Thank you Libro.fm for the ALC and Bloomsbury Books, #partner for the finished copy of Bog Queen in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Books / Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: October 14, 2025
Summary:
The story of an anthropologist’s monumental discovery and the clash of civilizations it sets off over the fate of the land that holds us
When a body is found in a bog in northwest England, Agnes, an American forensic anthropologist, is called to investigate. But this body is not like any she has ever seen: Although its bones prove it was buried more than two thousand years ago, it is almost completely preserved.
Soon Agnes is drawn into a mystery from the distant past, called to understand and avenge the death of an Iron Age woman more like her than she knows. Along the way she must contend with peat-cutters who want to profit from the bog and activists who demand that the land be left undisturbed. Then there is the moss itself: a complex repository of artifacts and remains with its own dark stories to tell. As Agnes faces the deep history of what she has unearthed, she is also forced to question what she thought she knew about her talent, her self-reliance, and her place in the world.
Flashing between the uncertainty of post-Brexit England and the druidic order of Celtic Europe at the dawn of the Roman era, Bog Queen brims with contemporary urgency and ancient wisdom as it connects two young women learning to harness their strange strengths in a mysterious and complex landscape.
My thoughts:
It’s no surprise that I loved this one…a literary eco-fiction — that is right up my alley!! This book checked all the boxes for me:
🌿 an atmospheric and climate centered mystery
⏳️a dual timeline — post-Brexit England and Europe at the dawn of the modern era
🔬 forensics and anthology
This genre-bending story takes mystery, historical fiction and climate fiction and blends it together for one quietly powerful tale that has stuck with me since finishing it. It’s thought-provoking in the way it looks at progress versus preservation when it comes to land, the role women have in society and so much more.
There is a mystery here — trying to figure out who the body is in the bog — but there is so much more than just finding out who killed the woman…it’s finding out why. This body is the link to the two timelines and once that discovery is made…once it is realized that body is that old, a lot more is discovered.
Audio thoughts:
I did an immersive read, alternating between the print and audio, sometimes doing both simultaneously. Lily Newmark does a phenomenal job bringing this story to life.
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