McDermott 