Synopses & Reviews
“Rich in atmosphere and history and blessed by [Griffiths] continuing development of brilliant, feisty, independent Ruth . . .
A Room Full of Bones, like its predecessors, works its magic on the reader's imagination.” —
Richmond Times-DispatchWhen Ruth Galloway arrives to supervise the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop, she finds the museums curator lying dead on the floor. Soon after, the museums wealthy owner is also found dead, in his stables.
These two deaths could be from natural causes, but once again Ruth and DCI Harry Nelson cross paths during the investigation. When threatening letters come to light, events take an even more sinister turn. But as Ruths friends become involved, where will her loyalties lie? As her convictions are tested, Ruth and Nelson must discover how Aboriginal skulls, drug smuggling, and the mystery of “The Dreaming” hold the answers to these deaths, as well as the keys to their own survival.
“Lovers of well-written and intelligent traditional mysteries will welcome [Griffiths] fourth book . . . A Room Full of Bones is a clever blend of history and mystery with more than enough forensic details to attract the more attentive reader.” —Denver Post
"Galloway is an Everywoman, smart, successful and a little bit unsure of herself. Readers will look forward to learning more about her." —USA Today
Review
Praise for the Ruth Galloway Mystery Series "Elly Griffiths draws us all the way back to prehistoric times . . . Highly atmospheric." —
New York Times Book Review "Galloway is an everywoman, smart, successful and a little bit unsure of herself. Readers will look forward to learning more about her." —
USA Today "Ruth Galloway is a remarkable, delightful character . . . A must-read for fans of crime and mystery fiction." —Associated Press
"Forensic archeologist and academic Ruth Galloway is a captivating amateur sleuth—an inspired creation. I identified with her insecurities and struggles, and cheered her on. " —Louise Penny, author of the best-selling Armand Gamache series "These books are must-reads." —Deborah Crombie, author of the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series "[Ruth Galloway’s] an uncommon, down-to-earth heroine whose acute insight, wry humor, and depth of feeling make her a thoroughly engaging companion." —Erin Hart, Agatha and Anthony Award–nominated author of Haunted Ground and Lake of Sorrows "A wonderfully rich mixture of ancient and contemporary, superstition and rationality, with a cast of druids, dreamers and assorted tree-huggers as well as some thoroughly modern villains . . . A great series." —Guardian "[An] excellent series . . . Skillful and engaging." —Globe and Mail "Griffiths is one of England’s freshest mystery writers. Her novels combine a dramatic sense of place with a complicated mystery, and with each new installment, her character of Ruth Galloway becomes more complex and dynamic." —Curled Up with a Good Book "Griffiths does a lot to humanize forensic archaeology and serves up great dollops of historical details in her Ruth Galloway series . . . Griffiths is great at conveying the archaeologist’s passion for finds, forensic or historic." —Booklist, starred review "Griffiths is a true mystery writer." —Ann Arbor News
Synopsis
Necessary As Blood is the latest entry in Deborah Crombie's
New York Times Notable, Edgar(R), Agatha, and Macavity Awards-nominated mystery series featuring Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. A Texan frequently compared to the masters of British crime fiction--including P.D. James, Martha Grimes, Barbara Vine, and fellow American Elizabeth George--Crombie dazzles once more with
Necessary As Blood--a
relentlessly suspenseful tale of a vanished mother, a murdered father, and a helpless, endangered child.
Synopsis
Once the haunt of Jack the Ripper, London's East End is a vibrant mix of history and the avant-garde, where elegant Georgian town houses exist side by side with colorful street markets and the hippest clubs. But here races and cultures still clash, and the trendy galleries and glamorous nightlife disguise a violent and seedy underside.
Sandra Gilles, a young mother, leaves her daughter with a friend and then disappears on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in May. Shortly thereafter, her husband, a Pakistani lawyer, is killed. Scotland Yard detective Gemma James happens upon the scene—and soon she and Duncan Kincaid, her life partner and colleague, are on the trail of a murderer. But the investigation grows darker and more dangerous at every turned corner, and the true prize must be protected at all costs: a beautiful, orphaned little girl, not yet three, whose life now hangs in the balance.
Synopsis
From "New York Times" Notable author Crombie comes a thrilling new mystery featuring favorite Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James.
Synopsis
Necessary As Blood is the latest entry in Deborah Crombies New York Times Notable, Edgar®, Agatha, and Macavity Awards-nominated mystery series featuring Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. A Texan frequently compared to the masters of British crime fiction—including P.D. James, Martha Grimes, Barbara Vine, and fellow American Elizabeth George—Crombie dazzles once more with Necessary As Blood—a relentlessly suspenseful tale of a vanished mother, a murdered father, and a helpless, endangered child.
Synopsis
Forensic archeologist, Dr. Ruth Galloway is back--this time investigating a gruesome WWII crime in this latest installment by Elly Griffiths, the Edgar Award winning author of The Crossing Places
Synopsis
"[A] page turning mystery . . . it provides a wholly satisfying whodunit as well as a good reason to look up the other two [books in the series] . . . Griffiths's Galloway is a likable and alluring character.”—Associated Press
Just back from maternity leave, forensic archeologist Ruth is finding it hard to juggle motherhood and work when she is called in to investigate human bones that have surfaced on a remote Norfolk beach. The presence of DCI Harry Nelson, the married father of her daughter, does not help. The bones, six men with their arms bound, turn out date back to World War II, a desperate time on this stretch of coastland.
Home Guard veteran Archie Whitcliffe reveals the existence of a secret the old soldiers have vowed to protect with their lives. But then Archie is killed and a German journalist arrives, asking questions about Operation Lucifer, a plan to stop a German invasion, and a possible British war crime. What was Operation Lucifer? And who is prepared to kill to keep its secret?
Synopsis
In this thrilling installment of the Ruth Galloway mysteries, Ruth investigates a collection of Aboriginal skulls that seems to be cursed, causing people to die from a mysterious fever—one that threatens to claim Det. Inspector Harry Nelson.
About the Author
A native Texan who has lived in both England and Scotland, Deborah Crombie is a three-time Macavity Award winner, an Edgar Award nominee, and a New York Times Notable author. She is the author of more than a dozen novels, including the recent Necessary as Blood and Dreaming of the Bones, which was selected as one of the 100 Best Crime Novels of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. She lives in McKinney, Texas, sharing a house that is more than one hundred years old with her husband, three cats, and two German shepherds.