Elly Griffiths kicks off a new series featuring the fictional archaeologist Ruth Galloway with a bang. Not sticking to the traditional trope of having the protagonist of a crime novel as a police officer or detective of some sort gives the author the freedom to take crime novels in a different direction. That’s not to say that the idea isn’t a great one however, there is of course a great deal of overlap between an archaeologist’s role in digging up bones and trying to find out their history and unique story, and a forensic investigation team whose job it is to do the same with more recent murder victims (Publisher’s Weekly review).
A clever twist on a traditional murder plot, the story follows
Ruth Galloway becoming involved in the case of a missing girl called Lucy Downey who went missing ten years ago. Ruth finds herself becoming involved with the case of the missing little girl and soon finds herself in unfamiliar dangerous territory by doing so.
Involving a case of bizarre rituals with a murder suspect who can’t seem to get enough of taunting the police with his knowledge of both the murder and archaeological prowess, the case soon takes on a paranormal quality as the author of the letter appears to demonstrate psychic powers.
If you love this book than the great news that that subsequent ones in the series have already been released, so you won’t have to wait in order to get your hands on new stories featuring this great new heroine.
