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Janus Stone

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Elly Griffiths has crafted an engaging mystery that keeps the reader in suspense to the very end. The tale begins when a child's headless skeleton is discovered by archaeologists, sparking a police investigation that attempts to identify the victim and murderer. The setting is the Norfolk coast of Great Britain, so the reader is treated to English geographical references and colloquialisms that add an element of charm to the story. The cast of characters is delightful: a spunky female forensic archaeologist who is dealing with the dilemma of an unwed pregnancy, the brusque Detective Chief Inspector on the case who just happens to be the father of her baby, members of a prominent, wealthy family as well as Catholic clergy that have ties to the site of the archaeological dig, and an array of quirky intellectuals fascinated by ancient mythology. This was my first exposure to Elly Griffiths' work, as I won this book from Goodreads.com, and I am definitely motivated to read her previous novel as well.

Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist with a special interest in bones, teaches postgraduates at the University of North Norfolk and participates in the occasional dig. She lives with her cat in England's wild, desolate, and beautiful Saltmarsh, but will not be alone for long. She is three months pregnant and plans to keep the baby, even though it will mean raising her son or daughter as a single parent.

In "The Janus Stone," by Elly Griffiths, Ruth is preparing for the end of the school term and spending time with a fellow archaeologist, Dr. Max Grey, an expert on Roman Britain. As Grey informs Ruth and her friend, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson, "the Celts and the Romans sometimes used to bury bodies under walls and doors as offerings to the Gods Janus and Terminus." Ruth is called in when the headless skeleton of child is discovered on the site of a luxury apartment complex that is under construction. The body was buried "right under the main doorway." Ruth carefully retrieves and examines the bones, and DCI Nelson of the Serious Crimes Unit takes charge of what will turn out to be a complex and troubling homicide investigation. One individual who may have important information to impart is Father Patrick Hennessey, a retired priest and ex-principal of the Sacred Heart Children's Home, which once stood on the grounds where the small skeleton was found. Once again, Nelson and Ruth will discover that "disturbing the dead [and] meddling with the past" can lead to unforeseen consequences.

Ruth is an immensely appealing protagonist who is unpretentious, resigned to being overweight ("she's never going to look good in a bikini"), highly intelligent, and extremely independent. She has offbeat friends, including a Druid, Cathbad, who sometimes wears a robe and flowing purple cloak, and a flaky university lecturer named Shona, a beautiful woman with a weakness for married men. Ruth is a bit of an amateur detective; she cannot resist the lure of an intriguing case. However, when an anonymous perpetrator threatens her repeatedly, Ruth must decide whether it is time to back off for her own safety.

As in "The Crossing Places," the author depicts her characters skillfully. The dialogue is sharp and witty and the narrative is fast-paced and involving. Griffiths creates evocative settings and provides enough red herrings to keep us guessing. The story's sole weakness is its melodramatic and far-fetched conclusion, during which the psychopath's identity is revealed and a terrified Ruth struggles to keep her wits about her. Aside from this quibble, "The Janus Stone" is an entertaining blend of romance, mythology, mystery, and psychological suspense. Fortunately for Ruth Galloway fans, Elly Griffiths is talented enough to keep her plucky heroine knee-deep in engrossing dilemmas for some time to come.

Received for review through netgalley.

The Janus Stone is an exciting murder-mystery, the second offering following Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist.

Intrigue and suspense complicate Ruth Galloway's once simple life, as she learns of her pregnancy, deals with the (married) father, and has her life threatened by unknown shadowy players attempting to derail a possible murder investigation.

The characters are wonderfully engaging and the entire story line is filled with subtle nuance. I am looking forward to more stories from this author and plan to read her previous book, The Crossing Places.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the NetGalley book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 [...] : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

This is the second book in Elly Griffith's series about Ruth Galloway, a forensic archeologist who lives in northern Norfolk, England. If you are new to the series, you will enjoy them more if you start with the first,The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway). In this story, Ruth is called to a Norwich building site when bones are excavated during the construction of a set of luxury apartments. While initially it appears that they may be Roman, forensic analysis reveals that they are far more recent. As Ruth investigates further, she starts to receive threats on her life, and the life of her unborn baby.

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as its predecessor. Possibly I would have liked it more if I hadn't read them so close together. There are a lot of similarities in the structure of the two novels and I hope that Griffiths doesn't continue to follow the formula quite so closely. As a mystery it's a reasonable read. Initially I thought it was going to be extremely predictable, but thankfully this turned out not to be the case. However the ending does feel a little overly dramatic.

I enjoyed the ongoing development in the relationship between Ruth and Detective Harry Nelson and also the secondary characters who reappear and develop from the first book.

And please Ruth, maybe it's time to give up living alone miles from anyone?

Aside from a much weaker plot, Griffith's offering post-The Crossing Places is neither as well-plotted nor compelling. The landscape is similar, forensic archeologist Ruth Galloway still residing on the edge of the Saltmarsh on the Norfolk coast, the "bridge between the past and the present". The crux of the mystery is identifying the skeletal remains of a child's body discovered on a project on Woolmarket Street that yields hints of Roman archeological influence. The experts scurry to this site of a former children's orphanage about to be reconfigured as seventy-five luxury units, hoping to excavate before the cultural remains are destroyed. DCI Harry Nelson is on the scene when the long-buried body is found, privy as well to the symbolic decapitation, a child-sized skull found elsewhere on the property. That Galloway is pregnant at forty adds another layer to the plot, a realization that brings her not one moment of regret.

As Griffiths arranges her scenario of impending life and tragic death, an assortment of characters provide fodder for suspicion, the eccentric folks who people her novel, a group that harbors a murderer. Somehow Ruth herself has been linked to the death of the child and apparent ritual sacrifices of ancient Romans meant to pacify their gods. The connection is tenuous at best, but critical in drawing Ruth into the center of the unfolding drama. The problems is that the formerly proudly independent archeologist seems to have been taken over by a mewling victim, reacting to threat with a Victorian sensibility that grows more grating as the story progresses. Either she's fainting or otherwise immobilized, overcome with debilitating nausea or too clumsy to coordinate an appropriate response to immediate threat.

Her eye already on the next novel in the series and Ruth's unfolding emotional involvement with the father of her child, the potency of this plot is diluted by an investigation that comes together too late to give the story any real sense of menace. The author taps into archeology and the acknowledgment of ancient beliefs, including human sacrifice, but Galloway is far more passive, less attractive as a woman made helpless by biology. DCI Nelson will, of course, save the day, but the only drama is in figuring out which of the possible suspects is so deeply malevolent that he considers an innocent child suitable for blood sacrifice. I would like Galloway to get a grip, have her baby and reclaim her character before even the gruff Nelson cannot remember why he finds this unusual lady so fascinating. Luan Gaines/2010.

I am completely convinced that Elly Griffiths can not write a bad book. Usually, when an author has great success with their first there is a rush to put out a second that somehow seems to fall flat. Well, that is definitely not the case with this extremely talented writer.

Ruth Galloway , a forensic archaeologist returns to investigate when a builder in Norwich discovers skeletal remains of a child, without the skull, buried under a doorway on the site of an abandoned children's home. As the investigation continues the bones reveal that they are a bit older and are actually from the days when the home was privately owned. With the help of Cathbad - a great character- and Max, Ruth discovers the God of Doors and Openings leading the reader and herself on a very interesting voyage.

Elly Griffiths doesn't just give you a fascinating story, she draws you in with multiple storylines, Roman and Pagan mythology, and modern day Catholicism. Her detail and research both educational and entertaining. But more importantly, each layer is a bit more fascinating then the last and intertwines them all with history and mystery that keeps you reading.

First Sentence: 1 June, Festival of Carna The house is waiting.

An old house is being demolished to make way for a new housing complex when work is halted when the headless skeleton of a child is found beneath a doorway. It is learned the house was once a Catholic children's home and two young children went missing. The situation of the skeleton, however, suggests a possible ritual burial.

DCI Harry Nelson is called in, as is forensic archaeologist, Ruth Galloway who is, unbeknownst to Nelson, pregnant with his child after a single night's intimacy. They must solve the mystery of the skeleton as well as protect Ruth from an escalating threat.

Although I enjoyed Griffith's first book, "The Crossing Places," this second entry to the series is so much better. I didn't care for a revelation and open thread at the end of the first book, but it carried over and became a very effective element to the plot of this story.

Ruth is still a wonderful character but, thankfully, less weight and age obsessed and Nelson is more human. Where the relationship between them could have been trite, it worked because of Griffith's voice and the structure of Ruth's character. We learn more about the two main characters, giving them greater dimensionality. I particularly enjoyed that Ruth is an academic who doesn't know Latin. Griffiths balances these characters with well-drawn supporting characters.

I always appreciate the inclusion of poetry and literary quotations within the story as well as the historic, mythological and religious information. It is a skillful author who can both teach and entertain, and Griffiths does it beautiful. I think part of the reason it works so well is, again, the author's voice.

Not only does she create excellent dialogue, but there is a delightful humor to her writing that particularly appeals to me. However, in addition, is a cracking good plot and a sense of menace that escalates in tension and suspense to a very satisfying conclusion.

I am so glad I was willing to try the first book, trusted enough to read this, the second book, and I am now very much looking forward to Griffith's next book.

THE JANUS STONE (Unl. Inves/For. Arch/Ruth Galloway-England-Cont) - VG+
Griffiths, Elly - 2nd in series
Quercus, ©2010, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 9781849161589

Elly Griffiths is well underway to a winning series. This second offering is just as well-written, interesting, and worthy of your attention as the first, "The Crossing Places". You'll admire and like the characters, enjoy the description of the saltmarshes of Norfolk and be enthralled by the archaeological "digs". Be prepared to lose sleep over this one; you'll find yourself thinking, "just one more chapter", only to find the sun coming up! Enjoy!

This is the second book in the series.And it was as good if not better then the first. Learned alot in this book.

First Line: A light breeze runs through the long grass at the top of the hill.

An old house is being torn down in Norwich to make way for a housing development. When the bones of a child are uncovered beneath a doorway, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson knows whom to call: Dr. Ruth Galloway, head of Forensic Archaeology at the University of North Norfolk.

Nelson wants answers, and he wants them fast-- the house used to be a children's home. In contacting the priest who ran the home at the time, he learns that two children did go missing forty years ago, but carbon dating proves the child's bones predate the home and relate to a time when the house was privately owned. For reasons of her own, Ruth is drawn deeper and deeper into the case, but someone is attempting to put her off by trying to scare her to death.

Nothing makes a serial reader like me happier than when the second book in a series fulfills the promise made by the first. The gruff DCI Harry Nelson and the slightly awkward Ruth Galloway are very appealing main characters, but it's Ruth who really worms her way into my heart:

"Ruth is dreadful at shopping. It is a female ritual that she has never mastered. Other women can disappear into a shop for half an hour and come out with piles of tasteful clothes in the right size, artfully matching accessories, and the perfect pair of shoes. Ruth can shop all day and still only have a T-shirt two sizes too small to show for it."


Plot, pacing and the Norfolk setting match Griffiths' skill in characterization, as well as her dryly humorous writing style. I also enjoy the archaeology angle, learning about pagan and Roman Britain as I turn the pages.

For any of you coming late to the Ruth Galloway party, you'll be happy to note that you don't have to start reading the series from the beginning (although it's much better if you do). The author provides enough backstory to keep you from being confused.

I've barely finished reading The Janus Stone, and I already can't wait to read the next, The House at Sea's End!