Helpful Score: 4
I am completely convinced that Elly Griffiths can not write a bad book. Usually, when an author has great success with their first there is a rush to put out a second that somehow seems to fall flat. Well, that is definitely not the case with this extremely talented writer.
Ruth Galloway , a forensic archaeologist returns to investigate when a builder in Norwich discovers skeletal remains of a child, without the skull, buried under a doorway on the site of an abandoned children's home. As the investigation continues the bones reveal that they are a bit older and are actually from the days when the home was privately owned. With the help of Cathbad - a great character- and Max, Ruth discovers the God of Doors and Openings leading the reader and herself on a very interesting voyage.
Elly Griffiths doesn't just give you a fascinating story, she draws you in with multiple storylines, Roman and Pagan mythology, and modern day Catholicism. Her detail and research both educating and entertaining. But more importantly, each layer is a bit more fascinating then the last and intertwines them all with history and mystery that keeps you reading.
Ruth Galloway , a forensic archaeologist returns to investigate when a builder in Norwich discovers skeletal remains of a child, without the skull, buried under a doorway on the site of an abandoned children's home. As the investigation continues the bones reveal that they are a bit older and are actually from the days when the home was privately owned. With the help of Cathbad - a great character- and Max, Ruth discovers the God of Doors and Openings leading the reader and herself on a very interesting voyage.
Elly Griffiths doesn't just give you a fascinating story, she draws you in with multiple storylines, Roman and Pagan mythology, and modern day Catholicism. Her detail and research both educating and entertaining. But more importantly, each layer is a bit more fascinating then the last and intertwines them all with history and mystery that keeps you reading.
Helpful Score: 3
Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit*, December 31, 2010
This review is from: The Janus Stone (Ruth Galloway) (Hardcover)
I knew when I opened the first page of this book that I should have read the first one in the Ruth Galloway mystery series -- The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway) -- so if you haven't read it, stop and remedy that now. This second book immediately made me wish I had "met" the characters previously so I could understand what led to Ruth's pregnancy and to know the relationship she had with her baby's father. That said, and even though her pregnancy takes up a lot of the novel, the book is really a mystery about the murder of a child, and how that child's headless skeleton comes to lie underneath the doorway of an old mansion. Who is the girl and how did she end up there?
Ruth Galloway is 40ish, unmarried, and a slightly overweight forensic archeologist. She is called in as a consultant when bones are found during the demolition of a large, old house (once an orphanage) that is being converted into apartments. Joined by other colleages -- Max and Cathbad -- Ruth begins to assist Detective Police Inspector Harry Nelson in the investigation. The more she delves into the case, the more trouble she has. Who is afraid of what she might find out and how far is that person willing to go to stop her!?
Although the story is not what I would call fast paced, it's the characters and their interactions and dialog that make the book interesting. I really like that the protagonist is a strong, intelligent, and independent middle aged woman. Her friends are interesting and the archelogocial details are fascinating.
I think most who enjoy forensic mystery stories will like this novel -- but be sure to read them in order as I didn't think this one worked well as a stand alone!
A solid 3 1/2 stars.
*Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit = Everything changes but nothing is destroyed.
This review is from: The Janus Stone (Ruth Galloway) (Hardcover)
I knew when I opened the first page of this book that I should have read the first one in the Ruth Galloway mystery series -- The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway) -- so if you haven't read it, stop and remedy that now. This second book immediately made me wish I had "met" the characters previously so I could understand what led to Ruth's pregnancy and to know the relationship she had with her baby's father. That said, and even though her pregnancy takes up a lot of the novel, the book is really a mystery about the murder of a child, and how that child's headless skeleton comes to lie underneath the doorway of an old mansion. Who is the girl and how did she end up there?
Ruth Galloway is 40ish, unmarried, and a slightly overweight forensic archeologist. She is called in as a consultant when bones are found during the demolition of a large, old house (once an orphanage) that is being converted into apartments. Joined by other colleages -- Max and Cathbad -- Ruth begins to assist Detective Police Inspector Harry Nelson in the investigation. The more she delves into the case, the more trouble she has. Who is afraid of what she might find out and how far is that person willing to go to stop her!?
Although the story is not what I would call fast paced, it's the characters and their interactions and dialog that make the book interesting. I really like that the protagonist is a strong, intelligent, and independent middle aged woman. Her friends are interesting and the archelogocial details are fascinating.
I think most who enjoy forensic mystery stories will like this novel -- but be sure to read them in order as I didn't think this one worked well as a stand alone!
A solid 3 1/2 stars.
*Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit = Everything changes but nothing is destroyed.
Helpful Score: 2
Second in the series and a very good read.
First Line: A light breeze runs through the long grass at the top of the hill.
An old house is being torn down in Norwich to make way for a housing development. When the bones of a child are uncovered beneath a doorway, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson knows whom to call: Dr. Ruth Galloway, head of Forensic Archaeology at the University of North Norfolk.
Nelson wants answers, and he wants them fast-- the house used to be a children's home. In contacting the priest who ran the home at the time, he learns that two children did go missing forty years ago, but carbon dating proves the child's bones predate the home and relate to a time when the house was privately owned. For reasons of her own, Ruth is drawn deeper and deeper into the case, but someone is attempting to put her off by trying to scare her to death.
Nothing makes a serial reader like me happier than when the second book in a series fulfills the promise made by the first. The gruff DCI Harry Nelson and the slightly awkward Ruth Galloway are very appealing main characters, but it's Ruth who really worms her way into my heart:
"Ruth is dreadful at shopping. It is a female ritual that she has never mastered. Other women can disappear into a shop for half an hour and come out with piles of tasteful clothes in the right size, artfully matching accessories, and the perfect pair of shoes. Ruth can shop all day and still only have a T-shirt two sizes too small to show for it."
Plot, pacing and the Norfolk setting match Griffiths' skill in characterization, as well as her dryly humorous writing style. I also enjoy the archaeology angle, learning about pagan and Roman Britain as I turn the pages.
For any of you coming late to the Ruth Galloway party, you'll be happy to note that you don't have to start reading the series from the beginning (although it's much better if you do). The author provides enough backstory to keep you from being confused.
I've barely finished reading The Janus Stone, and I already can't wait to read the next, The House at Sea's End!
An old house is being torn down in Norwich to make way for a housing development. When the bones of a child are uncovered beneath a doorway, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson knows whom to call: Dr. Ruth Galloway, head of Forensic Archaeology at the University of North Norfolk.
Nelson wants answers, and he wants them fast-- the house used to be a children's home. In contacting the priest who ran the home at the time, he learns that two children did go missing forty years ago, but carbon dating proves the child's bones predate the home and relate to a time when the house was privately owned. For reasons of her own, Ruth is drawn deeper and deeper into the case, but someone is attempting to put her off by trying to scare her to death.
Nothing makes a serial reader like me happier than when the second book in a series fulfills the promise made by the first. The gruff DCI Harry Nelson and the slightly awkward Ruth Galloway are very appealing main characters, but it's Ruth who really worms her way into my heart:
"Ruth is dreadful at shopping. It is a female ritual that she has never mastered. Other women can disappear into a shop for half an hour and come out with piles of tasteful clothes in the right size, artfully matching accessories, and the perfect pair of shoes. Ruth can shop all day and still only have a T-shirt two sizes too small to show for it."
Plot, pacing and the Norfolk setting match Griffiths' skill in characterization, as well as her dryly humorous writing style. I also enjoy the archaeology angle, learning about pagan and Roman Britain as I turn the pages.
For any of you coming late to the Ruth Galloway party, you'll be happy to note that you don't have to start reading the series from the beginning (although it's much better if you do). The author provides enough backstory to keep you from being confused.
I've barely finished reading The Janus Stone, and I already can't wait to read the next, The House at Sea's End!
Vivian Q. (bellasgranny) -
Solid second entry in the Ruth Galloway series. Great characters, setting and storyline. Wait expectantly for the next in the series.
Eadie B. (eadieburke) -
I enjoyed this 2nd book in Ruth Galloway Series. Elly Griffiths has crafted an engaging mystery that keeps the reader in suspense to the very end. It is an entertaining blend of romance, mythology, mystery, and psychological suspense which keeps the pages turning. There is a delightful humor to her writing that particularly appeals to me. The only disappointment was a somewhat rambling plot with too much going on. Of most interest to me is the relationship between Ruth and Harry Nelson which has a complicated start. All in all, the series is enjoyable and I look forward to the installment.
Not the most intelligent of authors---plot details can be unnecessarily repetitive. Heavy-handed narrative. And yet these Ruth Galloway books are very enjoyable because the characters are so sympathetic.
Second in the series with forensic anthropologist Ruth Galloway. I've been trying to read this series in order, but it's been a few years since I started and I missed this one. Developers knocking down an old house uncover the skeleton of a child buried under a doorway - minus its head - and Ruth is called out to take a look. It could be an old Roman practice, but the grave is too new, and the analysis confirms the remains are fairly recent. The house used to be a Catholic children's home, so the inquiries begin with the priest who used to run the home. I really liked the bits of Roman and Catholic mythology, and the characters are all very well done. It's a slower paced story than most, with a lot of the storyline taken up by Ruth's pregnancy and what will happen. I felt it all worked within the context though, since the mystery is about what happened to a child. In the later books I've been reading, Ruth doesn't get much chance to exercise her job, it was nice to see her working.
Kathleen D. (momoffour49783) reviewed The Janus Stone (Ruth Galloway, Bk 2) on + 43 more book reviews
If you like the craziness of what happens to Diane Fallon or Tempe Brennan in their stories, you may not like this series. It's way too tame for me. It's very vague writing to me and the main characters annoyed me, especially the detective. But, I am always willing to try another of the books if someone can tell me that they are better than this one...I didn't finish it.
An easy-enough, and entertaining-enough read.
I really want to love this series -- I love archaeology, I love thrillers with a strong female lead, and I love novels with a strong sense of place. And, as far as that goes, Elly Griffiths delivers.
But some of Griffiths' choices really rankle: for example, the use of present tense was presumably meant to create a sense of "immediacy," but just annoyed the heck out of me.
For example, making Ruth "relatable" by giving her lots of relatable flaws. She's fat, and she isn't -- threateningly? -- good looking. Fair enough -- Ruth has to look like something, and why shouldn't she buck expectations about female appearance? -- but it's the way we're constantly reminded of it. (Just as, every time Ruth's friend Shona or Nelson's wife appear, we have to be reminded how beautiful they are. Every ... single ... time ...)
As readers, we know we're being manipulated -- that's the author's job! -- but here, the snake-oil salesman, pulling the levers behind the curtain, is made all too obvious.
I really want to love this series -- I love archaeology, I love thrillers with a strong female lead, and I love novels with a strong sense of place. And, as far as that goes, Elly Griffiths delivers.
But some of Griffiths' choices really rankle: for example, the use of present tense was presumably meant to create a sense of "immediacy," but just annoyed the heck out of me.
For example, making Ruth "relatable" by giving her lots of relatable flaws. She's fat, and she isn't -- threateningly? -- good looking. Fair enough -- Ruth has to look like something, and why shouldn't she buck expectations about female appearance? -- but it's the way we're constantly reminded of it. (Just as, every time Ruth's friend Shona or Nelson's wife appear, we have to be reminded how beautiful they are. Every ... single ... time ...)
As readers, we know we're being manipulated -- that's the author's job! -- but here, the snake-oil salesman, pulling the levers behind the curtain, is made all too obvious.
