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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
A child's disappearance and old bones; the archaeological setting provides procedural distance
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild romantic tension
Substance Use
Barely any
Social drinking
Emotional Intensity
Some
The specific loneliness of a woman who prefers the ancient past to the present; the Norfolk landscape as something that has been holding its secrets for millennia
What this book is about
Dr. Ruth Galloway is a forensic archaeologist at the University of North Norfolk — more comfortable with the bones of the ancient dead than with the living. When a child's bones are found on the desolate Saltmarsh, DCI Harry Nelson asks her to help determine if they could be linked to a ten-year-old missing child case. Elly Griffiths's debut Ruth Galloway mystery establishes its forensic archaeology world with genuine expertise, and the Norfolk marshland setting — eerie, beautiful, historically layered — is as much a character as Ruth herself. A warmer, more character-driven entry to crime fiction than most.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
first of the Ruth Galloway series
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