The Bone Readers
The Bone Readers is a 2016 crime novel by Grenadian-British author Jacob Ross. It is the second book in his Camaho Quartet and is set on the island of Camaho, inspired by Grenada.
The story follows Michael “Digger” Digson, who testifies in a murder case and is pulled into a plainclothes homicide squad led by the enigmatic Chilman, who is fixated on a disappearance from years past. At the same time, Digger investigates a cold case—his mother’s murder at the hands of police when he was a child.
The novel was praised for its vivid characters, sharp dialogue, and readable pace, with critics noting Ross’s ability to blend depth with page-turning suspense and to portray empathetic female characters. It won the first Jhalak Prize in 2017, with judges calling it thrilling, visceral, and meditative, and highlighting how it weaves together history, gender, politics, and the legacy of colonialism in a Caribbean-set crime thriller. Sunny Singh, a prize co-founder, called it an exemplar of the genre.
In 2022, The Bone Readers was included in the Big Jubilee Read, a list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors selected to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:25 (CET).