Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Here’s a smart and capable archaeologist with a great job and amazing skills. But the author really wanted to tell us over and over how she’s so fat, so very fat. It’s as if the fat body is the worse criminal in a book full of mysteriously dead bodies. An interesting read, but I won’t continue the series.
First book in the Ruth Galloway series (currently up to 14 books!), *The Crossing Places* tells how Ruth, an archeology teacher at a small English university, gets involved in a murder / disappearance investigation. Some bones are uncovered and she is called it to try and date them. Although they turn out to be thousands of years old, she nevertheless gets involved in the ongoing investigation, as ties to her past get dredged up.
I really liked this heroine and the story. As a slightly overweight single woman, living with 2 cats out in the middle of nowhere, she is a real antihero. She is confident in her specialty, but full of doubts in many other areas. She shows some surprising strength and is fun to be with. The writing is solid and the story interesting, with plenty of twists and turns. I am anxious to give the next one a try. Not sure where it goes, but it should be fun.
I really liked this heroine and the story. As a slightly overweight single woman, living with 2 cats out in the middle of nowhere, she is a real antihero. She is confident in her specialty, but full of doubts in many other areas. She shows some surprising strength and is fun to be with. The writing is solid and the story interesting, with plenty of twists and turns. I am anxious to give the next one a try. Not sure where it goes, but it should be fun.
I loved this book. I love this series. I really felt like I was at the Saltmarsh with Ruth and Nelson.
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When she’s not digging up bones or other ancient objects, quirky, tart-tongued archaeologist Ruth Galloway lives happily alone in a remote area called Saltmarsh near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants - not quite earth, not quite sea.
When a child’s bones are found on a desolate beach nearby, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls Galloway for help. Nelson thinks he has found the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing ten years ago. Since her disappearance he has been receiving bizarre letters about her, letters with references to ritual and sacrifice.
The bones actually turn out to be two thousand years old, but Ruth is soon drawn into the Lucy Downey case and into the mind of the letter writer, who seems to have both archaeological knowledge and eerie psychic powers. Then another child goes missing and the hunt is on to find her.
As the letter writer moves closer and the windswept Norfolk landscape exerts its power, Ruth finds herself in completely new territory – and in serious danger.
An excellent crime novel and a fabulous setting. I love Norfolk and the salt marshes so this made the book even more enjoyable. The only thing that made this 4 stars instead of 5 was Ruth's obsession with her weight, I found that quite boring but this was a small thing and overall an excellent read and I'm now going on to book two!
Edited to say that I've just read this for the second time (5 years later) and think I enjoyed it even more than the first!
When a child’s bones are found on a desolate beach nearby, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls Galloway for help. Nelson thinks he has found the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing ten years ago. Since her disappearance he has been receiving bizarre letters about her, letters with references to ritual and sacrifice.
The bones actually turn out to be two thousand years old, but Ruth is soon drawn into the Lucy Downey case and into the mind of the letter writer, who seems to have both archaeological knowledge and eerie psychic powers. Then another child goes missing and the hunt is on to find her.
As the letter writer moves closer and the windswept Norfolk landscape exerts its power, Ruth finds herself in completely new territory – and in serious danger.
An excellent crime novel and a fabulous setting. I love Norfolk and the salt marshes so this made the book even more enjoyable. The only thing that made this 4 stars instead of 5 was Ruth's obsession with her weight, I found that quite boring but this was a small thing and overall an excellent read and I'm now going on to book two!
Edited to say that I've just read this for the second time (5 years later) and think I enjoyed it even more than the first!
Like the combo of murder mystery and archaeology. A good holiday read although I guessed the culprit correctly quite early on.
I found this a compelling page-turner with some interesting characters. Like many others, I wish the author didn't keep reminding us how overweight Ruth is. Nevertheless it's good drama, and I get the impression it's written with TV in mind. I'm currently on my third Ruth Galloway novel, and so far this is the best.
For now, not my cup of tea. I can deal with first person, present tense, not lastly because seemingly everyone needs to write this way, but third person, present tense, is just too much. I feel like the book just continues the annotation. Show, not tell!
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ruth Galloway is a most unlikely heroine. An overweight, frumpy archaeologist, Ruth reluctantly approaches crime through thoughtful scientific study. Griffiths keeps her readers guessing about the murderer and the motive, but Ruth stumbles into the truth. I'm looking forward to the next Ruth Galloway mystery.