Author: Elly Griffiths
Published: June 29, 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: Kindle Edition, 368 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Ruth Galloway #13
First Sentence: PROLOGUE: There’s so much blood, that’s what he always remembers. Even after the police and the ambulance have left, there’s blood on the grass and even on the trees, dripping into the mud like some Old Testament plague.
From the Publisher: There’s nothing Ruth Galloway hates more than amateur archaeologists, but when a group of them stumble upon Bronze Age artifacts alongside a dead body, she finds herself thrust into their midst—and into the crosshairs of a string of murders circling ever closer.
Ruth is back as head of archaeology at the University of North Norfolk when a group of local metal detectorists—the so-called Night Hawks—uncovers Bronze Age artifacts on the beach, alongside a recently deceased body, just washed ashore. Not long after, the same detectorists uncover a murder-suicide—a scientist and his wife found at their farmhouse, long thought to be haunted by the Black Shuck, a humongous black dog, a harbinger of death. The further DCI Nelson probes into both cases, the more intertwined they become, and the closer they circle to David Brown, the new lecturer Ruth has recently hired, who seems always to turn up wherever Ruth goes. (HMH Books)
My Opinion: Thirteen books in, and I am still fascinated with this series. Granted, some books are better than others when it comes to interpersonal relationships, and some books are better when it comes to history, but on those occasions when the best parts of those two worlds come together, the reader is devouring each word in a single short weekend.
Once again, Nelson and Ruth are at a crossroads in their relationship. Nelson and his wife, Michelle, realize they need to sort out their family issues. Then add in Nelson’s mother learning the truth about Kate, which leaves every part of the Nelson family dynamic up in the air. Things are about to get messy, but maybe or is it possibly, Michelle and Ruth have found common ground.
There are many characters in this book, and if you ask me -- too many, to the point that I found myself channeling Ruth from time to time with frequent outbursts of, “Who the bloody hell is that?”.
From the Publisher: There’s nothing Ruth Galloway hates more than amateur archaeologists, but when a group of them stumble upon Bronze Age artifacts alongside a dead body, she finds herself thrust into their midst—and into the crosshairs of a string of murders circling ever closer.
Ruth is back as head of archaeology at the University of North Norfolk when a group of local metal detectorists—the so-called Night Hawks—uncovers Bronze Age artifacts on the beach, alongside a recently deceased body, just washed ashore. Not long after, the same detectorists uncover a murder-suicide—a scientist and his wife found at their farmhouse, long thought to be haunted by the Black Shuck, a humongous black dog, a harbinger of death. The further DCI Nelson probes into both cases, the more intertwined they become, and the closer they circle to David Brown, the new lecturer Ruth has recently hired, who seems always to turn up wherever Ruth goes. (HMH Books)
My Opinion: Thirteen books in, and I am still fascinated with this series. Granted, some books are better than others when it comes to interpersonal relationships, and some books are better when it comes to history, but on those occasions when the best parts of those two worlds come together, the reader is devouring each word in a single short weekend.
Once again, Nelson and Ruth are at a crossroads in their relationship. Nelson and his wife, Michelle, realize they need to sort out their family issues. Then add in Nelson’s mother learning the truth about Kate, which leaves every part of the Nelson family dynamic up in the air. Things are about to get messy, but maybe or is it possibly, Michelle and Ruth have found common ground.
There are many characters in this book, and if you ask me -- too many, to the point that I found myself channeling Ruth from time to time with frequent outbursts of, “Who the bloody hell is that?”.
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