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The first entry in the acclaimed Ruth Galloway series follows the "captivating"* archaeologist as she investigates a child's bones found on a nearby beach, thought to be the remains of a little girl who went missing ten years before. Forensic archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway is in her late thirties. She lives happily alone with her two cats in a bleak, remote area near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants--not quite earth, not quite sea. But her routine days of digging up bones and other ancient objects are harshly upended when a child's bones are found on a desolate beach. Detective Chief Inspector Nelson calls Galloway for help, believing they are the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing a decade ago and whose abductor continues to taunt him with bizarre letters containing references to ritual sacrifice, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Then a second girl goes missing and Nelson receives a new letter--exactly like the ones about Lucy. Is it the same killer? Or a copycat murderer, linked in some way to the site near Ruth's remote home? *Louise Penny… (more)
I enjoyed this first mystery in the Ruth Galloway series. I like the idea of an archaeologist teaming up with a policeman to solve a crime. This series is set in northeastern England. Elly Griffith gives some depth to her characters; they are not one dimensional. The story moved along in that pleasant/annoying way of keeping you interested and then forcing you to drop everything else to get to the end. The one hitch was, I actually figured out who must've done the deed about half way through. That's a first for me. I will read more. I just hope next time the murderer won't be so easy to spot. ( )
This book is strangely compelling. I hated the writing style to start with and the constant references to her weight but this book drew me in and kept me hooked. The mystery was thoroughly engaging and kept me guessing - I thought I knew who it was but then I kept changing my mind. The reveal at the end had me dumbfounded. I'm not really impressed by it. The character drama throughout was a bit much - I didn't see the purpose of Peter her ex boyfriend at all - but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Solid 3.5 stars, rounded to 4. ( )
Several good things and several bad/annoying things.
Good: some decent characterisation of main protagonists and a really pretty thrilling climax.
Bad: fair amount of pedestrian writing, signposted villain, lots of annoying slips of editing (directions all wrong at one point; nobody from Blackpool says "champion", etc), rather too much relationshippy nonsense, several supporting characters straight from the cliche handbook. ( )
I have read many of Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway mysteries, including the latest and last one, so it was interesting to come to the first in the series very late in the day. I think this meant I paid more attention to how relationships developed, rather than the mystery. The story of the two children is referred to in many of the later novels, so this wasn't such a surprise. How Ruth and Nelson are with each other in those early days is interesting and where Cathbad comes into the story. So a great read, as usual, but for my own reasons. ( )
The first entry in the acclaimed Ruth Galloway series follows the "captivating"* archaeologist as she investigates a child's bones found on a nearby beach, thought to be the remains of a little girl who went missing ten years before. Forensic archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway is in her late thirties. She lives happily alone with her two cats in a bleak, remote area near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants--not quite earth, not quite sea. But her routine days of digging up bones and other ancient objects are harshly upended when a child's bones are found on a desolate beach. Detective Chief Inspector Nelson calls Galloway for help, believing they are the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing a decade ago and whose abductor continues to taunt him with bizarre letters containing references to ritual sacrifice, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Then a second girl goes missing and Nelson receives a new letter--exactly like the ones about Lucy. Is it the same killer? Or a copycat murderer, linked in some way to the site near Ruth's remote home? *Louise Penny
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bodies in salt marsh religious sign posts peat versus repeats (hardboiled)
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