#Elly Griffiths

[mywingsareonwheels]

The stratification (in marketing at least) between "grimdark" crime fiction (inc books) and "cosy" crime fiction grates on me sometimes, because I like nothing that's at either extreme. I don't want relentless pain (and I find both organised crime and serial killer plots pretty boring unless they're really well-handled), and I don't want cheerfully callous "ooh, the bodies are piling up! how inconvenient! have another slice of Victoria sponge!".

I want humanity and compassion and humour and treating deaths like they do actually matter even when they're of awful people, thank-you-so-very-much. I want the satisfaction of a puzzle solved. I want an awareness by the author that yes the human fascination with murder mysteries (going right right back to Oedipus Tyrannus etc.) is kind of odd, while also not apologising for it. I want characters I warm to and care about, even if I sometimes want to throw things at them. I want a predictable structure to some extent, because it helps my autistic brain when I'm having a rough time (see also romances!). If at all possible I like at least some awareness that there is structural oppression in the world and that capital punishment is Not Great even if by the very nature of the genre (especially in police procedurals) I never expect murder mysteries to have the same politics or morality as me[1].

Some of the murder mysteries/crime fiction I do really love: the Cadfael books, Endeavour, the Lord Peter Wimsey books, the Ruth Galloway mysteries, the Discworld Watch books, the Ian Rutledge mysteries, and every time KJ Charles or T Kingfisher get a bit murder mystery on us. And so on and so forth. There are a good number! And a fair variety in tone in all of these they just... still all operate in that blessed middle space between grimdark and cosy, and involve Caring About People, and I just wish there were even more. <3

(Do recommend your own favourites if you wish!) [1] In real life, I am very much of the opinion that ACAB, that prison is a horror, that capital punishment is one of the greatest evils there is, and that retributive justice in general is wrong and unhelpful; those views affect which murder mysteries I like and how I read/watch/listen to them to some extent but, well, fiction is not reality. And being aware of that gap helps me to keep true to my views while still enjoying stories that go very much the other way!

[richardarmitagefanpage]

IG Story shared by Elly Griffiths.

[105nt]

Norfolk Reads - The Crossing Places

This is the fourth Norfolk book I've read this year - hoping to fit in 9 before publication of the tenth - The Running Grave - on 26 September 2023.

The discovery of bones near the location of a pre-historic wood henge in the Norfolk marshes raises hopes that the police will finally be able to resolve the case of a missing child. However, not only do the bones not belong to the missing child, but soon another child goes missing, and in desperation the investigating officer DCI Harry Nelson turns to Dr Ruth Galloway, a local forensic archaeologist.

This was good fun - very fast-paced with a heroine I immediately found engaging - she lives alone with her cats, she is a lecturer in archaeology and however she stands on the scales ... she weighs twelve and a half stone. Her relationships with the other characters - DCI Harry Nelson, best friend Shona, ex-partner Peter, boss Phil, mentor Erik and her family, neighbours and suspects are very well drawn and the development of the case satisfying. Beautiful descriptions of the liminal space between the marshes and the sea:

The sand, rippling like a frozen sea, stretches far in front of her ... We are nothing, Ruth thinks, nothing to this place. Bronze Age man came here and built the henge, Iron Age man left bodies and votive offerings, modern man tries to tame the sea with walls and towers and bridges. Nothing remains. Man dwindles to dust, less than sand; only the sea and sky stay the same.

I would certainly read more - currently eyeing up a boxed set of the lot.

Next up will be Salt by Jeremy Page.

[the-final-sentence]

'I could certainly try,' I said.

Elly Griffiths, from “Murder at the Villa Rosa”

[lakecountylibrary]

Series Spotlight: Dr. Ruth Galloway Mysteries by Elly Griffiths

The Dr. Ruth Galloway series is 15 books long. I can say I have listened to each book! The 15th and final book just came out in April.

I loved this series... except for the last book. It was written in a different style than the others and I didn't care for how it jumps from character to character with no warning.

Dr. Ruth Galloway is an eminent British forensic archaeologist, who is called upon by the police whenever they find bones they need help identifying or dating. There is an archaeological discovery featured in each of the books, along with at least one murder to be solved.

The plot of each novel is unique, but the cast of characters is pretty consistent. There is a lot of character development, especially in the later books.

The books don't quite qualify as cozies, yet compared to other crime novels, they are pretty tame. I appreciate that Griffiths is able to tell a story without a lot of sex and violence.

The 14th book (The Locked Room) does deal with Covid-19 and some of it hit pretty close to home, especially the fear and isolation the characters go through.

This series would make for great television and I hope to see a screen adaptation at some point!

The narrator for the audio version of each book is Jane McDowell and she does a superb job. She is Dr. Ruth Galloway!

Look for this series in print, audiobook, ebook and eaudiobook formats at LCPL.

See more of Brenna's recs

[uwlmvac]

Bill Gresens’ Archaeology Book Review for June 2023

“The Last Remains” by Elly Griffiths (four trowels) 

Ruth Galloway returns for (perhaps) one last investigation as the remains of an archaeology student, missing for twenty years, are discovered hidden in a construction renovation project. 

Read the entire review at: https://www.uwlax.edu/mvac/book-reviews/?review=262009

[signal-failure]

Marple: Twelve New Mysteries

Marple: Twelve New Mysteries

Marple: Twelve New Mysteries is a new collection of short mysteries starring the classic Miss Marple, all written by different modern suspense writers.  Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse, Ruth Ware. I was so excited to read this as soon as I heard about it because this…

[qbdatabase]

Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school English teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she teaches a course on it every year. But when one of Clare’s colleagues and closest friends is found dead, with a line from R. M. Holland’s most famous story, “The Stranger,” left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with the storylines of her favourite literature.

To make matters worse, the police suspect the killer is someone Clare knows. Unsure whom to trust, she turns to her closest confidant, her diary, the only outlet she has for her darkest suspicions and fears about the case. Then one day she notices something odd. Writing that isn’t hers, left on the page of an old diary: “Hallo, Clare. You don’t know me.”

Clare becomes more certain than ever: “The Stranger” has come to terrifying life. But can the ending be rewritten in time?

[living400lbs]

Harbinder, lead detective on the case, telling her mom she can't go home for Sunday lunch.

‘I can’t, Mum,’ she says. ‘I’m working.’

‘Even on a Sunday?’ says Bibi. ‘Your father’s shouting that you shouldn’t have to work at weekends. I don’t think that’s right. Isn’t there a union?’

‘As soon as I crack the case, I’ll be home,’ says Harbinder. ‘I promise.’

‘Oh, you’ll crack it,’ says Bibi. ‘It’s always the least obvious person. Now Deepak’s shouting that I’ve got it all wrong. I don’t know who made him Hercule Poirot all of a sudden.’

From Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths

[tawneybel]

Happy World Goth Day!

I am not adept at taking decent selfies. Have a clear shot of bunnies instead, below. From when I was clearing out my camera roll. 

Celebrated by doing more or less the same stuff I do every week:

slept in on a Sunday thanks to blackout curtains

drank out of an Edward Gorey mug

wore last night’s Killstar t-shirt until I bathed behind a Gashycrumb Tinies shower curtain 

queued a list of male goth characters (check out the female one)

listened to dark wave

read a murder mystery (A Room Full of Bones)

currently watching classic horror (The Pit and the Pendulum) with fam

[mywingsareonwheels]

Damn but the Ruth Galloway series (by Elly Griffiths) is fantastic. <3

Murder mysteries, Norfolk scenery and folklore, archaeology, Druidry. And a bunch of genuinely lovely characters who are mostly quite moderately disastrous in their private lives but all v likeable.

(Content warning: while Ruth is a forensic archaeologist, the other main character/her love interest is a DCI. So it happens in that fictional otherworld in which not all cops are bastards (I mean, the book series is critical of a lot of policing, but still in that otherworld).)

(If the books ever get made into a tv show I reckon it'll do extremely well, at least if it's fairly close to them. :) )

[inlovewithquotes]

Hell is empty and all the devils are here.

- The Stranger Diaries

[lizfielding99]

Noir at the Bar

Crawley Festival of Words My latest Maybridge Murder Mystery is with my editor so until I have more news about that, I thought I’d let you know what else I’ve been up — apart from the housework! This weekend was the Crawley Festival of Words crime weekend. I was thrilled to be able to hear Elly Griffiths and Barbara Nadel talk about their latest books. I’m really excited about the new “Frozen”…

[thisisdore]

02/02/24

Spent the morning reading a lot of ‘Night Hawks’, had a phone appointment with my doctor, which resulted in my antidepressant dose being increased, and me needing to book in another blood test as they missed a few things with the first one (and I am also anaemic now so that’s fun), post lunch I had to run a few errands, and once back I reorganised my CD collection, before having a nice treat and a long bath. This evening has been spent relaxing, watching TV with my dad, and doing some more reading.

[scuffedgrannysblog]

The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths

A Ruth Galloway mystery which is set at the start of the pandemic and which involves a number of mysterious deaths of women

I’ve not heard of Ruth Galloway before and bought this book on a whim, but I’m glad that I did because it was another good police style mystery series. Set in Norfolk on the east coast of England, this book is a later one in a series so the characters are known to each other and there is history there of which readers of the other books will have awareness. However, I didn’t find that not having…

[lilianeruyters]

Holiday Reading