Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC. In the meantime I have read all of the Ruth Galloway mysteries and I love them as much as ever. Ruth is sort of a mess in the romance department, but a crack archeologist. This time she is called to Italy to try to help with bones excavated there. Good story!

Wow. I'm new to the series and I loved it! The setting and great development of characters hooked me from the start. I love that the protagonist has issues to deal with - I could identify with her. An excellent professional in her field, especially with bones, and being a loving mother and daughter played well into the theme. I didn't feel lost jumping into the storyline, even though this isn't the first of a series. Honestly, i enjoyed it so much that i couldn't put it down and have already downloaded book 1 of the series to work my way back up! The flow of the book made me read it all day. I was sad for it to end.

*I'd like to thank the author/publisher/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review*

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In a college English class a hundred years ago one of the students, in response to some statement made by the professor, stated that he thought Madame Bovary was hot. Our professor agreed. Lusting after fictional characters is nothing new. While I tend to favor long dead female authors (don't get me started about Kate Chopin or Mary Shelley), I certainly understand the sentiment...because I feel that way about Ruth Galloway. Why her? She's not a typical sex symbol. Smart, yes, and witty as hell in a way only the English can be, but she's got a precocious 6 year old and an arrogant cat in tow. She complains constantly about her physical conditions to the point that it is clear that the concept of TMI is as foreign to her as the surface of Pluto. But I sill gotta love her--because she is one of the most realistic and believable characters I have ever encountered.

10 books in and still going strong. Some of the stories have better mysteries than others, but every single book contains a cast of characters that never fail to be interesting, amusing, and endearing. It's like an episode of Cheers. You know these people. They are real, and you care about them. If that isn't a testament to the storytelling ability of Elly Griffiths I don't know what is. Every year around this time I look forward to the next Ruth Galloway novel and I am never disappointed. These characters are so interesting that my first thoughts are always to find out what is going on with them even before I delve into the current mystery.

If you are interested in this series, please start at the beginning. The novels are filled with spoilers and, even more importantly, you will miss the opportunity to see these characters develop. Finally, there are plot lines that have been developing through the books and they really should be read in order.

What about The Dark Angel? It is an unusual book in the series in that a good deal of the action takes place in Italy rather than England, which provides a very interesting change of locale and adds some interesting characters. It is one of the more serious books in the series and shocking in several ways (I hate spoilers so you won't get any more out of me than that) that change the future for several characters. The relationships between Ruth, Nelson and his wife, and their respective families just got even more complicated than it was before and the conclusion to The Dark Angel provides some clues that it is going to get even more so.

4 stars. Every book in this series is good and some are great.

Ruth Galloway, a British archaeologist, receives a phone call from Angelo, an Italian colleague she knew years ago, inviting her to a dig in Italy. Ruth, along with her daughter Kate, friend Shona, and Shona’s son, embark on a working vacation to Italy. There are many secrets in this small village, and even a murder. At home, there is a lot going on with her daughter’s father and his wife Michelle as well. Ruth is more of an every-woman protagonist—she’s not glamorous like Shona or Michelle. That’s one of the reasons I like these books. They are well-plotted, and always offer some interesting facts about archaeology.

Elly Griffiths sure likes to keep her readers guessing and with the title answering a question that you did not know that you had asked, since there are many references to dark angels in this book, it is up to the reader to decide which angel Elly Griffiths was referring to.

Continuing on the heels of her last book, “The Chalk Pit“, Elly Griffiths dives right back in to the dangling question of who is the father of Michelle’s baby. DCI Harry Nelson is beginning to wonder, but with his wife expressing repeatedly that there was never anything physical with Tim, Nelson leaves it at that and realizes that there could never be a future with Ruth. That is until Ruth and Kate take up an offer of a working holiday in Italy and with an earthquake and a body found in a crumbling wall, Nelson is on the first plane out to save them and perhaps a second chance to play family until he is expected to return home to his real one.

Elly Griffiths floats the reader between several storylines. When Harry is in Italy and Ruth is part of a television show and dodging the secrets of a small village, Mickey Webb, who has just been release from prison after serving ten years for the death of his wife and children, is playing the innocent redeemed man that only wants to apologize for his past. Mickey’s current wife is playing her supportive role and though he has been seen in Harry’s neighborhood when Michelle is home alone, Mickey has his alibi and reasoning in place until that fateful night when things change suddenly.

Combining history, science, and human frailties, Elly Griffiths brings the reader into Ruth Galloway’s world and does not let them go with a simple happily ever after ending. You have to work in these books, you are taught not only the history of the area and the science involved, but also the accounts of all the characters that the author has interwoven over the previous nine books and the heartbreak that is brought to each in turn.

Ruth Galloway is one of my favorite detectives, and I love this series by Elly Griffiths because it is unique, clever, and smartly written. The Dark Angel, the 10th installment, takes Ruth with her friend Shona and their children in tow to Italy to investigate a group of bones found by an Italian archaeologist in Fontana Liri. While investigating the ancient bones, Ruth is pulled into a modern murder that eventually unveils a secret kept since World War 2. Griffiths’ descriptions of Fontana Liri are spectacular; I felt like I was there. The Dark Angel is a solid addition to the series and well worth reading. My one complaint is that I wish that Ruth’s personal life would settle a bit more than it has so far. I received this book to read and review; all opinions are my own.

A photogenic Italian archaeologist has lost support for his televised program, and he thinks his former classmate - and lover - Ruth Galloway can boost his ratings with the producers, Ruth agrees to come to Italy, with her daughter in tow. Despite the scorching heat of summer in Italy, the general atmosphere in Fontana Liri is decidedly frosty. Soon, Ruth has a modern corpse on her hands. This tenth in the atmospheric series is every bit as compelling and satisfying as its predecessors.

I had doubts about picking up the entire crew and moving them to Italy as I love Norfolk and the sea, but Griffiths' ability to instill a sense of place shines through. Her character development, historical accuracy, and scientific basis are always appreciated.

My review will be on my Blog and at NetGalley for the May Publication date, but also is written here.

From the Publisher "It’s not every day that you’re summoned to the Italian countryside on business, so when archaeologist Angelo Morelli asks for Ruth Galloway’s help identifying bones found in the tiny hilltop town of Fontana Liri, she jumps at the chance to go, bringing her daughter along with her for a working vacation. Upon arriving, she begins to hear murmurs of Fontana Liri’s strong resistance movement during World War II and senses the townspeople are dancing around a deeply buried secret. But how could that be connected to the ancient remains she’s been studying?

Ruth is just beginning to get her footing in the dig when she’s thrown off-guard by the appearance of DCI Nelson. And when Ruth’s findings lead them to a modern-day murder, their holidays are both turned upside down, and they race to find out what darkness is lurking in this seemingly picturesque town."

I came upon Elly Griffiths' novels fairly recently but have devoured the Ruth Galloway series (although not in sequence- that is for later rereads). I have an Anthropology graduate
degree so I love the prehistory and examination of relics aspect of Ruth's career. I also very much enjoy how she is "seconded " to the local Major Crimes unit and meets DCI Harry Nelson, her polar opposite.

Ruth has a diverse group of friends and associates and is the most educated person in her small family of origin. Their distinctiveness is a reflection of her life choices and where they intersect with others. She lives in a small cottage on the Norfolk marsh land with two cats but also is a noted forensic Archaeologist.

Fast forwarding to Book #10

How then did Ruth, fortyish and plump, meet and have a child with DCI Harry Nelson? You will need to start on this amazingly well done series and find out.

Kate is now in school and quite advanced for her age, knows "Nelson" is her father, and he shares parts of her life. Why then is Harry Nelson still living with his glamorous wife and his two almost grown daughters? Life is complicated sometimes.

Ruth, as an internationally known forensics expert in bones, is invited to Italy by a former colleague. Nelson is self invited when he reads of an earthquake in the small mountain town in Italy and brings Cathbad with him and he rushes to check on Ruth and Kate.

How this tale ends is both mystifying and a bit terrifying, as a good mystery should be.

The beginning of the story starts out with a glimpse of an interesting mystery surrounding the unearthed bones. As the story progressed, it was much less about a mystery and more about the relationships between key characters in the story. While I’ve always enjoyed the rich character development in this series, in the new book the mystery felt like an afterthought which was quickly resolved at the end with few clues.

Elly and Kate head to Italy after Elly is asked by an fellow anthropologist to give her opinion on some bones.
in order to help him secure more funding for his dig. The description of the area was marvelous, the mystery puzzling, but this book, while interesting, was not my favorite. Last line, however, made it all worthwhile.

Note: Spoilers for previous books in this series.

This is the tenth book in the Ruth Galloway Mystery Series. Ruth Galloway, 46, is a self-described overweight forensic archeologist at the (fictional) University of North Norfolk, who occasionally works with Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson, 48, of the Norfolk Police. The two teamed up to solve several crimes since Ruth is an expert on bones, and she became seconded to the Serious Crime Unit, which is headed by Nelson.

Nelson works at the King’s Lynn Police Station. King’s Lynn is a seaport in Norfolk, England and Norwich is a town in Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of its most important. Thus old bones do in fact get excavated quite frequently. Griffiths integrates many interesting historical aspects of this region into her story lines.

Although Harry is married with two adult daughters (Laura, 24 and Rebecca, 22), Ruth and Harry share a daughter, Kate, 6. Harry’s wife Michelle allows Harry to see Kate but insists that Harry only see Ruth in a professional capacity. Harry’s first daughters do not know about Kate. Nor do they know that Michelle had her own affair, with Tim Healthfield, a detective sergeant who used to be on Nelson’s team but has now moved back to Essex. But Tim and Michelle have been back in touch, and Tim knows Michelle, 46, is pregnant again, and the baby might be his. Nelson has some fear of this himself, even though Michelle told him (erroneously) that she and Tim “never consummated” their relationship. Time will tell, however, since Tim is black. Before Michelle’s announcement, Nelson had been considering leaving her for Ruth. “But now things were back where they were, only with added tensions.”

Members of Nelson’s crime team are also recurring characters. Judy Johnson, one of Nelson’s detective sergeants, is married to Cathbad, a druid, and a friend of Ruth’s. Judy’s partner David (Cloughie) Clough is getting married as this book begins.

When Ruth returns home from the wedding, she finds a phone message from a fellow archeology professor, Angelo Morelli of the University of Rome. They met years ago at a conference. Angelo asks her to come to Italy and check out some unusual bones he found while digging in the Liri Valley, not far from Rome. He has a place for her to stay, at his late grandfather’s apartment in Castello degli Angeli, in Lazio, and he says she can bring Katie, her BFF Shona, and Shona’s son Louis with her and make it a (working) vacation.

Ruth is enchanted by the beauty of the area and the charming people she meets, such as the local priest, Don Tomaso. At a fair in town square, Don Tomaso encourages Ruth to eat more. “You must eat,’ says Don Tomaso. ‘You young women are too thin.’ It’s almost enough to make Ruth become a Catholic.”

Meanwhile, back in King’s Lynn, Micky Webb has been released from prison after serving ten years for having his wife and children killed. Nelson is the one who put him away, and Webb swore he would get even with Nelson one day. But now he claims he “got religion” in prison and is a new man.

Nelson goes to check on Micky and his new wife, Louise, an evangelical, who speaks about God “as if he’s God Smith who lives next door.” He warns Micky he is watching him, and Micky swears on his new-found faith and dedication to forgiveness.

At the same time, Nelson finds out from Phil that Ruth and Katie are out of the country and is upset: “Anything could happen to them. To his child. To Ruth.”

When Nelson finds out there has been an earthquake in the area Ruth and Katie are staying and he can’t reach Ruth on the phone, he, along with Cathbad, fly out there to check on them.

Thus they have a bit of a vacation together, although it involves beach time, which makes Ruth feel self-conscious, especially vis-a-vis svelte Shona:

“Pull yourself together, she tells herself, fat is a feminist issue. Just because she doesn’t conform to society’s ideal of what a woman should look like, it doesn’t mean she should feel ashamed, she should celebrate her curves. All the same, she wishes she’d brought a wrap of some kind.”

The author does a nice job showing the contrasting worldviews of Ruth and Nelson. Ironically, at the beach, Nelson looks at Ruth and thinks:

“He’d been surprised by how good Ruth looked in her swimming costume. He’s noticed before that the fewer clothes Ruth wears, the thinner she looks. In the severely cut costume, she looks curvaceous rather than overweight. . . . [as for Shona] “The bikini she has on doesn’t look as if it would survive proper swimming anyway. Ruth is wearing a far more sensible costume.”

Then a murder occurs in the village, and Ruth is the one who finds the body. Both she and Nelson collaborate to find the perpetrator.

Back in King’s Lynn, Laura accompanies her mother for a scan to check on the baby, and it seems as if all is well. But trouble finds them nevertheless, and the tension builds in both countries in a frightening denouement.

Evaluation: I really enjoy this series, with its well-drawn characters who seem very much like real people. Both Nelson and Ruth have wonderfully wry senses of humor, much more in evidence in this book than in some of the preceding books. I also love that one comes away from these books learning a great deal more than how to commit a murder. And after each book, I am always left with the feeling that I can’t wait for the next one.