When she's not digging up bones or other ancient objects, Ruth Galloway lectures at the University of North Norfolk. She lives happily alone in a remote, wild place called Saltmarsh overlooking the North Sea under Norfolk's vast skies. For company she has her cats Flint and Sparky, and Radio 4. When a child's bones are found in the marshes near an ancient site that Ruth worked on ten years earlier, Ruth is asked to date them. The bones turn out to be two thousand years old, and DCI Harry Nelson, who called on Ruth for help, is disappointed. He'd hoped they would be the bones of a child called Lucy who's been missing for ten years. He's been getting letters about her ever since - bizarre notes with references to ritual and sacrifice and quoting the Bible and Shakespeare.Then a second girl goes missing and Nelson receives another letter similar to the ones about Lucy. Soon it becomes clear that Ruth is in grave danger from a killer who knows that her expert knowledge is being used to help the police with their enquiries.
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When she's not digging up bones or other ancient objects, quirky, tart-tongued archaeologist Ruth Galloway lives happily alone in a remote area called Saltmarsh near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants--not quite earth, not quite sea. When a child's bones are found on a desolate beach nearby, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls Galloway for help. Nelson thinks he has found the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing ten years ago. Since her disappearance he has been receiving bizarre letters about her, letters with references to ritual and sacrifice. The bones actually turn out to be two thousand years old, but Ruth is soon drawn into the Lucy Downey case and into the mind of the letter writer, who seems to have both archaeological knowledge and eerie psychic powers. Then another child goes missing and the hunt is on to find her. As the letter writer moves closer and the windswept Norfolk landscape exerts its power, Ruth finds herself in completely new territory--and in serious danger. The Crossing Places marks the beginning of a captivating new crime series featuring an irresistible heroine.
When she's not digging up bones or other ancient objects, quirky, tart-tongued archaeologist Ruth Galloway lives happily alone in a remote area called Saltmarsh near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants--not quite earth, not quite sea. When a child's bones are found on a desolate beach nearby, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls Galloway for help. Nelson thinks he has found the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing ten years ago. Since her disappearance he has been receiving bizarre letters about her, letters with references to ritual and sacrifice. The bones actually turn out to be two thousand years old, but Ruth is soon drawn into the Lucy Downey case and into the mind of the letter writer, who seems to have both archaeological knowledge and eerie psychic powers. Then another child goes missing and the hunt is on to find her. As the letter writer moves closer and the windswept Norfolk landscape exerts its power, Ruth finds herself in completely new territory--and in serious danger. The Crossing Places marks the beginning of a captivating new crime series featuring an irresistible heroine.
Amazon Exclusive Essay: "A Bridge to the Afterlife" by Elly Griffiths, Author of The Crossing Places
The Crossing Places is set on desolate marshland in Norfolk. It is thought that prehistoric people saw marshland as sacred. Because it is neither land nor sea but a mixture of both, they saw it as a kind of bridge to the afterlife--neither land nor sea, neither life nor death. This is why they often buried treasure, or even bodies, at the edge of marshland. There have been several discoveries of so-called bog bodies, prehistoric bodies preserved in peaty marshland soil. The most famous of these is probably Tollund Man, discovered in Denmark in 1950. Tollund Man, who dates from the Iron Age, was hanged before being thrown into a peat bog. Was he a sacrifice to the gods, an offering in return for safe passage across the treacherous ground? No one really knows.
Norfolk is on the east coast of England. Less than ten thousand years ago, this land would have been part of the European landmass, now Scandinavia. It's no wonder, then, that Norse belief was strong in the area. My story is fictional but there have been many real-life archaeological discoveries on the Norfolk coast. At Holme-next-the-Sea, a wooden henge was discovered, believed to date from the Bronze Age. At the center of the henge circle was a tree, planted upside down. Was this Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse legend? The tree on which Odin was sacrificed for the good of mankind? Again, no one knows. As Ruth, the forensic archaeologist in my book, says, "the questions are more important than the answers."
(Photo © Jerry Bauer)
From Publishers Weekly
Griffiths's serviceable first mystery introduces archeologist Ruth Galloway, who leads a quiet life in a remote region of Norfolk, England, known as the Saltmarsh. When Det. Chief Insp. Harry Nelson asks for her expertise in identifying human remains found in the marsh, he's disappointed when Ruth determines they date to the Iron Age. Harry, who's been haunted for 10 years by the kidnapping of five-year-old Lucy Downey, hoped the bones could bring closure to the girl's family. Drawn into the investigation, Ruth delves deeper into Lucy's disappearance and studies the letters Harry has received over the years, presumably from the kidnapper. When another young girl goes missing, Ruth and Harry fear the cycle has begun again. With her brittle exterior and general distaste for human companionship, Ruth is a difficult heroine with whom to empathize, but the novel's archeological details and the unsettling denouement go far in making up for her prickly character. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Elly Griffiths was born in London in 1963. Her first crime novel The Crossing Places is set on the Norfolk coast where she spent holidays as a child and where her aunt still lives. Her interest in archaeology comes from her husband, Andrew, who gave up his city job to retrain as an archaeologist. She lives in Brighton, on the south coast of England, with her husband and two children.
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47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3.5 Stars - Great protagonist, atmospheric setting,
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This review is from: The Crossing Places (A Ruth Galloway Mystery) (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
First Sentence: They wait for the tide and set out at first light.
Archaeologist Ruth Galloway is a single, overweight woman who lives with her two cats on the edge of the Saltmarsh. DCI Harry Nelson asks for her help when human bones are found on a nearby beach. Nelson is haunted by the case of Lucy Downey, a young girl who disappeared ten years ago. A second child now disappears. Nelson believes the two cases are linked. It is always a treat to start a book by an author I'd not previously read and discover it is a very enjoyable book. The opening is particularly effective and creates a strong sense of place. In fact, it is the evocative quality of Ms. Griffiths' descriptions that entranced me and held me fast into the story. Add to that fascinating historical, geological, archeological and forensic information that enhances the story, but never overwhelms or slows it down. The characters are only slightly less effective. I loved Ruth. She is definitely a character with whom I can identify. It is so refreshing to not have a young, slim, gorgeous protagonist. She is smart, strong and independent. A slight criticism would be that the author focused more than needed on Ruth's weight and being single. There's a point where you say, "Okay, I've got it." Nelson, on the other hand, seemed rather anachronistic in his view toward women and I was rather amazed at some of the things he didn't know, particularly with a British education. The other characters felt contrived. I did guess the villain fairly early on, but there were enough twists and red herrings that I wasn't completely certain. There is an incident with one of Ruth's cats I felt was predictable and not really necessary to the plot. The story does have a bit of a Gothic feel, which I enjoyed, and some very good suspense. It kept me reading from page one straight through in one sitting. I was surprised by the very ending, but not particularly in a good way. Still, taken all together, the positives far outweighed the negatives and I look forward to more books by Ms. Griffiths. THE CROSSING PLACES (Trad Mys-Ruth Galloway-England-Cont) - G+ Griffiths, Elly - 1st in series Houghton, Mufflin, Harcourt, 2009, ARC - ISBN: 978-547339898
71 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Drowned landscape,
By
This review is from: The Crossing Places (A Ruth Galloway Mystery) (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
If you have any preconceptions about archaeologists, they probably don't include overweight nearly-40-year-olds living in isolated cottages. With cats. How much excitement can there be on the edge of a remote saltmarsh in the east of England? Author Elly Griffiths shatters your preconceptions with her first book featuring Ruth Galloway. Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson "invites" Ruth to examine the body of a child found buried in the marsh, hoping to find closure on the disappearance of young Lucy Downey ten years before. The body turns out to be from the Iron Age, possibly tied somehow to the henge site discovered on the marsh around the same time. Two-thousand-year-old bodies preserved in peat are right in Ruth's line, but when another child is taken, Ruth finds herself "helping the police with their inquiries." The Crossing Places is steeped in history, myth, and even a bit of madness--all pulled firmly into a modern setting. Ruth Galloway is an abrasive, outspoken loner, but she meets her match in DCI Nelson. This unexpected involvement in forensics could put her life into a spin--if she survives the danger of the Saltmarsh and the people interested in it. The book foreshadows some of the outcomes, which may be a problem for readers who prefer their mysteries to be solved only at the end. There is also a slightly surreal aspect to some of the minor characters. These quibbles aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series (which will be released in the U.K. in early 2010). I found the landscape, history and main character absorbing. For me, a five-star read. Linda Bulger, 2009
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging archaeological mystery,
This review is from: The Crossing Places (A Ruth Galloway Mystery) (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
"The Crossing Places" has an unusual setting, that of a desolate saltmarsh in the east of England. The protagonist is an almost 40-year-old overweight,single, and loner archaeologist, Ruth Galloway, who lectures in forensic archaeology at the University of North Norfolk. Ruth seems content to be living in a cottage near the marshland, much to the chagrin of her parents. The story takes off when Det. Chief Insp. Harry Nelson calls upon Ruth's expertise in identifying remains found in the marsh, hoping that a decade old cold case, involving the disappearance of a child will be solved. The site of the remains is the same place Ruth had excavated one summer ten years earlier. When the remains are identified as being from the Iron Age, DCI Nelson is frustrated, especially since he has received strange hints in the form of letters about the missing child's whereabouts. When another child disappears, Ruth finds herself becoming deeply embroiled in the case, even as the people of that past summer resurface in her life.
The story is refreshing and engaging, and Ruth makes an interesting protagonist. The interaction between Ruth and DCI Nelson is also a highlight of the novel. There are some nice twists here, and I admit I was hooked. I look forward to reading more stories featuring Ruth Galloway, and for those who can't wait - I'd also recommend: Haunted Ground: A Novel, and Lake of Sorrows: A Novel, both by Erin Hart (the stories have an archaeological theme, are steeped in folklore, and feature peat bogs).
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