The Silence of Bones
Korea, 1801: Sixteen-year-old Seol, an indentured servant, or damo, to the Capital Police bureau, assists the male police officers (who are forbidden to touch unrelated women) with investigations and performs domestic work at the police station. But Seol has another mission, one unknown to her superiors. She hopes to find her older brother, who abandoned Seol and her older sister twelve years earlier to journey to the capital. Seol is curious and out-spoken, qualities perhaps not valued in an indentured servant. She assists the young Inspector Han in the investigation of the murder of a highborn noblewoman. Is it possible Lady O was killed because of her ties to the heretic, forbidden Catholic sect? When it appears that Inspector Han could be involved in the killing, Seol must choose between her loyalty to her superior officer and her own desire for the truth. And does this investigation have any bearing on Seol’s own personal quest?
June Hur’s well written debut novel is a complexly plotted mystery novel with an intriguing heroine, set in an era and location that may not be well known to Western readers. Hur weaves the many threads of the plot, characters, and setting into a deeply rich fabric, and in the process, creates a read that should appeal to the stated young adult audience, and to adult readers as well.
