The Lantern Men: Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 12 (The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries)

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Now I thought - no, more than thought - I was convinced that I knew the answer, that I had it all figured out. 😂🤣😂🤣 I didn't. Wasn't even close....

The other very slight downside is that too many times, every book I think, Ruth walks willingly into danger, puts Kate in danger and too many times the non police characters are directly threatened by criminals in the mystery, it does become quite farcical but I've come to expect that so it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the book for me.

If you thought that carrying your own torch would deter the lantern men, then you would be sorely mistaken, as reports from sightings said that he always in fact ran toward the light. Read More Related Articles In the present day, we find Ruth at a writer's retreat where she gets to dwell amongst other fellow like-minded creative types. Struggling to turn her experience as a forensic archaeologist into another novel, Ruth befriends a woman named Crissy, who is very eager to learn all she can about her. Meanwhile, Nelson and his partner, DI Judy Johnson, are taking in the verdict against alleged serial killer Ivor March. March has just been found guilty of the murders of two young women, but Nelson is confident that he will dig up more victims. For instance, there were two others, Nicola Ferris and Jenny McGuire, who were never found and who matched the profile of the women March has been convicted of killing. She has a new job, home and partner, and is no longer North Norfolk police's resident forensic archaeologist. That is until convicted murderer Ivor March offers to make DCI Nelson a deal. Nelson was always sure that March killed more women than he was charged with. Now March confirms this and offers to show Nelson where the other bodies are buried - but only if Ruth will do the digging. Much has changed in the latest edition of Elly Griffith's forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway series. For a start she is living with the American Frank and her young daughter, Kate in Cambridge, teaching at St Jude's College. She has just completed her latest book at the peaceful writers and artists retreat, Grey Walls, run by Crissy Martin. To her surprise, unusually she finds herself connecting with Crissy, a rare event indeed. In Norfolk, DCI Harry Nelson is not happy that Ruth has moved to Cambridge, and definitely not happy she is living with Frank, and he is unable to see Kate as often either. However, he is happy when serial killer, Ivor March, is found guilty of the murder of two young women buried in his girlfriend, Chantal's garden, the evidence of his culpability sufficient for the jury to convict him.

Can it really have been 12 books, and 10 years of Ruth's life pining away for Nelson? I first fell in love with Ruth, a forensic archaeologists, by her forward thinking, completely genuine, intelligent, yet self-deprecating attitude. But I'm tired of waiting for the Nelson drama to fix itself. Their simmering passions, and in earlier books, their frantic coupling (that produce their daughter while Nelson was married), have turned into a soap opera and I'm done wondering when they'll either realize they are perfectly imperfect together, or let the whole thing go, and be happy in other relationships. In a bid to get over her complicated relationship with DCI Harry Nelson of King’s Lynn CID and progress her career, forensic archaeologist, Dr Ruth Galloway, has left her beloved cottage on the Saltmarsh behind and with it the University of North Norfolk. Swapping the life that she was so content with for the dreaming spires of Cambridge and living with American historian, Dr Frank Barker, she is adjusting to teaching at St Jude’s College, having a partner and parenting her rapidly maturing nine-year-old daughter, Kate, with Nelson, now an hour away in North Norfolk. Meanwhile fifty year old DCI Harry Nelson is raising what he hopes will be his fourth and final child, two and a half year old George, after wife Michelle’s unexpected arrival, not that this does anything to lessen his silent and irrational fury at Ruth cohabiting with smarmy Frank. Griffiths supporting characters are, as usual, varied, but all quite wonderful. From the serene Crissy Martin, ex-wife of the convicted murderer, to the enigmatic Chantal, Ivor's lover, and the assortment of men, some decidedly creepy, who orbited the charismatic Ivor March and his women, this diverse cast of characters provides plenty of surprises.There’s nothing ‘noir’ about these books but neither are they ‘cosy crime’. Yes, there are murders and they’re sometimes gruesome. The plots can be tense and quite dramatic. But the writing is never gratuitous – no lingering, grisly descriptions of dead bodies, gore, or violence. The clues are revealed and unravelled and the stories are an enjoyable read. So it’s bravo to Elly Griffiths for hitting book 12 of the series featuring forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway and immediately taking Ruth right out of her comfort zone – literally. As The Lantern Man opens, Ruth is no longer living in Norfolk. She has a job at a Cambridge university college, lives in the city and has a new partner in the shape of Frank Barker, an American academic who is also something of a TV personality.