Room Full of Bones - Hardcover

Elly Griffiths

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1849163669 ISBN 13: 9781849163668

Publisher: Quercus, 2012

Synopsis

On Halloween night, the Smith Museum in King's Lynn is preparing for an unusual event -- the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop. But when forensic archaelogist Ruth Galloway arrives to supervise, she finds the curator, Neil Topham, dead beside the coffin. Topham's death seems to be related to other uncanny incidents.

Including the arcane and suspect methods of a group called the Elginists, which aims to repatriate the museum's extensive collection of Aborigine skulls; the untimely demise of the museum's owner, Lord Smith; and the sudden illness of DCI Harry Nelson, who Ruth's friend Cathbad believes is lost in The Dreaming -- a hallucinogenic state central to some Indigenous Australian beliefs.

Tensions build as Nelson's life hangs in the balance. Something must be done to set matters right and lift Nelson out of the clutches of death, but will Ruth be able to muster herself out of a state of guilt and foreboding in order to do what she does best?

About this title

From the Back Cover

PRAISE FOR THE RUTH GALLOWAY MYSTERY SERIES

"Elly Griffiths draws us all the way back to prehistoric times . . . Highly atmospheric." —The New York Times Book Review

“Ruth is one of the more wonderful creations in recent crime fiction.” —Ann Arbor News

“Ruth Galloway is a remarkable, delightful character: brilliant, wry, determined, and independent, almost to a fault—readers are sure to clamor for the next book in the series.” —Associated Press

“Elly Griffiths’s Ruth Galloway—a forensic archeologist who is prickly, tough, awkward, and vulnerable—makes for the perfect amateur sleuth, and jaded copper Harry Nelson is the perfect foil. These books are must-reads—I can’t wait for the next one.” —Deborah Crombie, author of the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series

“Forensic archeologist Ruth Galloway stirs up fears and passions among the living even as she unearths Iron Age remains. She’s an uncommon, down-to-earth heroine whose acute insight, wry humor, and depth of feeling make her a thoroughly engaging companion.” —Erin Hart, Agatha and Anthony Award–nominated author of Haunted Ground and Lake of Sorrows

From the Inside Flap

Forensic archeologist Ruth Galloway investigates her most complicated case to date: two people affiliated with a museum housing aboriginal skulls succumb to a mysterious fever that later threatens the life of DCI Harry Nelson.

When Ruth Galloway arrives to supervise the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop, she finds the museum's curator lying dead on the floor. Soon the museum's wealthy owner lies dead in his stables, too.

These two deaths could be from natural causes, but when he is called in to investigate, Nelson isn't convinced, and it is only a matter of time before he and Ruth cross paths once more. When threatening letters come to light, events take an even more sinister turn. But as Ruth's friends become involved, where will her loyalties lie? As her convictions are tested, Ruth and Nelson must discover how Aboriginal skulls, drug smuggling, and the mystery of “The Dreaming” hold the answer to these deaths, as well as the keys to their own survival.

Edition details

• Publisher: Quercus
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1849163669
• ISBN 13: 9781849163668
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 346