The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths: A review


This is the first in Elly Griffiths' series of books featuring the forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway. (Parenthetically, I once knew a woman named Ruth Galloway and I was curious to see if the fictional character would be anything like her. Answer: Only in being extremely intelligent and independent.)

This Ruth Galloway lives in a remote area of England near Norfolk called Saltmarsh. It is the area where the land meets the sea, a place that was sacred to the inhabitants who lived there during the Iron and Bronze Ages. Ruth is nearing forty, is single, and slightly overweight, and she lives with her two cats in a cottage on Saltmarsh.

Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson asks Galloway for her help when a child's bones are discovered on a nearby beach. He believes that the bones may be those of a child who went missing ten years earlier and he needs Galloway's help to determine their age. It turns out that they are actually two thousand years old, but Galloway's interest in the case of the missing child is piqued.

Since the child (named Lucy) disappeared ten years before, DCI Nelson has been receiving bizarre letters referencing her and speaking of ritual and sacrifice. Was Lucy sacrificed in some sort of pagan ritual? 

Then another child goes missing and the search intensifies to find the missing children and solve the mystery of their disappearance. Ruth Galloway is drawn into that search.

Galloway is also drawn to Harry Nelson and he is drawn to her, even though he is married. They bond over their mutual need to find out what has happened to the missing children. As the investigation progresses that bond grows stronger.  

Galloway's mentor Erik, as well as her ex-boyfriend Peter, and her friend Shona are also involved in Galloway's archaeological dig. The author's depiction of all the characters, most especially Galloway, is a strong point of the plot as is her description of the cold and desolate landscape where the action occurs.

This was an intriguing beginning for the series, a well-developed plot that drew me in and made me feel a part of the story. I liked Ruth Galloway quite a lot and I look forward to getting to know her better. Fortunately, there are several more entries in the series that will allow me to do that.


Comments

  1. Lark March 10, 2023 at 6:21 PM

    I really liked this one; Ruth being a forsenic archaeologist is so cool! I've read 3 or 4 other books in this series and enjoyed them all. I need to get busy now and read the rest. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 10, 2023 at 6:30 PM

      I enjoyed this one so much that I went straight on to read the next book in the series, something I almost never do. I generally like to mix things up. But Ruth is such a sympathetic character, I wanted to spend more time with her.

      Delete
  2. Captivated ReaderMarch 15, 2023 at 12:06 AM

    Yay, you are really enjoying this series. I will have to add to my reading wishlist.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no
Read more

The Investigator by John Sandford: A review

Image
  I have read a few of John Sandford's books in the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. This book is a literal offspring of that series. It's the first in a series featuring Davenport's adopted daughter Letty Davenport. Letty is in her mid-20s and a graduate of Stanford. She works for a U.S. senator named Christopher Colles in a desk job but she's bored with her assignments. Then the senator offers her a chance to go into the field as a liaison between his office and the Department of Homeland Security.  In her first assignment in that position, she is sent to Texas along with DHS investigator John Kaiser to try to find out what is happening in regard to thefts of crude oil. The senator is not so concerned about the lost oil but wants to know where the money from its sale is going. Who is selling the oil and what they are doing with the profits? The suspicion is that a particularly nasty militia group led by a woman is involved. Letty and Kaiser head out to Texas, de
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try.
Read more