Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America
    Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America
    Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America
    Audiobook16 hours

    Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America

    Written by Eliot Pattison

    Narrated by Matthew Waterson

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The Edgar Award winner’s acclaimed mystery set in colonial America is “The Last of the Mohicans meets Braveheart, with a curious dash of CSI”. —Entertainment Weekly

    Unfairly convicted and force into indentured servitude, young Highland Scot Duncan McCallum finds himself aboard a prisoner ship bound for the New World. A series of mysterious deaths plagues the passengers and claims the life of Duncan’s dear friend Adam Munroe. Enlisted by his captors to investigate, a strange trail of clues leads Duncan into the New World and eventually thrusts him into the bloody maw of the French and Indian War.

    Duncan is indentured to the British Lord Ramsey, whose estate in the uncharted New York woodlands is a Heart of Darkness where multiple warring factions–the British, rogue Scots, the French, the Huron, and the Iroquois–are engaged in battle. Exploring a frontier world shrouded in danger, Duncan, the exiled chief of his near-extinct Scottish clan, finds that sometimes justice cannot be reached unless the cultures and spirits of those involved are resolved.

    “Having already won an Edgar for his Inspector Shan series, Pattison makes a strong bid for another with this outstanding” first novel in his acclaimed Bone Rattler series. —Publishers Weekly, starred review

    Editor's Note

    Historical whodunit adventure…

    Billed as “The Last of the Mohicans meets Braveheart, with a curious dash of CSI” by Entertainment Weekly, “Bone Rattler” is a gripping mystery set in colonial America during the French and Indian war from Edgar Award-winning author Eliot Pattison. A Scottish highland warrior-turned-indentured-prisoner-turned-detective investigates a string of mysterious deaths on the American frontier in this historical whodunit adventure.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScribd Audio
    Release dateSep 8, 2020
    ISBN9781094412740
    Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America
    Author

    Eliot Pattison

    Eliot Pattison is the author of The Skull Mantra, which won the Edgar Award and was a finalist for the Gold Dagger, as well Water Touching Stone and Bone Mountain. Pattison is a world traveler and frequent visitor to China, and his numerous books and articles on international policy issues have been published around the world.

    Related to Bone Rattler

    Titles in the series (5)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Historical Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Four Best Audiobooks Of June To Take You Places

      Jun 23, 2020

      Hardboiled mysteries, obscure farming communities, and tales of home and family provide ample entertainment in June’s audiobook roundup.

      2 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of ...

      Apr 1, 2019

      Fifteen-year-old Tay lives on Rannoch, a distant planet covered with water, where undersea pods or living chambers provide life support for up to three people—usually two adults and one child. Tay learns that her parents are expecting another child a

      8 min read

    • Article

      Commonplace Book

      Dec 1, 2021

      The light from the full moon lent a silky, glacial sheen to the towering front of the cloud, which stretched off to the horizon in both directions. I stood transfixed as it made its way down the street toward me at a little over the town’s speed limi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Rock Hard

      Sep 10, 2020

      Rock Hard
      7 min read

    • Article

      Magnets: Carried through time, lovers seek their purpose.

      Feb 6, 2014

      Moon Colony B, 2213 Former Ponzi-schemer Mary Pillar digs through a trashcan. It smells like rotten eggs and milk. She is elderly and homeless, living in an alley between two eco-efficient skyscrapers. Dust particles dance around her. She has lost ev

      11 min read

    • Article

      Hook, Line And Sinker

      Oct 18, 2018

      Hook, Line And Sinker
      4 min read

    • Article

      Anniversaries

      Oct 29, 2020

      Anniversaries
      5 min read

    • Article

      Top Ten Sea Books

      Jun 5, 2020

      SJ AND SMH In the October of 1991, a storm of rare wickedness hit the North Atlantic. Caught up in it was the sword-fishing boat Andrea Gail, which went down with the loss of all hands. At that time, the author was working as a tree surgeon in the bo

      7 min read

    • Article

      Commonplace Book

      Jun 4, 2018

      I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. —Fred Allen I have always wondered, in reading travels, at the childish joy travellers felt at meeting people they knew, and their sense of loneliness when they did not, in

      4 min read

    • Article

      Stalking Diary

      Aug 3, 2022

      Stalking Diary
      2 min read

    • Article

      ‘Dan Captained A Daring Sea Rescue’

      Dec 14, 2021

      MARTIN COLDICOTT is a Citizens Advice volunteer and retired civil servant who lives in Somerset On Christmas night 1951 the cargo ship Flying Enterprise was en route from Hamburg to the USA, and heading for a storm. There were 10 passengers on board

      2 min read

    • Article

      Part 1 WHEN FISH FLY: The Revolt on the Slave Ship Creole

      Jan 1, 2022

      Part 1 WHEN FISH FLY: The Revolt on the Slave Ship Creole
      6 min read

    • Article

      Into The Abyss

      Nov 4, 2022

      Into The Abyss
      3 min read

    • Article

      #book Of The Month

      Jun 13, 2022

      #book Of The Month
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Power And The Passion

      Sep 19, 2021

      The Power And The Passion
      4 min read

    • Article

      Frank’s Fable

      Mar 18, 2021

      Frank’s Fable
      4 min read

    • Article

      Sleep Nights

      Oct 5, 2021

      Sleep Nights
      18 min read

    • Article

      It’s The Way You Tell It

      Oct 13, 2023

      It’s The Way You Tell It
      3 min read

    • Article

      Skein Is land

      Nov 6, 2019

      Skein Is land
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Dragon’s Perspective

      Jun 10, 2022

      There once lived a dragon named Deathwing. Well, at least that’s what they called him. Deathwing was growing old, far too old for his liking. The joints of his claws ached and groaned under his ever-growing weight and his scales were beginning to los

      18 min read

    • Article

      Perfect Prose II

      May 15, 2020

      Perfect Prose II
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Bone Rattler

    4.5/5

    563 ratings31 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book, the main character is really interesting and likable, enough for me to want more of his stories. The background setting of the story is beautifully executed, I could imagine the scenes vividly.
    • 5/5
      This book is well written with fact and fiction. It imparts history set in the 1750's with the French and English War over the Colonial empires. You will feel sad at times. You will follow the high seas either a vessel that transports Scots. You will have at least one murder on the vessel. This book isn't meant to be a fast read. It will keep you guessing and is well worth your time. The author has done an amazing job.
    • 4/5
      A well written story. This was a new author for me. 9 out of 10 at least
    • 5/5
      Great story and beautifully written a look at history we don’t see many of
    • 5/5
      I was so glad to come across this series! This author brought history to life through the characters. I cannot wait to read more of his work
    • 5/5
      An outstanding and intriguing work of historical fiction! Recommended reading!
    • 3/5
      Good narration but I found the story drug on and I lost interest.
    • 5/5
      This was a great book, though sometimes long & dry.
    • 4/5
      Pretty good l liked it but needed to get to the bottom of the murders way sooner.

    • 5/5
      Riveting and full of history. Also very well written and narrated. The plot is very complex and I found myself going back regularly to listen again to certain passages.
    • 4/5
      This book doesn’t only apply to to the way back when time but to today just different circumstances now we are the Indians/Irish getting shoved out by lawyers and courts instead of a blade or a gun Americans are the new enemy and as history repeats itself we will fail and change with God’s help maybe we can reserve just a glint of personal freedom but if you can learn from a book a little more freedom is lost no matter what. these days it’s big box stores and quite frankly the knowledge to survive and our will to fight is gone as well! Haha how many times have you said yes sir to your boss when you should have knocked him to the ground for no less than a few bucks on your wage. make a stand my fellow Americans it’s got to stop somewhere it’s also got to start somewhere!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I had a little trouble putting it all together in the beginning of the story - the ending was not at all what I suspected! Good read!
    • 5/5
      Wonderfully woven tale with historic and cultural insight, highlighting for us a shared experience of Native American and Scottish Highlanders of this period . Isabelle,s Daughter

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Slow start developing the characters but a great read. B

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      What a wonderful adventurous book. I love th e characters and the main character is excellent in this series. I can't wait to start the next one.
    • 5/5
      A good start for a mystery series set in the colonial US. The 7 year war is an interesting time period, overshadowed by greater events a few years later but a good time to set a series. Also good that the English aren't all hissable villains. I think I'll follow Duncan on a few more of his mysteries.

      Good narration.
    • 5/5
      Captivating story that gives you so much insight into this time period.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The story is great but a lot of details. While listening to the audio, I really needed to be paying attention or I would get lost in less than 3 minutes. I had to do a lot of rewinding. In the end they did sum everything up, so you did understand all the pieces of the story.
    • 5/5
      Beautifully written and read!
      The description and humanity that the characters are given really brings them to life.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful historical mystery during the French and Indian War. The narrator did an awesome job delineating the different characters! His ability change accents was the best I have ever heard.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Great narration, a good twisty mystery, and plenty of gritty historical context.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I typically don't care for historical mystery genres, but I will be honest. I enjoyed the story due to its graphic descriptions and wonderfully told details. I can appreciate reading this type of genre due to this book. Now, I do hope to find books that present such an enjoyable manner.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Complicated and convoluted. Took me half the book to figure out what was going on and I was really enjoying it and then it got slow slow slow even so I'd somehow I'm giving it for stars

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The time period and the depth of story with regards to how things were back in that period in time in early America as it were. Excellent insight into Native American Indian culture as it pertained to the tribes mentioned during the story. It made me want to find more writings on this topic. This predates the Wild Wild West and in many ways makes them seem tamer. It also inspires me to learn more about the culture of the original native population of America and also of the Scottish highlander clans. The narrator was excellent and the perfect choice for this story. It’s a book I’d be very interested in reading having heard it on audio.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Really love this book. Wasn’t quite sure at first... but the mystery ripens and gets so delicious. A rather ‘novel’ setting for a historical mystery (pun not intended!) and an insightful window on the time period. Also fascinated by the ongoing contrast between the masculine sensibility of the English and the feminine wisdom of the tribes.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Excellent read ! Speaks to all facets of what makes of and edge of your seat movie in print !

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Not a fan. I tried several times to stay interested, adjusted the speed etc. but gave up in the end. I like the plot idea and at points was very compelling but I had trouble connecting with the characters enough to care what happens to them.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I liked this one quite a lot; well written, good story, done.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic book. Loved the writer’s minimalist, in-and-out-of-shadows writing style. Fascinating way to get the personal understanding of what it might have been like to have been a Scot living in America during colonial times when entrepreneureal land grant holders set themselves up as demi-kings, defying the laws of the imperial homeland and “taming” the wilderness largely through despotism and butchery.Duncan McCallum is transported as a political prisoner from the Old Country into the New World. While crossing the Atlantic, some of his fellow passengers and friends meet suspicious deaths. All is not what it seems, not even the mysterious woman in the cell next his. Ashore in New York the killings continue and even his appointment as tutor to Lord Ramsey’s children with the trappings of normalcy does not stop them. In fact, the mystery deepens, leading Duncan to have to place his trust in a British lieutenant and several savage looking Iriquois as he finds himself becoming more deeply involved in uncovering the real murderer to save his wrongly accused friend.His investigation/escape leads him deep into the endless forest and submerses him ever more deeply into the culture and lore of the Six Nations, a people with whom he feels an affinity far greater than he does with the English overlords who are destroying both his Highland heritage and the traditions of the Native Americans.Intriguing glimpse into the French and Indian Wars, a most turbulent and overlooked period of Colonial American and world history, told in terms of the psychological and personal drama events caused in the lives of people engaged in true cultural warfare. Would enjoy reading more by this author

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This historical mystery is not the type that will have one turning pages way into the night rather it will have the reader slowly gathering clues fitting pieces of the jigsaw together. It starts aboad a convict ship bound for the americas carrying Scot highlanders. Several murders and suicides occur onship and Duncan McCullam the only edeucated Scot on board is charged with using his medical knowledge to solve not only these murders but several that occur once the convicts reach their destination. Very few answers are given and the clues are often vague and contradictory which from a mystery stand point is great-this is not a mystery one will have solved by page 100! Pattison also uses Sarah and Alex as a way to showcase both cultures. He does a great job not only defining the differences between the two but highlighting some of the striking similarities between them. He hasalso brought up a very little know fact-that the Highlanders post culloden often worked for the British side by side with the Iriquis against the French and Huron forces. He explores the similarities of both groups-each of which would lose their culture and lands to the british. All in all a very good story-It worked both from the mystery aspect and from the Historical fiction aspect.

      1 person found this helpful