Students and school teachers are on Zoom or FaceChat, 1st responders appear everywhere in Hazmat suits, the streets, stores, restaurants, bars and theaters are all empty. Griffiths captures the feelings and the fears of the people as they figure out how to work with the rulesĭr Ruth finds a mysterious photo and gets a new neighbor, Cathbert feels ill, It’s the late winter and early spring of 2021 and the quarantines and restrictions are just being put in place. There have been several “suicides” in the general area of Norfolk and now comes Covid. (Is it a thing these days that if a character is created at all they must be given a name?) A few are fully fleshed out, another few are semi-“rounded” (as we used to say), and many others only appear in one scene or chapter. I identified with her insecurities and struggles, and cheered her on.Again, there are lots of characters, but maybe I should just say there are lots of names, because most do not develop into characters. 'Forensic archeologist and academic Ruth Galloway is a captivating amateur sleuth-an inspired creation.

I identified with her insecurities and struggles, and cheered her on.' -Louise Penny Highly atmospheric.' -New York Times Book Review

'Elly Griffiths draws us all the way back to prehistoric times. Readers will look forward to learning more about her.' -USA Today 'Galloway is an everywoman, smart, successful and a little bit unsure of herself. Winner of the CWA Dagger in the Library Award PRAISE FOR ELLY GRIFFITHS AND THE RUTH GALLOWAY SERIES But the further Nelson investigates the deaths, the closer he gets to Ruth's isolated cottage-until Ruth, Zoe, and Kate all go missing, and Nelson is left scrambling to find them before it's too late. When he links a case to an archaeological discovery, he breaks curfew to visit Ruth and enlist her help. Meanwhile, Nelson is investigating a series of deaths of women that may or may not be suicide. They struggle to stave off isolation by clapping for frontline workers each evening and befriending a kind neighbor, Zoe, from a distance. Ruth returns to the cottage to uncover its meaning as Norfolk's first cases of Covid-19 make headlines, leaving her and Kate to shelter in place there. Three years after her mother's death, Ruth is finally sorting through her things when she finds a curious relic: a decades-old photograph of her own Norfolk cottage-before she lived there-with a peculiar inscription on the back.

Pandemic lockdowns have Ruth Galloway feeling isolated from everyone but a new neighbor-until Nelson comes calling, investigating a decades-long string of murder-suicides that's looming ever closer, in USA Today Elly Griffiths' penultimate novel in the beloved series.

The locked room elly griffiths