The Lantern Men: Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 12

In our book group the British author Elly Griffiths has many fans, for both her Magic Men and Ruth Galloway series. So we were really happy to get enough copies of this to introduce her to people in our group who’d never read her books before.

The Lantern Men is the latest instalment in Ruth Galloway’s story. For those who don’t know, Ruth is a forensic archaeologist. In earlier books, while teaching at the fictitious University of North Norfolk, she occasionally helped with police cases and had a brief affair with DI Harry Nelson, which resulted in the birth of her daughter Kate. The ensuing family complications are just one of the common threads that run through all these stories.

Life in Cambridge
In this book, Ruth has moved from her cottage on the Norfolk saltmarshes to live with her new partner, Frank, in Cambridge. Kate is doing well in her new school and life seems to have settled into a different rhythm. But it’s not long before Ruth is asked by Nelson to help find missing victims of a recently convicted murderer called Ivor March. It’s suspected that March has been killing women over many years, and now he’s in jail he’s taunting the police about where bodies might be buried. Worryingly, he’s also demanding that Ruth is involved because she’s the only person he trusts to do the digging.

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.

Inner voices
Griffiths allows her readers to share the thoughts of her protagonists. You ‘hear’ their inner-voices and these often-witty asides make the characters pop out of the page. As this story twists and turns, you are reconnected with familiar characters and introduced to new ones, who all feel believable and real.

Another way that Griffiths brings things to life is with her descriptions of the Norfolk landscape. Everyone in our group commented on her skill in this regard because you can really picture the locations in your mind’s eye.

Too good to be true?
If all this sounds too good to be true, there were a couple of dissenting voices in our book group. For them these books are only average and this plot too unlikely, so they won’t be reading more by this author. However, it should be said that they usually read gritty, psychological thrillers, so perhaps it’s not surprising this didn’t appeal.

For the rest of us, The Lantern Men earned 4+ Stars. Even the people who were reading a Ruth Galloway story for the first time really enjoyed it, although they’d have liked to have known more of Ruth’s backstory to help them understand some of the references. The final verdict is that this is another well written whodunnit from Elly Griffiths and a thoroughly good read. Our group gave it 4-Stars.
Oundle Library’s Crime Fiction Book Group

A final review from our group, not nearly as enthusiastic as all other reviews.

What a disappointment. Too much wishy washy like drinking rose - neither one or another. Got so bored did not bother to finish.