Author Elly Griffiths has announced that this 15th book in the 'Ruth Galloway' mysteries is the last in the series.
In this novel, Ruth helps the police investigate the cold case murder of a college co-ed. The book could work as a standalone but will be more satisfying to people familiar with the characters.
*****
Dr. Ruth Galloway - a member of the Archaeology Department at England's University of North Norfolk (UNN) - loves her job, which involves teaching, doing research, and writing books.
So Ruth is taken aback when she reads on Twitter that UNN is planning to eliminate the Archaeology Department because of budget concerns. Ruth joins her co-workers in mounting protests, appealing to the public on television, and soliciting supportive letters from colleagues, but she has little faith these tactics will save the department.
Thus Ruth worries about supporting her 12-year-old daughter Kate, who was conceived during Ruth's affair with Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson, a married man.
Ruth and Nelson have had an on-again, off-again romance for 14 years, and now that Nelson's wife Michelle is getting a divorce, there might be a chance Ruth, Harry, and Kate - as well as Ruth's cat Flint and Nelson's dog Bruno - can form a real family.
Meanwhile, renovations of an old Norfolk café, with the aim of re-opening as a fashionable tea room, reveal a skeleton hidden behind a wall.
Archaeologist Ruth Galloway is called to view the bones, and she observes a surgical plate used to fuse a broken ankle. So Ruth determines the skeleton is modern, and DCI Harry Nelson and his team begin a murder inquiry.
The investigators learn the murder victim was Emily Pickering, an archaeology student at Cambridge University, who disappeared twenty years ago. Just before Emily vanished, she was on a field trip with her mentor, Professor Leo Ballard and other students and teachers.
As it happens, Ruth's druid friend Cathbad (real name Michael Malone), who was 36-years-old at the time, was on the outing with Ballard and the undergraduates.
Emily Pickering's parents believed Professor Ballard was responsible for Emily's disappearance, and Ballard even sued them for slander. Now that Emily's body has turned up, the Pickerings insist Ballard killed her, and Ballard does behave squirrelly when the police question him.
However, the police find that Emily was involved with several men, so there are plenty of suspects......possibly including Cathbad. This is significant to the cops because Cathbad's life partner Judy is a detective on Nelson's team, and must be recused from the investigation.
Shortly after Emily's body is found, Cathbad disappears. This may or may not be significant, because the druid tends to wander around visiting prehistorical sites, old graves, places with mystical significance, and so on. Still, Judy is terribly concerned because the druid almost died from Covid, and may have long Covid amnesia.
Since there's a dearth of forensic evidence, most of the police investigation involves interviewing people, looking at photos, observing CCTV footage, and mulling over their findings. Ruth doesn't have a big part in the inquiries, and it's DCI Nelson's inspiration that eventually solves the case.
As the story unfolds, there are 'Easter Egg' references to people and events in previous books, which is a nice treat for fans. It's also fun to hear Nelson regularly use his favorite expression, "Jesus Wept."
The novel's finale is satisfying, and leaves room for more books if the author decides to continue the series at some point.
In this novel, Ruth helps the police investigate the cold case murder of a college co-ed. The book could work as a standalone but will be more satisfying to people familiar with the characters.
*****
Dr. Ruth Galloway - a member of the Archaeology Department at England's University of North Norfolk (UNN) - loves her job, which involves teaching, doing research, and writing books.
So Ruth is taken aback when she reads on Twitter that UNN is planning to eliminate the Archaeology Department because of budget concerns. Ruth joins her co-workers in mounting protests, appealing to the public on television, and soliciting supportive letters from colleagues, but she has little faith these tactics will save the department.
Thus Ruth worries about supporting her 12-year-old daughter Kate, who was conceived during Ruth's affair with Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson, a married man.
Ruth and Nelson have had an on-again, off-again romance for 14 years, and now that Nelson's wife Michelle is getting a divorce, there might be a chance Ruth, Harry, and Kate - as well as Ruth's cat Flint and Nelson's dog Bruno - can form a real family.
Meanwhile, renovations of an old Norfolk café, with the aim of re-opening as a fashionable tea room, reveal a skeleton hidden behind a wall.
Archaeologist Ruth Galloway is called to view the bones, and she observes a surgical plate used to fuse a broken ankle. So Ruth determines the skeleton is modern, and DCI Harry Nelson and his team begin a murder inquiry.
The investigators learn the murder victim was Emily Pickering, an archaeology student at Cambridge University, who disappeared twenty years ago. Just before Emily vanished, she was on a field trip with her mentor, Professor Leo Ballard and other students and teachers.
As it happens, Ruth's druid friend Cathbad (real name Michael Malone), who was 36-years-old at the time, was on the outing with Ballard and the undergraduates.
Emily Pickering's parents believed Professor Ballard was responsible for Emily's disappearance, and Ballard even sued them for slander. Now that Emily's body has turned up, the Pickerings insist Ballard killed her, and Ballard does behave squirrelly when the police question him.
However, the police find that Emily was involved with several men, so there are plenty of suspects......possibly including Cathbad. This is significant to the cops because Cathbad's life partner Judy is a detective on Nelson's team, and must be recused from the investigation.
Shortly after Emily's body is found, Cathbad disappears. This may or may not be significant, because the druid tends to wander around visiting prehistorical sites, old graves, places with mystical significance, and so on. Still, Judy is terribly concerned because the druid almost died from Covid, and may have long Covid amnesia.
Since there's a dearth of forensic evidence, most of the police investigation involves interviewing people, looking at photos, observing CCTV footage, and mulling over their findings. Ruth doesn't have a big part in the inquiries, and it's DCI Nelson's inspiration that eventually solves the case.
As the story unfolds, there are 'Easter Egg' references to people and events in previous books, which is a nice treat for fans. It's also fun to hear Nelson regularly use his favorite expression, "Jesus Wept."
The novel's finale is satisfying, and leaves room for more books if the author decides to continue the series at some point.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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