The Crossing Places

The Crossing Places

Elly Griffiths

5 out of 5


Loved this book. Hope that it is the first of many in a very intriguing series.

Finally an author brings to the reader a very down to earth "normal" lead character. A later 30'ish college professor who is more at home with her cats and radio then out in bars or quilting bees. Granted she is a little quirky in her total devotion to archaeology and living on a rather isolated salt marsh, but Ruth Galloway is a woman who thinks she knows what she wants and thinks she is leading the right life for her.

When bones are found nearby, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls upon Ruth to help identify if they are human and if they happen to be those of a missing child. Lucy Downey has been missing for ten years and since that time, Nelson has been receiving very strange letters involving philosophy, poetry, archaeology and generally bizarre stuff.

Unfortunately, the bones date back to the Iron Age, but that doesn't stop Ruth, especially when a second child disappears. Ruth's old friends and lovers appear on the scene and a wicked storm comes up and traps Ruth and a killer on the salt marsh.

Though a third of the way in I thought I had the killer pegged, Grifiths' does a remarkable job in leading the read down many a winding path only to have them question their own conclusions. This book makes you think, cheer on the characters, laugh at their plights and also gasp at a very intriguing conclusion that has you waiting for the next book in the series.