A Room Full of Bones: The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 4

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Ruth's story with Nelson continues and we wonder what will happen in subsequent books now that Michelle knows that Kate is Nelson's daughter. It introduces quite a lot of interesting crime/mystery aspects, all seemingly unrelated until Griffiths quite cleverly weaves them together. Bats hang from the ceiling and, as Ruth rounds the last bend, she comes face to face with a life-size figure wearing a witch’s cloak and hat and a mask – based (rather convincingly, it must be said) on Munch’s The Scream .

Well, Ruth finding a dead body at the local museum provides the professional excuse for them to again interact. Cathbad, little Kate, Ruth and DI Nelson remain steadfast in their characterisation, making it a sound fourth novel in the series. Here we have mysterious deaths, drug smuggling, mysticism and enough horses to make a Dick Francis fan neigh with glee; but the actual mystery is almost incidental to the various inter-personal relationships between this circle of characters and I never felt particularly gripped by these relationships. Max, a fellow archaeologist who featured in book two, The Janus Stone, turns back up in Ruth’s life in A Room Full of Bones.Lord Danforth Smith, the current title holder, is a racehorse trainer and unwilling local celebrity. As is the usual way of their interactions we see Nelson and Ruth tongue-tied and muddling along in a mix of misunderstandings and irritation when they come across each other. At the same token the reader is plowed into another enticing mystery as a museums curator is found dead next to a coffin excavated from a medieval church.

For example you can't be in a hospital with a person that just got well and out of ICU and talk about sexual tension or make a baby say "dada" to every male she meets. It's essential with a series of crime novels that the recurring characters are progressed in each book and that happened here. I've read a stand-alone by this author and she did a decent job but this series of hers is just terrible and I can't believe her publisher continues with it!Previous Smiths have been rather more serious-minded and evidence of their philanthropy is everywhere in Norfolk. The first half of the book includes much discussion of the exploration of Australia, the ravaging of Aboriginal holy relics, and efforts for the repatriation of human remains. As an Australian, I found some of this plot great but was a little perplexed about the ignorance of the modern day English characters. Erik Anderssen, Erik the Viking, Ruth’s tutor at university and for many years afterwards her mentor and role model.

We were crossing Titchwell Marsh in North Norfolk when Andy (an archaeologist) mentioned that prehistoric people thought that marshland was sacred ground.Nelson obviously loves Michelle and their two daughters and wants to save his marriage; however, he wants to be involved in Kate's life too. In her capacity as a forensic archaeologist, with a particular specialty in bones, she's asked to assess the boxed remains in situ at the museum - the titular “room full of bones”. Although I found it took a few chapters to get fully into the storyline, it’s beautifully paced, and each chapter read seemed to contain more action and revelations than the one before. A Room Full of Bones is probably the strongest in the series thus far when it comes to the mystery plot. The pressures that Ruth is faced with differ in all of the cases which she has been involved with and the new consideration here is one-year-old daughter, Kate.