Forensic archeologist Ruth Galloway investigates a heart-stopping an old university friend and fellow archeologist murdered in an arson attack.

The conflict between personalities with a background of financial problems are always going to lead to trouble and are very well described. Having said that I really did enjoy the relationship between the characters and the humour, I really like the character of Ruth and Kate and all of them really. Beyond Ruth's fence, the long grass is tawny and gold with the occasional flash of dark blue water as the marsh leads out to the sea. One of the most cinematic finales in recent crime fiction’ Daily Telegraph Dr Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist, spends a lot of time looking at death. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition.

The Dr Ruth Galloway series is without a doubt the standout continuing series in current crime fiction and Elly Griffiths heartily deserves the success her characters have brought her. By “strain,” he means the particular musical passage that is playing as he speaks, and the words “a dying fall” can only have meant some kind of fading cadence, a few slow notes that slip and disappear and that to him sound like the sound of dying. As luck would have it, the friend's employer (a struggling college) invites Galloway (a well-known expert in this field) to evaluate what should be a 1500-year old skeleton. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

Ruth makes the trip to Blackpool to investigate, wary of encroaching on DCI Harry Nelson’s home ground. In the first book they slept together, finding comfort in each other after a very taxing day, and then she got pregnant and had her baby daughter, Kate. Her bestselling series of Dr Ruth Galloway novels, featuring a forensic archaeologist, are set in Norfolk. They’ve all been terrific so far and I’m awfully glad I have quite a few to go before I await them, hopefully, annually. Harry Nelson, all take summer holiday trips to the vicinity of the site of the murder and dig, where they encounter a host of suspect fellow academics and locals, including someone who sends Ruth warning text messages.I appreciated the different setting: Blackpool sees Ruth consulting on recent find by her old college chum (now dead in a mysterious fire.