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Book Summary and Reviews of A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths

A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths

A Room Full of Bones

A Ruth Galloway Mystery

by Elly Griffiths

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  • Published:
  • Jul 2012, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

When Ruth Galloway arrives to supervise the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop, she finds the museum's curator lying dead on the floor. Soon the museum's wealthy owner lies dead in his stables, too.

These two deaths could be from natural causes, but when he is called in to investigate, Nelson isn't convinced, and it is only a matter of time before he and Ruth cross paths once more. When threatening letters come to light, events take an even more sinister turn. But as Ruth's friends become involved, where will her loyalties lie? As her convictions are tested, Ruth and Nelson must discover how Aboriginal skulls, drug smuggling, and the mystery of "The Dreaming" hold the answer to these deaths, as well as the keys to their own survival.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"A Room Full of Bones is a pleasing read, perhaps tending more to the 'cosy' style of crime fiction than earlier instalments in the series, but is certainly exciting and with a more satisfying crime and detection element this time round as the plot is more clever and more robust." - Maxine Clarke, Euro Crime

"But the true strength of Elly Griffith's writing is her focus on characterisation and the relationships that interweave between groups of people. She effectively conveys the hurt and complex feelings that can result from unthinking indiscretions and somehow these become integral to the narrative." - Crimepieces

"It's unpretentious writing." - Novel Heights

This information about A Room Full of Bones was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Cloggie Downunder

An addictive series.
A Room Full Of Bones is the fourth book in the Ruth Galloway series by award-winning British author, Elly Griffiths. Curator of the Smith Museum in Kings Lynn, Neil Topham is excited to receive the coffin of a fourteenth Century ancestor, Bishop Augustine Smith, due to be opened later in the day to great fanfare and media attention. When archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway arrives, a little early for the opening, she’s shocked to find Neil, fatally injured, on the floor beside the coffin.

While it’s not clear if Neil has expired naturally or been murdered, DCI Harry Nelson attends the scene and questions the only witness, his first encounter with Ruth since his wife discovered that he is the father of Kate, Ruth’s now-one-year-old daughter. He finds it very distracting, as does Ruth.

In Neil’s desk, he discovers a bag of white powder, and threatening letters. It seems someone wants their ancestors’ remains, taken by museum founder, Percival Lord Smith, and held by the museum, returned. When he mentions the threats to current owner of the museum, wealthy horse trainer, Danforth Lord Smith, the peer admits to ignoring similar correspondence from a group calling themselves The Elginists: his ancestor brought the bones here, and they belong in the museum.

Meanwhile, Ruth finds she has a new neighbour: Bob Woonunga is an indigenous Australian poet and author currently lecturing at the University of East Anglia, and a friend of local druid, Cathbad. Her cat Flint seems taken with him, and Kate is fascinated when he plays the didgeridoo. But does he have a hidden agenda?

When the Bishop’s coffin is eventually opened, there’s quite a surprise inside, and after they meet, Danforth asks Ruth if she will examine the bones Lord Percival collected to determine if they are all human bones. He’s especially proud of the four Australian Aborigine skulls, which he has no intention of relinquishing. Ruth is appalled to find that Percival’s haul is kept, unlabelled, in boxes that fill a forgotten basement room of the museum.

As he makes little progress with the drug trafficking case occupying the team, Nelson is a little concerned at how uncharacteristically quiet his best DS, Judy Johnson is, but then his attention must go to the second death associated with the museum. It surely can’t be coincidence?

In this instalment: Nelson’s difficulty with political correctness has him biting his tongue multiple times; Cathbad performs a ritual to remove a curse he’s convinced has been put on someone important to them all; Judy is having trouble with her marriage vows; Nelson’s wife, Michelle makes a surprising request from Ruth; and Clough has a closer encounter with horseflesh that he ever desired. There’s an excellent twist, and Judy is both very smart and very dumb when she’s put in charge.

The question of where excavated bones belong is explored, and Ruth tentatively reconnects with U of Sussex archaeologist, Max Grey. Horses feature, and snakes play a large part, although archaeology takes a bit of a back seat. The Aboriginal mysticism won’t appeal to all, and while some relationship issues are (sort of) resolved, others seem to be getting more complicated. The free filler short story that follows this, Ruth’s First Christmas Tree, is lots of fun, and #5, The Dying Fall is eagerly awaited. An addictive series.

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Author Information

Elly Griffiths Author Biography

Elly Griffiths is the USA Today bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway and Brighton mystery series, as well as the standalone novels The Stranger Diaries, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel; The Postscript Murders; and Bleeding Heart Yard. She is the recipient of the CWA Dagger in the Library Award and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She lives in Brighton, England.

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