The Ruth Galloway Mystery series is one of the best, most endearing and fascinating mystery series I have ever read. The series follows Ruth who is a forensic archaeologist Professor at a university in Norfolk UK. She lives by the sea next to marsh lands in a lonely cottage and though that sounds grey and dull it is a homely and anchoring setting. Ruth's character is brilliant and thoughtful with a trenchant POV and her vulnerabilities are common ones that many women can instantly relate to. Her friends are mostly quirky individualists or academics or police (long story that) and not stock supporting characters, their stories are part of the series too. What makes the series so satisfying is it builds on the preceding novels while introducing new characters in the latest book while exploring prior characters back stories, who grow and change and tie both into the current action which keeps the series fresh and interesting. Her writing style is a blend of realism and whimsy and grounded observations together with haunting moody mysticism. Elly Griffiths is a master of building suspense slowly and steadily and alternating it with simultaneous situations occurring alongside each other which form a shifting cumulative narrative picture. It is a well-loved series for me because the characters create an emotional pull which I find is rare in a mystery.
The Last Remains can be read as a standalone, but I cannot it imagine it would have the same impact. It continues in the tradition of the series of drawing upon past relationships while enlarging the scope. Ruth and her young daughter are going through transitions and her relationship with Nelson is at a turning point, but these are back drops to the central story; a cold case which is reopened when a skeleton is found hidden behind a shop wall and identified as a young woman who disappeared 20 years ago. A circle of archeology students taught by an eccentric professor and their cafe friends and the victim's relatives plus Ruth's good friend Cathbad, all are suspects. The plot is slow to get going but the many threads and characters are each slowly woven together, and the resolutions are intensely moving and suspenseful. Another gripping, wonderful mystery, the 15th in this series that delivers once again.
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Review: The Last Remains: A Mystery by Emily Griffiths
It is Friday, June 11, 2021 as The Last Remains: A Mystery begins and Larry Bright is having fun. He likes wielding sledgehammers and knocking things down. Unfortunately, his fun is seconds away from being ruined as he will find a skeleton behind a wall.He works for a construction outfit run by Edward Spens. This is not the first time one of his employees has found human remains so Spens knows to call Dr. Ruth Galloway and ask her to come look. He hopes she can easily resolve the situation. By now, he should know better.She takes one look and knows this skeleton is not that old. This is now a police problem. That means DCI Harry Nelson and his team will have to determine how to proceed. Of course, she will do the paperwork to be involved as they will most likely want her expertise.In the meantime, Dr. Galloway has a far more personally urgent situation. The semester is ending, papers are being graded, graduation is cancelled again due to Covid, and her entire department may be shut down permanently. A university committee is considering it as her department may be “unprofitable” due to the loss of students from abroad due to the ongoing Covid problem. The Head of Archaeology at the University of North Norfolk could very much be out of a job despite her fame and the fact her department is well known around the world.Her personal life is a mess as well. Things are not that simple now, if they ever were. Her daughter is growing up, Nelson’s marriage status is still a mess, Cathbad is not right and has not been since the Covid almost killed him, and other things are also in chaos. Teaching has always been her refuge, that and her house on the marsh, and teaching might be ending, at least for now. She is going to need a new income and that could mean having to move to a new job elsewhere.Much is going on in The Last Remains: A Mystery by Emily Griffiths and I am just skimming the surface here. The title is also fittingly appropriate as well because this is the last book in the series-- at least for now.It ends well despite scaring this reader a couple of times. This last book touches all the bases, brings back several folks, and reminds readers of various important events earlier in this complicated series. It is also a mighty good read and well worth your time.My reading copy came by way of the Libby/OverDrive app which is still functioning, at least for now and picking up previously placed holds in the Dallas Library System, despite the ongoing Dallas ransomware attack.Kevin R. Tipple ©2023
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