Book Summary and Reviews of A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths

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Cloggie Downunder

Page-turner crime fiction
Dying Fall is the fifth book in the Ruth Galloway series by award-winning British author, Elly Griffiths. The audio version is narrated by Clare Corbett. The sad news that Dan Golding, a fellow archaeology student at UCL, has died in a house fire, is eerily followed by a letter from him. The man she hasn’t seen for over two decades tells her he had made an incredible find that he believes to be the bones of the legendary King Arthur, but also that certain disturbing elements at the university have made him afraid.

When the Clayton Henry, the head of the History Department, and Dan’s boss at Pendle University in Lancashire, asks Ruth to come and give an opinion of the bones, she eventually decides to make it a vacation with Kate and a catch up with another fellow student. She also asks Nelson to check the circumstances of her friend’s death, and his old friend in Blackpool, DCI Sandy Macleod reveals that he has opened a murder investigation into this grisly death.

Despite some rather threatening text messages trying to warn her off, Ruth reasons that she will keep Kate well away from anything happening at the University: Cathbad has come along to visit a druid friend and will care for his goddaughter while Ruth is busy. Nelson, having decided to vacation with Michelle in Blackpool, isn’t too pleased when he finds that Ruth has brought Katie into a potentially dangerous situation.

The bones Ruth examines reveal a surprise, and she’s none too sure about the people who claim to be Dan’s friends. By the time she and Nelson have unravelled the various complex relationships, and looked into a neo-pagan group with links to white supremacists, the list of possible motives and perpetrators lengthens.

In this instalment, there’s plenty of typical Blackpool activity, including an unexpected and somewhat awkward encounter on a beach between Ruth, Kate, Cathbad and Nelson’s extended family. Before matters are resolved, a dog is adopted, several women confess to an affair with Dan, and there’s a dramatic fairground incident in which Cathbad acts very heroically. As always, there are quite a few red herrings and distractors to keep the reader guessing, and the dialogue is often amusing. #6 of this addictive series, The Outcast Dead is eagerly anticipated. Page-turner crime fiction.

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