For my last FFB review of 2016, I offer
my review of the fourth book in the Ruth Galloway Mystery Series. Make sure you
check out the full list of reading suggestions at Patti Abbott’s blog.
Kate is going to be a
year old as of November1, 2009 and her mother, Doctor Ruth Galloway, is keenly aware
that in all likelihood she is failing at motherhood across the board. It is one
thing to be head of Forensic Archelogy at the University of North Norfolk. It
is quite another thing to raise a child as a single parent. In addition to
everything else the overwhelmed mother is doing, she was talked into having a
birthday party for Kate. That means she is desperately racing though the market
trying to find the right stuff for adults and kids in attendance before heading
to another appointment.
Dr. Galloway is glad
the child escaped being born on Halloween. Bad enough she has Pagan godfather,
but at least she was born on All Saints Day. Dr. Galloway needs to get the
shopping done quickly as she has to get over to the local museum for a media
event. With the department chair out of town, Dr. Galloway has to stand in to
represent the University at the Smith Museum for the opening of the coffin believed
to belong to Bishop Augustine Smith.
Discovered at a site
that was once a church destroyed by bombing during WW2 the industrial land had
kept several secrets until now. As the site was being cleared and worked for a new
building, the foundations of a medieval church were discovered. Also found was
most likely the high alter for the ancient church. Underneath that, a coffin was
discovered that dates back to the fourteenth century. The inscriptions on the coffin
and other clues indicate that it holds the remains of Bishop Augustine Smith.
If that is true, it would mean that Bishop Augustine Smith was entombed at a
fairly minor parish church in King’s Lynn and not at Norwich Cathedral as
historians have long believed.
With descendants of Bishop Smith alive and well connected, somebody made a decision to open the coffin in front of the media. The bones have to be examined and carbon dated, but first there has to be media coverage despite the fact that Lord Danforth Smith would prefer otherwise. The Smith Museum and its contents are part of a family legacy tied to the Bishop and numerous other parties so opening the coffin at the museum is going to be a media event. This is history and the opening of the coffin must be recorded and presented for all to see.
That is until Ruth
goes deep into the Smith Museum and finds the curator, Neil Topham, dead on the
floor next to the coffin. She calls for help and before long DCI Henry Nelson
and his team are involved in the case. It is not long after that when a second
body is discovered. History, legends, and the past are all present, but clearly,
there is a very modern day murderer at work in A Room Full of Bones.
The fourth book in
the series that began with The Crossing Places is another good
one. Though it could have been better as a plot point used for one character is
used again here for another one. By doing so, it comes across as a soap opera
contrivance and a cliché and not character development as intended. It also
creates a moment of incredulity for the reader and is jarring due to the
stupidity of it all.
Still the history and
the mystery are strong storytelling elements in A Room Full of Bones as
is the ongoing personal relationship between individuals as well as the
investigative team as a whole. This series is as much about the mystery and the
past as it is about how these characters live their lives away from the job.
Even the minor characters are not superfluous or shallow. These series features
books of depth and complexity and are very much worth your time. They must be
read in order.
The
Crossing Places (Reviewed 12/26/15)
The
Janus Stone (Reviewed 11/18/2016)
The
House at Sea’s End (Reviewed 12/2/2016)
A Room Full of Bones –this
review
A Room Full of Bones: A Ruth Galloway
Mystery
July 2012
ISBN# 978-0-547-27120-0
Hardback (also available in paperback
and eBook formats)
352 Pages
$26.00
Material obtained via the Plano Public
Library System to read and review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2016
Posts
4 comments:
Deserves something for the title alone. I might even read it!!
Strongly recommend reading them in order.
Sounds like a series my family would enjoy. Thanks for highlighting this for us.
Very good review for a very good series. I'm reading Woman in Blue now. And yes, it's a series that needs to be read in order because the character development is such a strong element.
Jeanne
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