Carol O'Connell and the covenant of the crime novel

Carol O'Connell
Carol O'Connell is best known for her Mallory series. Her new crime novel "Bone by Bone" concerns a strange little town in northern California with a lot to hide.
MPR photo/Euan Kerr

Carol O'Connoll's new novel "Bone by Bone" opens with a human jawbone sitting on the front porch of a house in a small California town.

The house belongs to a retired judge and the bone arrives just as the judge's son Oren Hobbs also turns up. Oren is a recently retired army criminal investigator. He quickly realizes the jawbone may well be that of his long lost brother. Hobbes then finds out it's not the first of his bones to have turned up on the porch.

Carol O'Connell told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr while the novel turns into a portrait of an offbeat town with a lot to hide, it grew out of a single idea.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.