The next step was carbon dating of the bones themselves, and somewhere along the line the decision was made to open the coffin in public – watched by the great and the good, including members of the Smith family. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Kate only just escaped being born on 31 October, which, when combined with having a Pagan godfather, might have been one augury too far.

If you can't find an original way to give information on your characters to potential new readers, maybe you should try something else, like, I don't know, writing something that ISN'T a series of books with the same characters? Lord Danforth Smith, the current title holder, is a racehorse trainer and unwilling local celebrity. As Ruth races past the soft drinks aisle, she becomes aware for the first time that the supermarket has been taken over by the forces of darkness.But she never lets herself forget that she is dealing with people who once lived and were once loved. It introduces quite a lot of interesting crime/mystery aspects, all seemingly unrelated until Griffiths quite cleverly weaves them together. Another very engaging book in the Dr Ruth Galloway series, and again one which is as much about the characters as it is the plot. Now her feelings about Erik are rather more complicated, but that doesn’t stop his voice popping into her head at alarmingly regular intervals.

I've read a stand-alone by this author and she did a decent job but this series of hers is just terrible and I can't believe her publisher continues with it! Harry is Catholic and desperately wanted Kate christened, so much so that he made arrangements for the ceremony.By now we had two children and my husband Andy had just given up his city job to become an archaeologist. A fast-paced, insightful and murky story of ordinary lives, buried secrets, and desperate crimes' Good Book Guide.

Cathbad, little Kate, Ruth and DI Nelson remain steadfast in their characterisation, making it a sound fourth novel in the series. Erik Anderssen, Erik the Viking, Ruth’s tutor at university and for many years afterwards her mentor and role model. Ruth's story with Nelson continues and we wonder what will happen in subsequent books now that Michelle knows that Kate is Nelson's daughter. The mystery was a little different in this outing, with Ruth, the forensic archaeologist, more removed from the central action than in prior books.Ruth is depressed and overweight and she doesn't feel she's a good mother and she loves the depressing saltmarsh where she lives and she likes her job and blah blah. The books featured on this site are aimed primarily at readers aged 13 or above and therefore you must be 13 years or over to sign up to our newsletter.