Another great Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway novel..Ruth and Nelson are getting closer..What did he say at the end when he touches her hand? Hmmm.. Plots are thickening in every direction here, the mystery was very intricate, as are the personal dynamics.
Sexism rears it's ugly head in this book about Walsingham Pilgrims and Pilgrimages on Holy Week. The mystery culminates at a Good Friday Passion Play and the story ends on Easter Sunday. In between there is madness, murder and mysterious assignations.
Ruth Galloway is an archeologist and unwed mother with a terrifically diverse group of cohorts. She is "seconded" to the Serious Crimes police department for her expertise in bones, so has this dual professional life, where her main love interest is DCI Harry Nelson the "chief".
So I am caught up until Book #10 comes out, but will go back and order the 2nd and 3rd books in series and someday will reread in order.
I saw a review where someone said "the world could end while I am reading this and would not notice" Yes! Exactly!
I am absolutely enthralled with this series..Too bad I am reading them out of order but eventually I can reread the whole series from start to finish.(Reason: I'm a book reviewer blogger and try to read my favorite authors from NetGalley but sometimes from E-Library loans) I am recommending them to my sister also ( and several hundred others through my blogs)
This is book 9 and I so hated for it to end last night. In addition to the awesome mystery about "Rough Sleepers" and their possible "Underground" Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson came to an interesting part of their relationship, almost 10 years into it.
So for folks like me who like their mysteries set in other eras or countries, this one is set in Norfolk and Dr. Ruth Galloway is a forensic archeologist who is "seconded" ( assigned to), the serious crime division of the Police department. Ruth herself lives in a remote area on the edge of the salt marsh outside of the town of Lynn and was part of a dig that excavated a wooden henge in past years.
Rough sleepers is what we call homeless in the US and the Underground discussed has to do with a series of tunnels which are partly old chalk pits under the town. Some of the homeless begin to be murdered, one of them who sleeps on the porch of the Police headquarters and is known, fondly, to many. Then some mysterious disappearances occur, which even touch the police group Ruth works with.
It ends in the underground aforementioned, and you need to start this series now! I recommend starting at the beginning which is "The Crossing Places" and has to do with the discovery and excavation of the Iron Age henge in the salt marsh.
5 Stars definitely
October, 1736. Lured out of retirement to serve as Constable once again, Richard Nottingham finds Leeds very different from the place he remembers. Many newcomers have been attracted by the town's growing wealth ?..although the faces have changed, the crimes remain the same, as Nottingham discovers when a body is found floating in the River Aire, its throat cut.
An incredibly exciting mystery was presented in this book, as well as a nostalgic visit with Richard Nottingham, who again is serving as Constable in Leeds.
October 1736 - Richard Nottingham feels old and a bit disoriented as winter approaches, and has slipped into the past and is evading the present. He receives a message from the Moot Hall and John Brooke, Mayor of Leeds who is starting his year in office. Amazingly, Nottingham is told that they would like him to step back into the vacancy left by the death of Simon Kirkstall.
His daughter's man Rob Lister,currently Deputy Constable,is his immediate choice, but is deemed too young and not experienced enough by the other alderman. Brooke tells him he was the best Constable they ever had, which Nottingham feels is doubtful.
Getting the keys to the jail which serves as their office, Richard is there when Rob arrives at work and the Deputy is understandably upset. There is not too much time for hurt feelings however as a series of murders rocks the city, and both Constable and Deputy Rob are baffled.
Nottingham has a theory, which Rob Lister, Deputy does not agree with, that links three types of those murdered, prostitutes, pimps and money lenders. How do they fit?
Included is this nail biter of a mystery are the street children always barely existing, and at risk, around Leeds as well as a newborn girl. How do they fit into the Nottingham/Lister family? Who is the murderer or murderers and how are they connected to the Constable and his life ?
I strongly recommend that you, and anyone who enjoys a well thought out, historically correct mystery, order this book now and get it immediately. You will not be able to put it down.
For me, one of the best parts of this series is that Richard Nottingham was a real person who was, in actuality, the Constable of Leeds. My thanks to Chris Nickson for his books, the historical aspects of these mysteries and, above all his great love for Leeds.
5 Stars. Thanks to Severn House and the author for the ARC.
A delightful small book to read on a snowy day..and it was free.. and about dear Ruth Galloway.
The author brought all the principals into this one for a holiday read. ( Good idea since I was trying to remember who Max was while reading a subsequent book)
Actually it seems to have been Kate's first tree but of course in Ruth's house. I very much loved Nelson and Cathbad decorating the upside down tree..Yggdrasil .
Start this series!! Loving it.
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and found it enjoyable. I had reviewed the first book Silver Lies also and really loved it. This one was good reading also but the mystery was very complex.
Great attention had to be paid, as to who was the designated detective for which part of the complex chain of events. I am fairly sure that Inez Stannert, still co-owner of Leadville Colorado's Silver Queen saloon, was in actuality the mastermind of keeping the peace in this San Francisco neighborhood.
Other strong personalities or interested parties involved, sometimes along with Inez and sometimes flying solo were Frisco Flo ( Mrs. Sweet) a madam from Leadville and a partner in various dubious businesses with Inez. W.R. de Bruijn had multiple roles to perform in the very complex set of circumstances, one of which was to interact with Inez Stannert's ward Antonia.
I think that Antonia Gizzi herself will be investigating herself before long. It will be so interesting to see how she comes along. She was a delightful fresh character. Pre order now for the April 3rd date and spend the time reading the previous volumes.
My 2nd Ruth Galloway book since I am determined to read them all. Two more are on my kindle now from my digital library. Would love to read them all in order but I will catch up, free is free, and samples are always available on Amazon.
Possibly I am really drawn to this body of work as my graduate degrees were in Anthropology, although no fieldwork for cultural anthropology usually. I am quite selective about my reads and only follow certain authors, and was once in a virtual tour group but did not like losing personal selection. My preference in mysteries are historical and being written about another country than US.
All of that being said, Elly Griffiths does have understanding of archaeology, and this area in Norfolk. Her character, Dr. Ruth Galloway is unique and refreshing, as are her associates and loved ones. Ruth is fortyish and overweight but supposedly pretty, and her various love interests will attest to this attractiveness. Her peers also are not completely monogamous, so modern relationships are evident.
Ruth makes the acquaintance of DI Harry Nelson because of her expertise in dating of bones, specifically those that are in peat bogs. Harry, as well as some other will continue to be present in subsequent novels. Most of her compatriots are academics like herself.
Many of Ruth's memories and personal history are at risk in this novel where two young girls have gone missing ten years apart. Ten years prior was a watershed discovery of a henge in the salt marsh area she now lives in. What has happened to these girls and when did it happen? Others who are contemporaries or of past importance to Ruth are drawn into this nail biter, when Iron Age and modern skeletons are discovered near to her home and work.
A 10th Ruth Galloway book will be released in 2018. My recommendation is that you start reading now to catch up. 5 Stars.
While I was looking for the new Victoria Thompson from my digital library I found 3 books I never read yet.. This one was really great! So glad I found it and got it free and did not read everyones reviews about stereotypes, which perhaps were somewhat for period authenticity. However I give it 4.5 stars because of some of that.
In this book, Frank and Sarah's relationship is starting to develop and their families and cohorts are beginning to come together around them- somewhat anyway.
So Chinatown- and mixed marriages- play into this mystery. Being mostly Irish I felt that the O'Neal family were typecast and their names - Quinn? Keeley?- would never have never gotten past any priest who had baptized them. Their living situation was pretty dire too, although I know people doubled and tripled up in city apartment as they came into the US.
The mystery was good and I did like the introduction of this particular type of assimilation ( mixed marriage), especially with my graduate degree in Anthropology. Yes, I liked it and will recommend it to others who like period mysteries.
The first Ruth Galloway book I have read, but not the last. I found it a lot of fun to read. I like that Ruth is an Archaeologist as I studied Anthropology,and I will read more of these books. Happily for me, 3 more are available from my digital library loan.
Some of the more unbelievable parts ( woo woo) of "The Dreaming", and that explanation of the deaths was cleared up medically with inhaled spores and pneumonia, so I am good with it.
Ruth herself and her romances, or what passes for romances, is quite interesting. Will it be Max or Nelson as the love interest- or both? Kate wants a "DaDa" or a father figure more substantial than Cathbad the Druid or the cat.
Recommended for those who enjoy mysteries that diverge from the usual.
"Apprentice healer Lassair heads on a perilous journey north in the absorbing new Aelf Fen medieval mystery."
Happily I received this ARC from NetGalley and #8 was the best of the Aelf Fen series so far. I have good expectations that there are more to come, "When I emerged once more, perhaps the world would be a happier place. It right even be all right again." Pretty sure Lassair will return- to Jack? I am not sure of that.
I find the fens intriguing and this trip by Lassair and Rollo, that seemed to skirt them, was even more perilous to read about. Usually there is a threat of the fenlands taking lives but this time? Well..
The plot was suitably complicated, although I figured it out a few pages ahead of time. Very well done.
Lassair has always been very well developed as a character, Rollo has his ups and downs but he ended well here ( read it and see). Jack has definitely evolved but will he return? Also I am wondering how the relationship will develop between Lassair's father and his newly discovered father?
Here is hoping that Aelf Fen book 9 is in the works. Preorder your copy now !
Thanks to both NetGalley and Lake Union publishing for this ARC, which I award 4.5 stars and thoroughly enjoyed. A different genre than I usually choose, from mystery author Rhys Bowen, but delightful to read.
It was a very fine stand-alone read about WWII, told with two time lines. In 1944 a British warplane was shot down over Tuscany and Hugo Langley ( Sir Hugo actually), the pilot, although wounded parachutes to safety. The story is told alternately between winter 1944 and Hugo's tale a and Joanna his daughter in the 1970s ( born in 1945). In Italy, in the same time shifts are Sofia a lovely Italian young woman with a young son.
Joanna in 1973 goes to San Salvatore to try to put closure after her father's death and meets Sofia's son.There is an interesting dual love story going on, as well as a very good mystery.
I know little about how the war progressed in Italy or about the privations that people endured so that part held my attention also.
Perhaps the characters might reappear under different circumstances? I loved it and Rhys Bowen has a way of drawing one into the environment she describes. An exciting and fun Christmas read which I am recommending to mystery fans.
