January 11, 2019

A Room Full of Bones



A Room Full of Bones (Ruth Galloway #4) by Elly Griffiths
Mystery
2012 Audible Studios
Read by Jane McDowell
Finished on November 7, 2018
Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Combine a splash of Alan Bradley with a pinch of Kathy Reichs and you have a gripping new Ruth Galloway Mystery -- a good-hearted mystery series with a dark edge.

Set in Norfolk, England, A Room Full of Bones embroils, once again, our brainy heroine in a crime tinged by occult forces. On Halloween night, the Smith Museum in King's Lynn is preparing for an unusual event -- the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop. But when forensic archaelogist Ruth Galloway arrives to supervise, she finds the curator, Neil Topham, dead beside the coffin. Topham's death seems to be related to other uncanny incidents, including the arcane and suspect methods of a group called the Elginists, which aims to repatriate the museum's extensive collection of Aborigine skulls; the untimely demise of the museum's owner, Lord Smith; and the sudden illness of DCI Harry Nelson, who Ruth's friend Cathbad believes is lost in The Dreaming -- a hallucinogenic state central to some Indigenous Australian beliefs. Tensions build as Nelson's life hangs in the balance. Something must be done to set matters right and lift Nelson out of the clutches of death, but will Ruth be able to muster herself out of a state of guilt and foreboding in order to do what she does best?


This was another good installment in the Ruth Galloway series, but not one of my favorites. I'm not in love with this series, but the books are entertaining to listen to while out on a walk or driving into town while running errands. The character development is what continues to hold my interest. Now that I've read this and A Dying Fall (#5), it might be time to switch over to the print editions and see if my enthusiasm for the series improves. I really like Ruth, Nelson and the supporting cast of characters, but frankly, the mysteries are a bit ho-hum.

6 comments:

  1. I think that I'm so fond of all the characters, I don't care about the mysteries. I will agree though that they are a bit erratic in the 'complex' department for the mystery part. You've got some good ones to come or certainly ones that I liked. As I said though, I'm extremely fond of the characters. That happens with me. ;-)

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    1. Kay, I'm very fond of the characters, too. I would love to see this as a tv series, if it could be done well.

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  2. The characters, especially Ruth, are what I hear people talk about when they talk about these books.

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    1. Kathy, Ruth is a marvelous character. She's the reason I keep returning to this series.

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  3. This is one of my favorites but I keep coming back to these because of the characters. I find Ruth very relatable and seems so genuine. Unfortunately the last one I read kind of lost me a bit but I'm hoping the series gets back on track.

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    1. Iliana, yep. That's why I keep returning, too. Great characters and very relatable. Sorry to hear the last one you read was a disappointment. :(

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