From the massive archive….
Archeologist
Ruth Galloway lives alone in a small cottage on the edge of an area known as
“the Saltmarsh.” It is a coastal land of desolation where the sky and sea meet.
It is a treacherous and dangerous land of stark beauty and one that few people
enjoy. She is far from her south London upbringing as well as her parents.
Considering her observations about them distance is a very good thing.
When she isn’t
at her small cottage with her cats she is at the University of North Norfolk
where she teaches forensic archeology. It is there, thanks to her department
chair Phil, she first meets Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson. The
inspector wants her to inspect some bones that have been found out near the
bird sanctuary in another part of the Saltmarsh.
He hopes that
the bones might be a missing child who vanished ten years ago. Her name was
Lucy Downey. Since her disappearance a decade ago the inspector has been
receiving strange letters from someone. A person who uses quotes from the
Bible, Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot, and other sources to taunt the inspector with
clues. If Ruth Galloway can verify that the bones are of the missing child, he
might just have the first solid piece of evidence to advance the case.
What follows is
a complex and highly atmospheric read as Ruth Galloway gets drawn deeper and
deeper in the mystery of the Lucy Downey case. At the same time a bond begins
between her and the inspector creating additional stress. It isn’t surprising
when Ruth herself becomes a target as the case proceeds.
Character
complexity is at work here from the beginning. In some senses Ruth is the
classic clichéd spinster-- overweight, cats as her companions, no romantic
interest, and a job that that fills her days. It is her observations on her
parents, life, the world around her, and much more that fill the character with
depth and meaning. The same is true to a lesser extent with the inspector though
most of the book is told from watching Ruth.
The Crossing
Places: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths is a solidly good
start to what could be a very intriguing series. At least in this book,
history, archaeology, and more take prominent roles resulting in the subtle
education of the reader as the pages move by. A mystery that encourages the
reader to think while also quietly teaching is a book that is very much worth
reading.
The Crossing
Places: A Ruth Galloway Mystery
Elly Griffiths
http://www.ellygriffiths.co.uk/
Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt
January 2010
ISBN#
978-0-547-22989-8
Hardback (also
available in paperback, audio, and e-book formats
320 Pages (includes several pages of the next book in the series)
Material was obtained via the Plano Public Library System to read and review.
Kevin R. Tipple
©2015, 2021
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