Bone Valley

A True Story of Injustice and Redemption in the Heart of Florida

By: Gilbert King

Narrated by: Gilbert King

From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gilbert King comes a chilling exploration of one of America’s most haunting wrongful conviction cases. Based on the hit podcast, Bone Valley dives into the dark heart of rural Florida, where a young man’s life was upended by a tragic miscarriage of justice.

This program is read by the author and contains interviews (some previously unheard) and audio from the Bone Valley podcast by Lava for Good, plus a bonus conversation with Gilbert King and Leo Schofield.

In 1987, Leo Schofield was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, Michelle. Always insistent on his innocence, he was poorly served by his legal defense: The investigation was sloppy, the case flimsy, and numerous pieces of evidence were ignored. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Over thirty years later, Gilbert King is tipped off to Leo’s case and is astonished by what he found: layers of corruption, flawed evidence, and deep-seated errors. He can’t shake the story and starts to get to know Leo and his family. Leo shows an incomprehensible amount of grace and love about his situation, which spurs Gilbert even more to tell his story.

Bone Valley is at once a revelatory investigation into a murder, a chilling portrait of the criminal justice system, and a uniquely powerful story of grace and redemption. Gilbert King has written a new classic of narrative nonfiction.

“Captivating, enraging, and all too true.” —Bob Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road

“Bone Valley is a work of rare moral clarity and deep compassion.” ―Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

Podcast: ℗ and © Lava Productions, LLC 2022

©2025 Gilbert King (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“You won’t read any thriller this year as spellbinding as Bone Valley. It’s captivating, enraging, and all too true—and its astounding conclusion will leave you in tears” —Bob Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road and Lost Girls

“Bone Valley is a work of rare moral clarity and deep compassion. Gilbert King’s investigation reveals not only a grievous injustice, but the grace that can emerge when truth is pursued with empathy and integrity. In the spirit of Just Mercy and Dead Man Walking, this story reminds us that true justice requires more than facts—it requires heart. I urge you to read it.” —Sister Helen Prejean, bestselling author of Dead Man Walking

“With depth, humility, and an open, timid understanding of its inadequacy within the legal system, this orientation of King’s reporting grants human gravitas to the mind-blowing frustrations of procedural technicalities. Both infuriating and hopeful, a story about the ultimate integrity of truth.” —Kirkus

Absolutely incredible Book that is Life changing

“Chapter 27: Kept My Damn Mouth Shut” has the potential to change your entire worldview on violent crime and forgiveness. Grace and mercy and compassion have never been more explained and displayed to me like this, and this book changed my life.

Quite the journey!

When I started listening to this, because I hadn’t listened to a good audiobook in a while, I couldn’t understand what all the hype was about. I didn’t know about the podcast were the case, but I hung in there and the narrative picked up deep end and got very interesting.

And I’m glad I did because as I was listening to the second half of the book, I find myself thinking about it when I wasn’t listening. The audiobook reminded me of watching a great documentary. Make sure you listen after the end to a conversation that will really bring things full circle.

Believing in a convicted felon who was innocent!

In 34 years of law enforcement, one of my greatest fears was that I might arrest someone who was then convicted, yet was innocent. That police, prosecutors, and judges in this case would refuse to see the truth, or would push another narrative in spite of what they know is the truth, is beyond disturbing.

Great read

This book was just a tad slow at first but once it got going man was it entertaining and enlightening. I'm not sure I've ever read Gilbert King before but after this I will definitely be looking into some just titles. this is a great true read about Injustice in our systems and how a group of people had to fight against the State of Florida to get there come up at I highly recommend this to anyone who likes True Crime and who likes reading about innocent convictions and the overturning of them

An Author is not a Narrator

One thing you often read in say the New Yorker or Harper’s are stories and pieces where the writer writes about himself/herself and how s/he went about writing the story. Fine. It is the author who puts pen to paper and pushes those words into readable sentences. The skill of writing a good story, however, does not necessarily mean too that yours is the voice to perform that work out loud. Clearly, Mr King was not awarded a Pulitzer for his narration because his nasal drone and flat delivery would surely have eliminated him from contention.