Dying fall / Elly Griffiths

Was King Arthur black? Elly Griffiths’ plots are quite gripping, chiefly because of the slowly escalating potential threat to main character Ruth Galloway, an academic forensic archaeologist-detective, her little girl, and close friends. The threat invariably comes from a mix of present danger and something with its source in the archaeological past. While the past is mostly archaeological -- and is seriously treated -- the past in these novels sometimes includes a mythic dimension, filtered through Ruth's friend, Cathbad, a Druid; and it is only partly dispelled. In this, the fifth Ruth Galloway thriller, Ruth's various relationships, personal and professional, have expanded since "The Crossing Places" and Elly Griffiths has to resort to what are barely-disguised asides to new readers or those who have forgotten earlier cases which had matured this or that relationship. She also has to risk story contortions in order to up the stakes and interest levels. Here, the action takes