FFB Review: The Crossing Places: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths

  

Author Elly Griffiths has several different series. While I never could get into her other ones, despite a lot of trying on my part, her Ruth Galloway series is incredibly good and a favorite of mine. I keep hoping we will get another one. I remind you today that this excellent series begins here with The Crossing Places: A Ruth Galloway Mystery. From the 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.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4tg5g3F

 

Go wild and get the entire 15 book series: https://amzn.to/41zKIHq

 

 

 

Material was obtained via the Plano Public Library System to read and review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015, 2021, 2026

FFB Review: The Crossing Places: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths

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

http://www.hmhbooks.com

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 

FFB Review: The Janus Stone: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths

 Make sure  you check out the full list of reading suggestions today over at Patti Abbott's blog...

As The Janus Stone begins, Dr. Ruth Galloway, head of the forensic archelogy at the University of North Norfolk, is called to a dig site in the town of Norwich. A very large Victorian style house and accompanying grounds are being massively modified and rebuilt into seventy-five luxury apartments. Edward Spens, owner and builder, is moving fast on his project and won’t be happy that with any delay. That is too bad for him, as bones have been found which is why Dr. Galloway has been called to the site.

           

The bones, minus the skull, appear to be human and of a child. Since she can’t determine their age just by looking at the bones, it seems to best to contact the police. That means Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson and his team are soon onsite and working the case. Whether the bones come from the time of Romans ruling England or far more recently, is one of the many puzzles at work in The Janus Stone.

Following by just a few months after The Crossing Place both Nelson and Galloway are dealing with the events of the case. Those repercussions continue to play a role in their lives while they work the current case. Both characters continue to develop in this second book of the series, as do many of the secondary characters.

Even if one was unaware that there is a long running series, it would be clear from reading the books that author Elly Griffiths intended to continue building on the vast family of people and relationships that were established in The Crossing Places. While archeology and history have important roles in this book and series, they are secondary to the mystery itself as well as those relationships. Events have consequences and repercussions and those are present here in a major way for several characters as are the issues with the complicated new case. The result is another very good read in an intriguing series.

Like all really good series, this one must be read in order.

The Janus Stone: A Ruth Galloway Mystery

Elly Griffiths

http://www.ellygriffiths.co.uk/

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

http://www.hmhbooks.com

January 2011

ISBN# 978-0-547-23744-2

Hardback (also available in paperback, audio, and eBook formats)

352 Pages (includes 15 pages of the next book in the series)

$25.00

Material was obtained via the Plano Public Library System to read and review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

Review: "The Crossing Places: A Ruth Galloway Mystery" by Elly Griffiths

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

http://www.hmhbooks.com

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)

$25.00

Material was obtained via the Plano Public Library System to read and review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015