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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
At book #15 this lovely series has come to an end. Along with the mysteries that required a forensic anthropologist (Ruth) to work very closely with a detective chief inspector (Harry) and a supporting cast that included a modern-day druid, this has been a thoroughly enjoyable series. Farewell Ruth!
"When builders discover a human skeleton while renovating a café, they call in archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway, who is preoccupied with the threatened closure of her department and by her ever-complicated relationship with DCI Nelson. The bones turn out to be modern--the remains of Emily Pickering, a young archaeology student who went missing in 2002. Suspicion soon falls on Emily's Cambridge tutor and also on another archeology enthusiast who was part of the group gathered the weekend before she disappeared--Ruth's friend Cathbad. As they investigate, Nelson and his team uncover a tangled web of relationships within the archaeology group and look for a link between them and the café where Emily's bones were found. Then, just when the team seem to be making progress, Cathbad disappears. The trail leads Ruth a to the Neolithic flint mines in Grimes Graves. The race is on, first to find Cathbad and then to exonerate him, but will Ruth and Nelson uncover the truth in time to save their friend?"
"When builders discover a human skeleton while renovating a café, they call in archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway, who is preoccupied with the threatened closure of her department and by her ever-complicated relationship with DCI Nelson. The bones turn out to be modern--the remains of Emily Pickering, a young archaeology student who went missing in 2002. Suspicion soon falls on Emily's Cambridge tutor and also on another archeology enthusiast who was part of the group gathered the weekend before she disappeared--Ruth's friend Cathbad. As they investigate, Nelson and his team uncover a tangled web of relationships within the archaeology group and look for a link between them and the café where Emily's bones were found. Then, just when the team seem to be making progress, Cathbad disappears. The trail leads Ruth a to the Neolithic flint mines in Grimes Graves. The race is on, first to find Cathbad and then to exonerate him, but will Ruth and Nelson uncover the truth in time to save their friend?"
A satisfactory book in the Ruth Galloway series. I didn’t know this was the last in this series and although the relationships ran their course, after 15 books this is like saying goodbye to family. I’ll miss Ruth, Nelson and Kate.
The perfect ending to a delightful series. Overall, I would give the full series a 3.5-4 star rating. It’s not going to change your life BUT: it made me occasionally laugh out loud (usually involving Cathbad), I felt very invested in the characters and there was crime/mystery without being super gory or scary.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I really hope there are more books in this series—I just love them.
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
My 5-star review is really more for the overall series than for this particular book. I started off this series with a lot of trepidation. I hated the way EG fat-shamed Ruth, but I felt compelled to keep picking up the next book. By book 7, I felt that EG finally got it (and.... I was still reading through book 7 despite my ire with the fat-shaming).
In the end, I must acknowledge that I tore through each of these books and found myself wanting to return to the characters over and over again. I'm a bit sad to let them go.
In the end, I must acknowledge that I tore through each of these books and found myself wanting to return to the characters over and over again. I'm a bit sad to let them go.
After I finish a book, and before I write my review, I sometimes read a sample of the existing reviews, just to make sure I didn't miss anything, or, more commonly, to get some reassurance that I'm not the only one before I post something less than complimentary. For this book, the first review I read contains this observation: "This definitely should not be read by anyone who hasn’t read the prior books." As in, I guess, all 14 of them. The Washington Post reviewer who named this one of the 10 best mysteries of 2023 didn't mention this! Now I understand my main issue with this book, way too many named characters. Every single person (and animal) has a name. When I'm reading a book and I think I'm going to be overwhelmed with named characters, I start taking notes. In this case, I had over two pages. It actually wasn't that difficult to keep track of them, but now I know why there are so many. Apparently, this was announced as the author's last book in the series. As a result, her fans seemed to want to know what happened to every single character over 14 books, and if not what happened to them, at least to see them mentioned, not to mention all the various crimes, etc. So this is my review: If this is your first book you've read in the series, I think you will find it an OK, run-of-the-mill murder mystery with a lot of references that seem kind of random.
Sad that this is the last book in the series. I really enjoyed them all. The author wrapped up everything nicely.