Thursday, May 21, 2015

The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths


First Line: It is the hottest summer for years.

All construction on a new housing development comes to a screeching halt when a World War II airplane (complete with pilot inside) is unearthed. Dr. Ruth Galloway knows immediately that something is wrong with the discovery, and DNA testing proves her right. The pilot inside the plane is identified as Fred Blackstock, a local member of the gentry who had been reported dead at sea. The current members of the Blackstock clan have interesting reactions to the news.

In a situation where no more complications are needed or even wanted, a television company shows up, wanting to make a film about Norfolk's "ghost fields"-- deserted World War II air fields. There happens to be one in the area that's currently being run as a pig farm by one of the young Blackstocks, and when human bones are found there, Ruth and Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson find themselves in a race against a flood to find a killer.

Elly Griffiths' Dr. Ruth Galloway series is one of my must-buys, and it just keeps getting better with each new book. In The Ghost Fields, the weather plays an integral part in the action, first with unrelenting heat and then with endless rain and flooding. Griffiths makes Norfolk come to life, and her choice of title is particularly evocative. This book talks not only of the abandoned air fields of World War II, but other "ghost fields" from centuries past. Ruth is dealing with a Bronze Age burial when the book begins, and there have also been battles fought in the exact same area during the English Civil War. 

No, Norfolk is not short of ghost fields, and further questions arise once we're introduced to the Blackstock family. They live in a drafty, ramshackle manor house barely holding its own against the water around it, and the family is just as strange as the ancestral home. A batty grandfather. A pleasant but distant father. A welcoming mother who's filled with unrealistic schemes to turn the house into a moneymaker. A handsome, charming pig farmer of a son who values his privacy. An incredibly beautiful daughter who's determined to make her name as an actress. Each Blackstock is odd in his or her own way, and trying to gather them together is like trying to herd cats. When DCI Harry Nelson throws up his hands and growls that there are too many Blackstocks, you just have to smile ruefully and agree.

But family is an important theme in The Ghost Fields, and it's not just the Blackstocks. Ruth's daughter Kate is five and now in school. Being a good mother is even more important to Ruth than the work she is so passionate about. Nelson has issues with both his family at home and his co-workers. He even realizes that he considers Clough and Judy to be family. Griffiths knows how to keep her readers completely involved with her characters. The mystery and the characters rely on each other.

There's history. There's danger. There's plenty of family feeling, and contrary to a visiting American's belief that "there's never bad weather in England," there's plenty of that as well. By book's end, we may even have sorted out all those Blackstocks.

The only bad thing about finishing The Ghost Fields is knowing that I have to wait for the next book. This series is superb, and this book is the best so far. If you've never met Ruth Galloway, treat yourself. Start at the beginning with The Crossing Places and read each one. You'll be as hooked as I am.


The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths
ISBN: 9780544330146
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt © 2015
Hardcover, 384 pages

Police Procedural, #7 Dr. Ruth Galloway mystery
Rating: A+
Source: Gift from The Poisoned Pen.

14 comments:

  1. Omigosh! I'm green with envy. I have been waiting for this book to arrive at my library. This rave review is whetting my appetite even more.

    I'm so glad this is such a good book, but waiting for it seems like an eternity. I love this series, too, especially Ruth Galloway's character, but the other characters have grown on me.

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    1. I'm the same way. I loved Ruth immediately, but I've grown to care for the other characters as well.

      I simply could not believe it when Barbara Peters handed me the ARC of this book. I was over the moon!

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  2. I'm really excited to read this book. Ruth is such a favorite of mine, but I love all the other characters too. I'll enjoy getting to know the Blackstocks. Thanks for the great review to whet the appetite, Cathy!

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  3. I have to agree with you, Cathy. The problem with Griffiths' novels is that they end. Then you have to wait for the next one. What an excellent series, isn't it? So glad you enjoyed this one.

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    1. It's one of the best series going right now!

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  4. I couldn't wait for this book to come out here in the States, so I ordered it from Amazon UK. Loved it, this is such a good series. I love Ruth, she's such a mess and so real.

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    1. All of the characters are so real that I'd swear I know them. Griffiths has a gift.

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  5. Ruth Galloway a mess? She's like a real person, a middle-waged single mother who has a career. She's not glamorous, doesn't wear chic clothes or get her hair done. She is not svelte, doesn't know martial arts or 5 languages or go on exotic vacations.

    She is real, full of daily tasks to deal with while juggling childcare, a job, friends, family -- and murder!

    I think most of us are more like her than unlike her, except for the murders, of course.

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    1. I agree-- but I think Ruth feels that her personal life is a mess.

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  6. Then she's no different from most of my friends in that respect! Middle age and aging does that to a person who's busy and juggling work and families and everything that goes with that.

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  7. My library let me put it on reserve! Yippee! When I get it, I will not answer the phone, just get chocolate and iced coffee or tea and read until I'm finished, up until the wee hours.

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