Two novels of ELLY GRIFFITHS........RUTH GALLOWAY MYSTERY
1st of the series...THE CROSSING PLACES.
2nd of the series....THE JANUS STONE.
THE CROSSING PLACES....A RUTH GALLOWAY MYSTERY BY ELLY GRIFFITHS...
The Crossing Places.jpg
Salt marsh areas of NORFOLK, lush English country
Descriptions on the surroundings are awesome.
She has captured the uncanny , eerie, desolated, cloudy, wet , moody surroundings amazingly well.
Very mysterious Norfolk, English country's beaches and marshes.
Detective Harry Nelson found a child's bones at that area.
He contacted Dr.Ruth Galloway, Forensic Archaeologist for help.
Ruth lives in that remote areas of English country.
A decade ago, there was a child, Lucy Downey was missing.
Detective Harry Nelson was handling the case. He used to get creepy letters while he was doing his investigation.
He could not find out the fate of the little girl.
Nelson remembered the haunting letters, he used to get regarding the little girl's mystery during that time.
Detective Harry Nelson was thinking may be the bones are of this little girl Lucy's.... kind of a closure for their grieving parents who continue
to have contacts with the Detective.
But When Dr.Ruth went to the site to study the bones along with the detective, she declared, the bones must be from the Iron Age body, during the time ritual slaughter were common.
Kind of disappointment for Harry Nelson.
Later one fine morning, Harry called Ruth again. There is a another little girl missing-Scarlet Henderson- from her home front yard while she was playing outside.
Scarlet Henderson's case is at Spenwell, which is a tiny village closer to Ruth's place.
Again Detective Harry Nelson is getting the creepy letters.
Letters contain religious superstitions, some literary quotes, proverbs and archaeological stuff.
Ruth also noticed a homoerotic subtext to the letters.
Ruth is helping Harry Nelson understands some of the contents in this letter which has archaeological terms and biblical stuff.
To scare her, someone mutilated her cat and left the body in her door step.
Is that the killer(killed those two little girls) , the creepy fellow write letters..pretty sick & dangerous.
wonderful plot.
Ruth and Harry are nice characters.
Ruth is smart, outspoken, educated, intelligent woman lives alone in a desolated place. loner
She has some issues regarding her weight, looks etc..but most of the times She doesn't care about it.
I really enjoyed her interactions with Harry Nelson. (according to her brother, Ruth is 'a tasteless 16 yr old boy' regarding her music tastes)
Her relationship with her mom is kind of rough.
Harry is a married man , kind of intrigued by Ruth.
Intelligent man with odd attitudes.
I like them together....(mmm......... he is not in a great marriage...he is a pussy cat at home with his wife and 2 daughters)
Definite attraction between them.
Even Ruth wonders why is Nelson still in love with his wife-Michelle, although they have nothing in common?
Eric, works at the Saltmarsh with her , her ex boy friend Peter, stunning Shona, Cathbad/Michael Malone, little girls parents...very well crafted characters in this compelling mystery with interesting subplots.
Novel ended with a twist that makes a huge impact on the relationship of Ruth and Nelson.
The second of the series THE JANUS STONE starts with....
The Janus stone.jpg
Ruth is happy in her desolated place with her job, friends and about herself...She is pregnant (Shhhh....Nelson is not aware of the baby. I am happy for Ruth's joy. )
The Janus stone is again packed with forensic and historical details.
Already her relationship with her mom is troublesome, now she needs to get their approval about her pregnancy. They are religious people.
How about our detective Nelson?
Nelson is not aware of the baby.
Well, this guy is neither certain about his relationship with Ruth nor with his beautiful, demanding wife Micheal. He has an emotional connection with Ruth, just sighting of her, he is feeling the excitement but not admitting it. (Of course there is that one night stand) That's for sure...
Surprisingly Ruth and Nelson's wife like each other, get along fine whenever they run into each other.
What will he do when Ruth tells him about the baby? Is he going to involve with the baby's affairs?
In The Janus Stone, as an expert on bones and death, forensic archaeologist Ruth's involvement in another case in her present condition is frightening and her personal affairs in this story are enjoyable.
THE RUTH GALLOWAY MYSTERY .......ELLY GRIFFITHS is my favorite series.
vinatha.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks