The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"When she’s not digging up bones or other ancient objects, quirky, tart-tongued archaeologist Ruth Galloway lives happily alone in a remote area called Saltmarsh near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants - not quite earth, not quite sea.

When a child’s bones are found on a desolate beach nearby, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls Galloway for help. Nelson thinks he has found the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing ten years ago. Since her disappearance he has been receiving bizarre letters about her, letters with references to ritual and sacrifice."

My Thoughts:

I waited entirely too long to finally give this series a try!  This book is one of the reasons that I have been reading so many mysteries this year.  (This and finding the Amelia Peabody series again of course!)  I really enjoyed this book for a variety of reasons but the main one was Ruth.  I'm finding that I am drawn to mysteries with strong female lead characters.  Ruth just comes across as such an independent woman but she is written in a way that makes her easy to identify with.  I really liked that about her!  In fact, there was just something about her character that I really liked. 

In this book, Ruth finds herself caught up in the mystery of a missing girl.  The little girl has been missing for years but some bones found near where Ruth lives are thought to possibly be the young girl's.  From there, Ruth becomes drawn into the mystery of what happened all those years ago.  The mystery in this book is quite intriguing.  I found myself wrapped up in trying to figure out what happened to little Lucy.  The questions were all there.  Could Lucy possibly still be alive?  Were the bones found hers?  I was completely caught up in the mystery which meant that I flew through the pages of this book.  This was one of those reads where you just had to see how it was all going to end.  I'll admit that I guessed part of the mystery but happily enough I was never sure until the very end that I was right.

The setting of the story was one of my favorite things about this book.  The author managed to make me feel like I was there on the salt marshes with Ruth.  I loved the desolate feeling that she created...it permeated the pages of this book and gave it a darker touch.  I also really enjoyed learning more about archeology thanks to Ruth's profession.  The author included little details throughout the book that just gave the reader a taste of history.  It really made this book so much more enjoyable in my opinion.  The ending of this book was very intense!  There was a certain point where I just could not put this book down.  And then the author did the unexpected but I won't give that away.  Just know that I set this book down VERY excited to read the second one.

Overall, I loved this one and am so glad that I finally gave this series a try!  The mystery was great but the best parts of the book for me were the main character and setting.  I'm eager to continue on with this series but especially after the author left off with such a surprising ending.  I need more books like this (and series) in my reading life!  I would highly, highly recommend this book to my mystery loving friends!  As for me, I'm off to get my hands on book two :)

Bottom Line:  A thrilling beginning to this mystery series and a book that I couldn't get enough of!

Disclosure:  Checked out from my local library.