The Lantern Men - Elly Griffiths

Elly Griffiths has just released The Lantern Men, the twelfth entry in the Ruth Galloway series. And I have to tell you - this series is one of my hands down favorites. I eagerly await each new book - and read it far too quickly.

Ruth is a forensic archaeologist. She is a lecturer as well and often helps out on police matters. In The Lantern Men, a convicted murderer will only reveal the location of four of his victims to Ruth. Why Ruth?

Griffiths's plotting is always detailed, the mysteries are always convincing, the police work realistic and the historical components are really well done. With many of the cases, I've gone online to read more about the history.

I've always enjoyed the setting of the Norfolk area - especially the marshes. And I would be quite happy to live in Ruth's wee cottage.

Oh, and the title? "The Lantern Men concerns the Norfolk legend of mysterious figures that prowl the marshes at night. It's said that travellers would see a man walking ahead of them and carrying a lantern. They would follow the light only to be led to their deaths on the treacherous ground."

But what draws me to this series are the characters. I adore the character of Ruth.  I think it's because she isn't a 'cookie-cutter' protagonist. She's become a single mother later in life, she's hard on herself, generous with her friends, is highly intelligent, but shuns the spotlight. She's not beautiful in a conventional sense, but has that something that draws people to her. Griffiths has not endowed her with super sleuth abilities, rather she comes off as an actual person - unabashedly and happily herself. The supporting cast is just as well drawn, with self professed Druid Cathbad being my favorite. And of course there's DCI Nelson. He and Ruth's relationship is very complicated. Eager readers like myself have been waiting for this book to find out what happens next with the two of them. The Lantern Men jumps ahead two years to some unexpected happenings. (And eager readers, it ends with another open ended scenario for book thirteen. Can't wait!)

I highly, highly recommend this character driven mystery series. You could certainly read this book as a stand alone, but do yourself a favour and start with The Crossing Places, the first book.

The Stone Circle - Elly Griffiths

Elly Griffiths pens one of my favourite mystery series - The Ruth Galloway books. The eleventh book in the series - The Stone Circle - has just released.

Ruth is a forensic archaeologist at the University in North Norfolk, England.  An expert in bones, she is often called in to assist police, museums and on other digs. And it is DCI Harry Nelson that calls on Ruth's expertise. The two have a complicated past and present. It is this element of the series that has me always curious as what will happen next. The married Nelson is father to Ruth's daughter Kate. And the attraction is still there between Harry and Ruth, despite the fact that his wife is expecting a child.

But Griffith's mysteries are just as intriguing. The stone henges and salt marshes that opened this series make another appearance. A young girl's remains are found during a dig in the marsh. And Nelson is receiving anonymous letters telling him to go the stone circle and look for the innocent. Much of this mirrors the first case that Ruth and Harry worked on together. As does the appearance of a archaeologist with ties to that first case. I've learned something from every book in this series as Griffiths' cases use history as a basis.

There are many supporting players that I've come to enjoy (and dislike) as well. Griffiths has also fleshed them out with rich, full personal lives. Ruth's boss Phil's pronouncements are always good for a chuckle. Judy and Clough, who work with Harry, are part of Ruth's life as well. This is what I enjoy so much - Griffiths doesn't let her characters be - their lives are evolving as they would in real life.  But my personal favourite is the enigmatic Cathbad, self proclaimed Druid.

Setting is also a character in Griffiths' books. The Norfolk area, while seemingly bleak, is beautiful in Ruth's eyes. I think I would enjoy living in her little cottage in the Saltmarsh, 'where the sea and the sky meet.'

I can't say enough about this series - I absolutely recommend it. Read an excerpt of The Stone Circle. But do yourself a favor and start with the first book in the series - The Crossing Places.

The Dark Angel - Elly Griffiths

Elly Griffith's Dr. Ruth Galloway series is hands down one of my favourites. The Dark Angel is the 10th book in the series.

Ruth is a forensic archaeologist who often works with the police, in addition to her teaching at a local university. This time round, Ruth is invite to Italy by a former colleague who needs her expertise. Ruth decides to make a holiday of it, taking her daughter Kate as well as her friend Shona and her son. The town is small and is seeped in history, much of it involving the war resistance years. This is where the mystery comes in. I always enjoy learning from Ruth (much of the cases are fact based) and appreciate Griffith's plotting.

But I have to admit, it's the characters and the personal storylines that keeps me eagerly awaiting each new entry.

Griffiths has created a wonderful protagonist in Ruth. She comes across as an actual person, not a super sleuth. She's a single parent at 40 plus, messy, introverted but highly intelligent and curious, shunning the spotlight. She's not beautiful in a conventional sense, but has that 'something' that draws people to her. Kate's father is the married Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson. The evolution of his and Ruth's relationship has kept me quite enthralled from the beginning. With Harry's acknowledgment of Kate as his daughter, things have become even more entangled. Griffiths has added some twists to this storyline that I could not have predicted. And while things are always tied up in the end in regards to the mystery, the personal lives of everyone always gets a little more complicated. This is true for not just the lead character, but for the supporting players as well. (Cathbad, the enigmatic self proclaimed Druid, is my favourite.)

The Dark Angel was another excellent entry in this series. Read an excerpt of The Dark Angel. If you've not read this series before, I recommend starting with the first book, The Crossing Places.

The Hand That Feeds You - A. J. Rich

The Hand That Feeds You is a newly released psychological thriller from A.J. Rich. (A pseudonym and collaborative effort from authors Amy Hempel and Jill Clement.)

Morgan Prager comes home to her apartment to a horrific sight. Her fiancé Bennett is dead - seemingly killed by Morgan's three dogs. When she attempts to notify his family of his death, she can't find them - or any trace of the man she was to marry. Nothing he told was true. Morgan met Bennett through an online dating site and a questionnaire she created for her thesis on victim psychology. Could Morgan be the victim herself?

And of course, along with Morgan, the reader wants to know who Bennett was as well.

I was intrigued by the premise and Morgan's search for who Bennett really was. But I found myself reading as an observer, removed from the story and not as a engaged participant. I just couldn't connect with Morgan. I didn't overly like her, despite her being the protagonist.  She alternates between being self aware to downright naive. But she remained flat for me, never generating a strong response.

The inclusion of death by dog was quite different. Dogs, dog rescue, dog temperament and dog law play a large in the plot of The Hand That Feeds You. Hempel is a founding member of two dog rescue organizations and her knowledge adds much to a distinctly different whodunit plot. I learned quite a bit, but sometimes I felt like this information and storyline detracted from the main plot. I did think that the idea of someone falsely representing themselves online was excellent - and timely.

Rich does include a lot of extraneous detail - about food/drink/prices that seem like filler, as well as other odd bits, such as a description of a 'green' funeral that really don't have anything to do with the plot at all.

The whodunit is fairly obvious, despite the choices offered, but I kept reading as I wanted to confirm my suspicions and find out the fate of the dogs. I found the ending and resolution a bit rushed in the less than two pages allotted to it.

The Hand That Feeds You was just an okay read, for me, and fell short of the publisher's description of  'smart, thrilling, sexy, and emotionally riveting.' See what you think - read an excerpt of The Hand That Feeds You.

The Outcast Dead - Elly Griffiths

The Outcast Dead is the sixth entry in Elly Griffiths' absolutely wonderful series featuring Forensic Archaeologist Ruth Galloway.

I stumbled across the first in this series (The Crossing Places) in 2009 and have eagerly awaited each new installment - I just know I'm before I even turn a page that I'm going to enjoy it.

The series is set in the Norfolk area of England - a setting rife with history and the perfect setting for these mysteries.

On her latest dig at Norwich Castle, Ruth turns up a female skeleton - one with a hook for a hand. Could she have uncovered the remains of the infamous 'Mother Hook', hanged for killing the children left in her care? The find stirs up interest outside archaeology circles as well. A television series, "Women Who Kill", wants to make the discovery the focus of their latest show. But the present is mirroring the past - a local mother is suspected of killing her own child....and then another young one goes missing. And DCI Harry Nelson is on the case.

Griffiths always weaves a fascinating tale, combining a well thought out mystery with fascinating bits of the past. (I often head to the Internet to follow up on the historical bits.) The theme of motherhood and mother love is also explored from many different viewpoints.  But the draw for me is the characters.

I have so enjoyed the character of Ruth. I think it's because she isn't a 'cookie-cutter' protagonist. She's become a single mother later in life, she's hard on herself, generous with her friends, is highly intelligent, but shuns the spotlight. She's not beautiful in a conventional sense, but has that something that draws people to her.  Griffiths has not endowed her with super sleuth abilities, rather she comes off as an actual person - one I would enjoy meeting.

The relationship between Ruth and Harry is a complicated one. And one small complication named Kate is now three years old. The supporting cast is wonderfully eclectic, and diverse. Cathbad, the self proclaimed Druid, is one of my favourites. He's quite enigmatic, showing up just when needed and he seems to see and recognize things that the others don't.  A wonderful little sense of the mystical is woven throughout the series. Cathbad's storyline with another returning character has been building over the last few books and a resolution is reached in The Outcast Dead. I've become invested in these characters and feel like I'm settling in to catch up on the latest when I pick up the newest of Griffiths' books.

Setting plays a large part as well. The Norfolk area, while seemingly bleak, is beautiful in Ruth's eyes. I think I would enjoy living in her little cottage in the Saltmarsh, 'where the sea and the sky meet.'

And the title? "'And we ask your abundant blessing, Lord, on these, the outcast dead...' This brief ecumenical service is held every year for the unknown dead of Norwich: the bodies thrown into unmarked graves, the paupers, the plague victims, forgotten,  unmourned, except by this motley collection of archaeologists, historians and sundry hangers-on."
 
I highly recommend this character driven mystery series. You could certainly read this book as a stand alone, but do yourself a favour and start with the first book.

Read an excerpt of The Outcast Dead. You can find Griffiths on Twitter and on Facebook.