Friday, July 31, 2009

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths *****


Amazon.com Link The Crossing Places: A Ruth Galloway Mystery

When a child’s bones are found near an ancient henge in the wild saltmarshes of Norfolk’s north coast, Ruth Galloway, a university lecturer in forensic archaeology, is asked to date them by DCI Harry Nelson. He thinks they may be the bones of a child called Lucy who has been missing for ten years. It’s a cold case he has never been able to forget, in part because he’s been getting creepy letters about Lucy ever since her disappearance from someone who quotes the Bible and Shakespeare and includes references to ritual and sacrifice. When Ruth proves that the bones are those of an Iron Age girl who died over two thousand years ago, she supposes that this is the end of the story. She’s wrong: it’s just the beginning of a nightmare.

My Review:
The Crossing Place is an interesting and satisfying mystery thriller. The author took great care in creating a brooding and mysterious location, and described the salt marsh area so that the reader is dropped right in the middle of it.

Ruth Galloway, an archeologist, and resident of the salt marsh area is drawn into the unexplained disappearance of two children by Detective Chief Inspector Henry Nelson when the bones of a child are found. The characters in this book are wonderfully quirky and each unique. The main characters of Ruth and Det. Nelson are likeable, and their stories are woven together well.

The story had many twists and had me guessing until the end. The end, by the way, has more than one surprise. I enjoyed the book very much, and I hope the next Ruth Galloway Mystery is in the works.

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