One of the reasons I enjoy mysteries is trying to figure out ahead of the reveal who the murderer really is. To do this, the writer must skillfully insert clues that the alert reader may observe–or not. Overly obvious clues spoil the story. But no clues at all is against the rules. Sadly, “Spoken Bones” falls into this outlaw category. There was not a single clue I could detect that in any way implicated the murderer. There were masses of clues pointing in other directions, which is fine. There was some background talk about looking into this or that, but nothing that the reader could have discerned as pointing at the murderer. That being said, the narrator did a good job and I enjoyed her dialect. The locale was well-drawn. The characters were interesting and the story hums along at a good pace. Too bad about the fatal flaw at its heart.