Review by Booklist Review
Archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway is anxiously waiting for a decision on whether or not her department will exist next year, and she is stalling on another decision: which direction to take in her relationship with her longtime lover, DCI Harry Nelson. Then Harry calls Ruth in when the renovation of a café reveals a skeleton, although a prosthetic device indicates that it is contemporary rather than historic. After searching missing-persons files, police identify the remains as those of a female archaeology student who went missing 20 years earlier. The young woman's last known whereabouts connect her to Ruth's Druid friend, Cathbad, who had been camping with a group of students, including the dead woman, at a prehistoric flint mine in Norfolk. The investigation centers on a Svengali-like professor at Cambridge and the complicated relationships of his students--who frequented the café--as well as those of the café owner and his daughters. Multiple pairs of daughters and girlfriends complicate the investigation. The conclusion of this brilliantly plotted and exquisitely detailed fifteenth series entry (after The Locked Room, 2022) may suggest an alarming finality to fans, but hopefully another "find" will offer up an opportunity for Griffiths to bring her remarkable ensemble together again. Series fans will enjoy the "Who's Who" appendix, which reveals surprising facts about the characters. Guess who plays the accordion?
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The discovery of a human skeleton, "laid out like a Hallowe'en prop" behind a wall in a café undergoing renovations in 2021 Kings Lynn, England, drives Edgar winner Griffiths's harrowing 15th mystery featuring forensic anthropologist Ruth Galloway (after 2022's The Locked Room). After Ruth is assigned to the cold case, she learns that the remains belong to Emily Pickering, a Cambridge University archaeology student who disappeared in 2002 on a field trip to a prehistoric flint mine. The investigation escalates dramatically when Ruth's druid friend, Cathbad, is incriminated in Emily's murder and goes missing. Other suspects include a Cambridge tutor, members of the deceased café owner's family, and Emily's fellow students on that long-ago dig. Meanwhile, Ruth's department at the University of North Norfolk may be shut down, and her married partner, Det. Chief Insp. Harry Nelson, with whom she shares a young daughter, hints that he wants her to move in with him. Griffiths expertly blends a well-wrought procedural with distinctive characters, academic politics, and romance. Fans old and new will be rewarded. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Apr.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
A skeleton is found behind a wall during a renovation and Detective Harry Nelson is called in, along with famed archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway. The skeleton is determined to be Emily Pickering, a young archaeology student who went missing following a field trip nearly 20 years ago. Also on that field trip was Ruth's good friend Cathbad, who becomes a suspect just as he goes missing himself. Meanwhile, Ruth's archaeology department is set to be closed down by the university, and Nelson has separated from his wife, finally giving space for Nelson and Ruth to consider their feelings for each other and for the future. Many familiar faces make appearances in this 15th satisfying installment of the series (following The Locked Room). Each person plays a necessary role in solving the case as tension rises and dangers increase. VERDICT As Griffiths teases on her Twitter feed, this is the last Ruth Galloway book "for now." The novel has a nostalgic feel, and readers will feel satisfied with how things are wrapped up. --Sarah Sullivan
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Another suspicious death increases the pressure on Dr. Ruth Galloway's relationship with DCI Harry Nelson, which has never been resolved despite the daughter they share and the murders they've solved together. Ruth is happy to get away from the University of North Norfolk, where she's a respected archaeologist whose department has just been cut as insufficiently profitable. An expert in old bones, she's worked cases with Nelson for years, sharing their daughter, Kate, while he's still married and has three children with Michelle, who's currently living in another city. Nelson wants Ruth and Kate to live with him, but after years of seeing him choose Michelle and their children first, she's understandably reluctant. Now a builder has called Ruth to check out a skeleton found behind a wall in an old shop; she identifies the bones as being fairly modern because there's a metal pin in the ankle. The bones turn out to be those of Emily Pickering, a Cambridge archaeology student who was last seen on a field trip with Prof. Leo Ballard, several other students, and a druid called Cathbad in 2002. Cathbad, who's been Ruth's friend for years, readily admits to knowing Emily and Ballard, whom Emily's parents accused of masterminding her disappearance. Then Cathbad vanishes, deepening the mystery of Emily's murder. Cathbad is partner to Judy, Nelson's best officer, who must recuse herself. Frantic with worry, Judy relies for support on Ruth, whose own life is in a shambles as she considers her future with teaching and with Nelson. She'll find herself in real danger before the crime and her problems are solved. Another treat in an excellent series that balances detection with personal relationships. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
