In this 13th book in the 'Ruth Galloway' series, the forensic archaeologist becomes involved when treasure hunters discover a present-day corpse near a Bronze Age skeleton. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.
*****
After a time living and teaching in Cambridge, Dr. Ruth Galloway has returned to Norfolk with her 10-year-old daughter Kate and their cat Flint. Kate is back in her old primary school and Ruth has returned to the University of North Norfolk as head of the archaeology department.
Part of Ruth's reason for returning was to be near Kate's father, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson, with whom Ruth had an affair. Nelson is married with children, and Ruth knows he won't leave his wife and little boy, but Ruth wants Kate to be near her dad.
Norfolk is well known for its buried historical relics, which attract both professional archaeologists and detectorists - amateurs who hunt for treasure with metal detectors.
One group of detectorists, who call themselves the Night Hawks, is probing the beach at Blakeney Point when they come across the body of a dead man close to a trench containing pieces of old metal.
DCI Nelson arrives and arranges for his team to investigate the body. Nelson also phones forensic archaeologist Ruth to examine the metal artifacts in the trench. Ruth hurries over, accompanied by a newly hired archaeology professor named David Brown. Brown is a knowledgeable researcher, but he's pushy and intrusive, which annoys Ruth no end.
At first, the authorities think the dead man on Blakeney Point is an illegal immigrant washed up from a sunken boat. However, the deceased turns out to be a local lad called Jem Taylor. Taylor has a snake tattoo, which seems to tie in with regional legends about a Norfolk sea serpent.
To add to the eeriness of the incident, Ruth and her team dig up the old metal in the trench and find a skeleton, suspected to be about 5,000 years old.
Professor Brown is VERY excited about the skeleton, which he suspects is one of the Beaker People, a group that migrated from Central Europe to England thousands of years ago. Brown is researching a theory that the Beakers brought a plague that wiped out 90% of the native Britons.
The night after Jem Taylor's body is discovered, DCI Nelson gets another call from the Night Hawks. This time, the treasure hunters were trolling near Black Dog Farm when they heard gunshots coming from the main house.
The police storm the residence and find the bodies of the owners: Dr. Douglas Noakes - a pharmaceutical researcher, and his wife Linda - a primary school teacher. The incident is suspected to be a murder-suicide, but Nelson feels three suspicious deaths in two days needs investigating. Moreover, people have reported seeing a harbinger of death called The Black Shuck (a giant black dog) around Black Dog Farm. Nelson doesn't put any credence in this, but local folks do.
It turns out the deaths of the young man and the married couple are more complicated than they first appear, and - as the police investigate - there are additional fatalities. Moreover, various relationships come to light and secrets are revealed.
One of the pleasures of the Ruth Galloway novels are the tidbits about Norfolk - its landscape, atmosphere, and archaeology.
I also like the recurring characters, such as the mystical druid Cathbad and his partner, Detective Inspector Judy Johnson.....which seems like an odd pairing, but it works.
Finally, it's interesting to follow the personal lives of Ruth and Nelson, which have evolved considerably over the course of the series.
I enjoyed the story and look forward to future books featuring Ruth Galloway.
Thanks to Netgalley, Elly Griffiths, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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