Where The Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski-Review & Interview

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 11, 2025

For Dash Fuller, Hollywood’s underbelly is home. He’s spent years making the film industry’s worst secrets disappear, and it’s left him a cynical burnout with a taste for bourbon and self-loathing.

But when a young woman comes to him with a peculiar quest, Dash sees a chance at redemption. Madeline Ironwood is the daughter of Ken Ironwood, a notorious smuggler and murderer who disappeared 20 years ago. Ken’s skeleton has just been discovered in a barrel at the bottom of a dried-up lake, and Madeline wants to know who killed him.

Dash agrees to help, and as this desperate daughter and jaded cynic claw their way through a world of sun-bleached secrets, crooked cops, and Hollywood thugs, they soon uncover a conspiracy involving some of LA’s most powerful people.

Get ready for a fast-paced, darkly funny thriller with a twist you won’t see coming.

••••••

REVIEW: WHERE THE BONES LIE by Nick Kolakowski is a stand alone, contemporary, adult, murder mystery thriller focusing on former Hollywood fixer turned struggling standup comedian Dash Fuller.

Told from first person perspective (Dash) WHERE THE BONES LIE follows Dash Fuller as he struggles with his latest career. Failing as a late night comedian in the wake of his last disastrous ‘fix’, Dash’s mentor and ‘cleaner’ Manny begs for help with a missing Hollywood star. Although a success, the end result is a reminder of what was, and Dash reconsiders his future at the bottom of a bottle but when a young woman, Madeline Ironwood, asks for help investigating the murder of her father, a man who disappeared years before, Dash is determined to get answers but never expected to become a target of some powerful people.

The world building is imaginative and inviting as we are up close and personal with Dash and Madeline as they go in search of the truth. Madeline’s father’s remains were discovered in a dried up lake bed but law enforcement is refusing to give further details. Not all is as it appears to be as the body count increases with each step closer to the truth.

There is large ensemble cast of colorful, questionable and hapless secondary and supporting characters. We are introduced to actors Amber Rodney and Karl Quaid; Vintner Mike Vonn; Dash’s mentor Manny and Deputy Sheriff Reid, as well as an odd assortment of assassins, goons and San Douglas townies.

WHERE THE BONES LIE is a story of secrets and lies, murder, greed and madness, betrayal and vengeance. The character driven premise is dramatic and edgy; the characters are ill-fated and dynamic. The author leaves an opening for a possible continuation.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

TRC: Hi Nick and welcome to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the release WHERE THE BONES LIE. We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Nick: I’m a crime and horror writer based in New York City. Like most of my ilk, I’m a lifelong fan of pretty much everything involving fictional murder and mayhem. WHERE THE BONES LIE is my first “classic” mystery novel, but I’m the author of several other books, including PAYBACK IS FOREVER, LOVE & BULLETS, and ABSOLUTE UNIT. I also write short stories and screenplays.

TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Nick: I fell in love with classic detective literature when I was a kid. I spent my youth reading Christie, Doyle, Chandler—all the greats. At a certain point, I mustered up my courage and decided to try writing crime stories myself.

TRC: What challenges or difficulties did you encounter writing and publishing this story?

Nick: The publishing was smooth as proverbial silk—everyone from Datura Books to Penguin Random House have been great on every front, from editing through distribution. The writing part of it, as you might expect, came with its own share of challenges. Coming up with the final premise took a lot of work, since I wanted to do something relatively unique to the detective genre, which is piled high with 140+ years of stories and characters. Once I had that premise locked, the writing was a fun grind, but still a grind—I had to stop a few times to kind of re-center and figure out how to do best by my characters and story.

TRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise of WHERE THE BONES LIE?

Nick: Dash Fuller has spent years making the film industry’s worst secrets disappear, and it’s left him a cynical burnout with a taste for bourbon and self-loathing.

But when a young woman comes to him with a peculiar quest, Dash sees a chance at redemption. Madeline Ironwood is the daughter of Ken Ironwood, a notorious smuggler and murderer who disappeared 20 years ago. Ken’s skeleton has just been discovered in a barrel at the bottom of a dried-up lake, and Madeline wants to know who killed him.

Dash agrees to help, and as this desperate daughter and jaded cynic claw their way through a world of sun-bleached secrets, crooked cops, and Hollywood thugs, they soon uncover a conspiracy involving some of LA’s most powerful people.

TRC: What kind of research/plotting did you do, and how long did you spend researching /plotting before beginning WHERE THE BONES LIE?

Nick: As with all my books, I did quite a bit of research before I began writing WHERE THE BONES LIE: everything from how wildfires move to how to effectively drive a classic Mustang at car-chase speeds to the best ways to pick a lock. I always aspire to ground my books’ details as much as possible. The cool thing about research is that it also informs the plot—as I talked to people and went through websites and books, I found myself tweaking the book’s outline to incorporate some nifty new detail.

TRC: Is any of the premise based in reality or fact?

Nick: There are definitely some elements pulled from reality. For example, the book’s central mystery involves a skeleton found in a barrel at the bottom of a dried-up lake. I pulled that idea from real-life news stories about lakes drying up in Nevada, exposing the long-lost bones of mob informants and other criminals who’d been tossed in the water decades before.
I also pulled quite a bit from what’s going on in California right now, everything from wildfires to the implosion of the entertainment industry. I wanted the book to feel very gritty and real.

TRC: Is the story a standalone? If no, how many books do you have planned for the series?

Nick: I hope this becomes a series! It ends in a way that’s a direct lead-in to a sequel. I’ll keep writing them as long as the readers will have me…

TRC: Believability is an important factor in writing story lines especially stories of mystery and suspense. How do you keep the story line believable? Where do you think some author’s fail?

Nick: When it comes to believability, everything stems from motivation. If you do your work earlier in the book to firmly establish a character’s capabilities and motives, and then make sure they only act within those parameters, you’ll never have a reader scream, “I can’t believe [character X] did that!”

It’s a similar deal when it comes to plot. Virtually any plot twist is believable if you set it up properly earlier in the book, with the right amount of foreshadowing detail and logic. That’s where I think some authors fail: they introduce a seemingly unbelievable thing on page 200 that just doesn’t work, because they didn’t do the work on pages 1-100 to establish the foundations of that thing.

TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

Nick: It’s a huge factor. Readers say again and again that a good cover is a crucial motivator in picking up a book. A great cover will move copies; a bad cover will make the hard job of marketing even harder.

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Nick: For the longest time, I would go with the characters’ impulses; with WHERE THE BONES LIE, however, I decided for the first time to outline the book, effectively putting me in the position of directing them. But even then, I made some crucial changes during the writing process based on what the characters were telling me at that moment. For example, the book’s outlined ending was much more straightforward than the final version, without the big twists. Those twists came because a character kept pulling in that direction as I was writing.

TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writers fail in this endeavor?

Nick: I believe it’s critical to sink the reader into the characters’ headspace. That doesn’t always mean utilizing stream-of-consciousness or constantly mentioning the characters’ thoughts, although those are powerful techniques when done correctly. Oftentimes, you can convey what the characters are thinking or feeling via their external words and actions, even small ones.

In order to build that emotional connection, of course, you do your best to build sympathy for your characters, even the worst ones. There are a number of ways to do that; revealing their traumas, their hopes and dreams, can all make them relatable. And I think that’s where a lot of writers fall short, because they don’t consider the full dimensions of a character, and/or neglect to include those details that balance out any bad with the good.

TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?

Nick: I’m a big music listener. Before I sit down to write each book, I craft a playlist that I think reflects the book’s tone. With WHERE THE BONES LIE, I had a mix of upbeat, beachy tunes like The Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon,” which was meant as an ironic counterpoint to the book’s dark mystery, mixed with some modern, grittier stuff like The Ting Tings’ “Estranged” and HMLTD’s “Satan, Luella & I.”

TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?

Nick: I think people think that authors simply write the words and the publishing industry takes care of the rest, but every serious author I know is essentially a small business owner, tackling everything from marketing to accounting. It’s a full-spectrum job, even if you’re only doing it part-time.

TRC: What is something that few, if anyone, know about you?

Nick: I’m extremely Type A. That’s great when it comes to hitting deadlines and establishing a schedule for writing, but I need to learn how to calm down a bit more.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Nick: I’m currently outlining the sequel to WHERE THE BONES LIE! This one will partially take place in Northern California and involve a lot of today’s hot-button issues, from the consequences of digital surveillance to the fallout of our decades-long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m doing my best to liven up the darkness with some bursts of humor.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food
Sushi

Favorite Dessert
Chocolate chip cookies

Favorite TV Show
It’s a toss-up between ‘Deadwood’ and ‘Breaking Bad’

Favorite Sport
Long-distance running.

Last Movie You Saw
“Den of Thieves 2”

Dark or Milk Chocolate
Dark

Secret Celebrity Crush
Aubrey Plaza

Last Vacation Destination
Upstate New York

Do you have any pets?
Two huge and irascible cats

Last book you read
“Careless People” by Sarah Wynn-Williams

TRC: Thank you Nick for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of WHERE THE BONES LIE. We wish you all the best.