The Ruth Galloway mysteries by Elly Griffiths

Elly Griffith’s British mystery series featuring forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway has a new installment, The House at Sea’s End. This is the third book in the series, and I’ve enjoyed them all for their evocation of the once-sacred Saltmarsh, near Norfolk in England, as well as for their characters, interesting folk who are unusually well-realized.

Ruth Galloway, the protagonist, is prickly, smart, and strong-minded. Her love of scholarship and all things ancient, and her connection to the land on which she lives, make her stand out in the genre of mysteries featuring women sleuths. In book one, she was happy being single and alone—by book three she has a baby daughter who’s colonized her life and she’s determined that the two of them will be just as happy in their exclusive new orbit.

Galloway was first drawn into the world of homicide and policework in the The Crossing Places, when Detective Inspector Nelson consulted her about the bones of a child found on a nearby beach. In the Janus Stone, more bones were found under a demolition site, pulling Galloway into danger once more. Now, in The House at Sea’s End, bodies are discovered on the site of Galloway’s excavation, and although the bones are old, they point to a crime from World War II that overshadows the present with murderous intent. Led astray by what they want to believe, Galloway and Nelson are thrown far off track, putting the lives of those they love in danger.

These books remind me a bit of the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mysteries by Julia Spencer-Fleming, in their serious treatment of murder, their elemental settings (Spencer-Fleming’s books take place in the Adirondacks), and in the complex and difficult relationships arising between strong women and unsuitable men.

The Ruth Galloway series:
The Crossing Places
The Janus Stone
The House at Sea’s End
A Room Full of Bones to be released in July 2012