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The House at Sea's End: The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 3

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If you enjoy the setting for this series, I would also recommend A Siege of Bitterns by Steve Burrows. It also takes place in the Norfolk area, with the same darkly looming environment. It’s protagonist, Domenic Jejune is also a specialist, just in birds not archaeology. If it’s the relationships that entice you, try In the Bleak Midwinter, the first book in Julia Spencer-Fleming’s The Rev. Claire Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne mystery series. Like this series, Spencer-Fleming’s series keeps me reading to find out where Claire and Russ are headed. A team of archeologists studying coastal erosion uncover a number of skeletons neatly placed within a cleft of a cliff. Archeologist and forensic expert Ruth Galloway is brought in to work with DCI Harry Nelson, to determine the age and identity of the remains. The more they discover, the less someone wants them to find and others die trying to keep secrets buried. This is the third book in this series. I enjoyed it less than the first two I read, so allow me to elaborate a bit on them. When a body washes up on the beach, it becomes clear that someone wants the truth of the past to stay buried, and will go to any lengths to keep it that way. Can Ruth and Nelson uncover the truth in time to stop another murder? The aspect of the book with which I had reservations, and thus dropped my rating from “VG,” is based on the relationship between two of the characters. It is my personal view only. Yet because it is such a significant part of the series and accounts for a considerable portion of each story, it’s not something I can ignore. The event is a moral decision, not one of legality, and while I realize may this may seem silly, being the characters are fictional, but it is just not something acceptable to me. Had an event which occurred in the first book of the series not reoccurred, I am certain I would feel differently. However, that was not the choice made by the author. That’s fine, it is her choice, but it is one that clearly impacts the way I feel about the book.

There is an interesting side story of Ruth’s earlier investigation of war graves in Bosnia and her involvement with the mother of a missing child. Every now and then there is a review which I find difficult to write; this is one. Let me start with all that I found very well done: Generally I felt this was a stronger novel than the first two in the series – less rather bizarre pagan or Roman references, less jeopardy around the main characters (unfortunately this re-emerges at the book’s climax). While the murder investigations are going on "Sea's End" mainly seems to concern itself with the private lives of the two main characters Ruth and Harry, plus those of some minor characters within the police department as well. I enjoy mystery series that contain a continuous story throughout with the main characters but this time the personal relationships overshadowed the mystery theme and I didn't really come upon any surprise twists. One thing I did appreciate was the further development of Cathbad's character who has been proven to much more human in this entry, rather than the eccentric buffoon he's been up to this point.The mystery itself is very good. While you, as reader, know some of the events have a direct impact on the story, it’s Ms. Griffiths’ ability to bring together a lot of small pieces into solving the complete puzzle that is admirable. There is heart-pounding suspense, surprises, twists and an ending which was wonderfully set up but not contrived. As an aside it seemed a shame to feature a Norfolk Home Guard without any reference to the nearby filming of Dad’s army. The books to date in the Galloway series aren't traditional whodunnit style mysteries, in that the reader is never in possession of all the information necessary to identify the villain ahead of the text. Instead, the complex narrative enables relevant information - and red herrings - to be gradually revealed to the protagonists in real time with the reader. Consequently, Ruth again finds herself in a potentially deadly confrontation when the killer's identity is unveiled at the end of the book. She seems to be making a habit of this!

Having just returned from maternity leave forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway is struggling to cope with both work and being a mother. When six bodies are discovered buried at the foot of a cliff by a team from the University of North Norfolk, Ruth is asked to help with the case. DCI Nelson the father of Ruth's daughter Kate is investigating which causes extra complications. Tests show that the bodies are from Southern Europe, killed sixty years ago and police Investigations unearth records of Project Lucifer, a wartime plan to stop a German invasion. A further discovery reveals that members of the Broughton Sea's End Home Guard took a 'blood oath' to conceal some deadly wartime secret. When a visiting German reporter is killed, Ruth and Nelson realise that someone is still alive who will kill to keep the secret of Broughton Sea's End's war years. Can they discover the truth in time to stop another murder? One of the early titles in the popular Ruth Galloway series and my favourite so far, starting from the beginning that I've already grown to love the development of the series main protagonist - especially now that Ruth is a single mum to 4 month old Kate. The dry humour and intelligence of Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway mysteries, set in Norfolk, England, are fresh air in a genre dominated by surly male detectives and gun-totin' female PIs. ABOUT 'THE HOUSE AT SEA'S END': When bones are unearthed at the foot of a north Norfolk cliff, forensics expert Ruth Galloway and DCI Nelson are put on the case. The skeletons have lain there for decades, possibly since the war, and for all that time a hideous crime has been concealed. The mystery for this book isn't as compelling as the previous volumes. The fact that almost all of the drama took place in the past undercuts the tension. The only way the author is able to inject drama or suspense into the plot is by having her characters (Ruth, I'm looking at you) make (no boundaries between you and Nelson, really? some (why do Ruth and Nelson end up at that house so often, anyway?) poor (So you ask the daughter of some one involved in a case to babysit? And then poor Judy's gotta clean up the mess?) decisions (and a fireship seemed like the best idea to you, eh? It has the word FIRE in it..After just two books in this gripping series the central characters, forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson, have the allure of old friends, and it's great to find that the third title is just as enthralling as its predecessors. Erosion on the north Norfolk coast leads to the discovery of six bodies buried at the foot of a cliff, and it soon becomes clear that the corpses are German and have lain there since the second world war. Further investigation reveals a plan to repel an enemy invasion and an oath of secrecy sworn, in blood, by members of the Home Guard. Although the use of the present tense can be a bit uncomfortable at times, it doesn't detract from the sheer readability of this Boy's Own-style psychodrama with its cast of refreshingly unusual characters.

Although this is easily read as stand a alone book - each book is a completely self-contained mystery, although there are references to occurrences in previous books - you would miss out on all the character development and the building of relationships. This was my second read. I loved it first time round, and loved it even more this time. I would definitely recommend this one. I really love this series and even though the ending wasn’t my cup of tea, the rest of the story made up for it! If you’re looking for a crime series with high stakes and personal drama then this is definitely for you. Nelson learns something about his boss, Whitcliffe, that subtly changes his opinion of the man, and he finds he is no longer able to summon up his old hatred and contempt for him. A pity, as he misses it. Ruth Galloway has just returned from maternity leave and is struggling to juggle work and motherhood. When a team from the University of North Norfolk, investigating coastal erosion, finds six bodies at the foot of the cliff, she is immediately put on the case.

Games

I think my issue with the series first developed with the Janus Stone. Ruth, the main character, seems to get caught up in the center of a lot of drama that doesn't have much to do with her. Her character isn't compelling enough to attract so much attention. She's a well-drawn character, but a little dull; even the author admits it. In The House at Sea's End, Ruth is surrounded by people more interesting than herself. Cathbad, Tatiana, Nelson, Judy, Hugh Ancel, were all more interesting than the main character. Ruth was grating on me by the end. The thing that really impressed me about The House at Sea’s End was the crime that was committed in WWII. With how it ended up relating to modern-day. I thought the fact that it was German soldiers that were found and how they had been murdered was particularly well handled. I felt sympathy for them regardless of their mission and being ‘the enemy’ so to speak. The way that Griffiths used the older generation to paint not only the scene but also the empathy needed was beautiful. One of my favourite things about this book. I do get tired of mystery series though, including this one, when the recurring main character at some point in each book becomes in grave danger. Also., I do wish this one didn’t get quite so scary each time toward the end. Of the first three books in the series I found book two much more amusing than book one and also more amusing than this third book. Though the characters, regular and guest, are so interesting that I do continue to like the books more and more. I hope book four has more humor and is at least a tad less scary. I love what humor is there. The villain in this case was I felt a little too obscure to be fully satisfactory while still involving rather too much coincidence. In a cove beneath the house of a vocal MEP which sits on a crumbling cliff, a group of archaeologists find a group of bodies killed by gunshots who they establish by forensic investigation, lead by Ruth, are of German origin and date from the mid 20th Century.

The first book, The Crossing Places, was very chilling, and included pagan lore, history, and archaeology. I fell in love with the descriptions of the freezing salt marshes, the birds, the lonely cottage. The Janus Stone included Roman history, which I'm very interested in. I think the real pull for me with these books was the inclusion of my interests in great mystery plots. Between the salt marsh and the history and mythology, what's not to love?

The House at Sea's End

There's so much that I enjoy about Griffiths writing, both the setting feels real and characters that I instantly care about.

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