Another enjoyable installment to the Ruth Galloway mysteries. Although the mystery wasn't as intriguing (I figured out "who done it" pretty early on), the setting and the characters continued to hold my interest. I have become so attached to these characters, it's ridiculous. Also, contrasting our current plague to ancient plagues was very interesting.

Dr. Ruth Galloway is an archaeology professor at the University of North Norfolk. She is worrying about homeschooling her daughter during the Covid lockdown, and teaching her university courses via Zoom. Nelson and Judy are investigating a series of deaths that were labeled suicides, but now seem to be connected. Students acting strangely, a new neighbor with a mysterious past, and Covid are all part of this page turner. I love revisiting these characters, and Griffiths is a master plotter--I just couldn't put this book down! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this advance copy.

This is the fourteenth book in the Ruth Galloway series.

Ruth is in London cleaning out her mother’s things before her father and his new wife get back. She’s a lovely woman and Ruth’s mother has been gone for three years. As Ruth is going through things, she finds a photograph of a cottage in Norfolk. Her cottage in Norfolk, only in 1963. The only clue is the date and the name Dawn. Her father isn’t any help and her mother hated the cottage and never spoke about it.

Back in Norfolk, Nelson has a murder on his hands. It looks like a suicide until more bodies with the same MO pop up. Just as Ruth returns, Covid hits, and everyone’s world is thrown into chaos, which makes it so much harder to find a killer.

Meanwhile, Ruth and Kate are bored to tears until they meet their neighbor, a healthcare worker who Ruth and Kate both like a lot.

Nelson is looking for a serial killer now and somehow links it to an archaeological discovery and thinks of Ruth. Breaking all of the lockdown rules, he enlists Ruth’s help in finding out how she can help find a killer. But first, he needs to tell her that her neighbor was accused of murdering patients. While Nelson is terrified for Ruth and Kate, the secrets that come spilling out will leave you with your mouth hanging open!

Love this series!

NetGalley/ June 28th, 2022 by Mariner Books

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.
It's hard to believe, in some ways, that we're 14 installments in on the Ruth Galloway series. Some of these characters are old, dear friends. Some are newer, cozier ones that I hope we continue to get to know. I absolutely love that Griffiths set this installment during the pandemic. When I started it, I initially wondered if I would be able to read something related to COVID without feeling anxious or stressed. Griffiths does a stellar job of capturing the early days, when everything was fast-changing and unsure, when we were all struggling to keep ourselves and each other safe while navigating this really scary and uncertain situation. I'm going to do my best to avoid any spoilers, but I promise you-there's one situation that the entire time it played out, I kept thinking "If Griffiths lets _________ happen to ______ I'm throwing my Kindle across the room". Mercifully, there was no Kindle throwing. The plotline had enough twists and turns that I was sure I knew who the criminal was (I was, as always, incorrect) and of course: Griffiths leaves us with a heart-stopping cliffhanger. I love all the revelations that Galloway experiences during this novel, and is fun to see a different side to Nelson because of the pandemic. I already need the next book!

The Locked Room is a perfect novel that captures the need for connectedness and community during a pandemic and lockdown--and provides links to mysterious deaths, not at all caused by COVID. This is the 14th book in the Ruth Galloway Mysteries series, but works as a stand alone novel where Elly Griffiths shows her skills to bring new readers into the Norfolk fold and most likely having the new readers going back to book one to start at the beginning to meet Nelson and Ruth when they were younger. Highly recommended.

Another great installment in the Ruth Galloway series. Griffiths does a masterful job of depicting the uncertainty, boredom, and fear of the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mystery was well crafted and I can't wait for the next in the series. This is a perfect series for those who like strong, female characters, well-crafted mysteries and police procedurals, the seaside, anglophiles, and archaeology.

The Locked Room is another great installment in the Ruth Galloway series. I recommend the series for readers who enjoy strong female protagonists, mysteries which incorporate both history and science, and stories with local flair.

SPOILER AHEAD!


I spent the majority of this book thinking that if Cathbad died, I was going to have to break up with @ellygriffiths17 🤬😄

BUT I honestly can't think of a better compliment for an author than that. The characters in this series are so dear to me that I would have been DEVASTATED to lose one. Especially that one 🧙😆

This series is so easy to #bingeread because the characters immediately draw you in. The plots, while always good, are completely secondary to me. I just want to catch up with everyone 😊

Only a new Ruth Galloway book could make me read anything about the current pandemic. I have to say, Griffiths captured the mixture of confusion, fear, dread, and boredom from March-April 2020. I loved this book, less for the mystery, which was weird but not super involved, and more for the characters and their development. It made sense that the mystery piece was secondary, as it was hard for Nelson and Judy to do much investigating during lockdown and when the people they needed to talk to were sick or unavailable (no spoilers).

Fans of this series don't need a review to know they should read this. If you don't already know, start with book 1!

The Ruth Galloway series is best read in order. And every time I finish one, I think it's the best one yet. And this is no exception.
This story was set during the pandemic. Things I had forgotten were remembered. Setting the story in this time really drew you in as a reader. Not only do you feel the sea spray and see the endless landscape, but you feel like you've been here. Its really amazing.
The plot is thick with red herrings that would do Agatha Christie proud.
I love this series and hope it never ends.
Happy Reading!

Fifty-one-year-old Ruth Galloway is the head of the archaeology department at the University of North Norfolk. In early 2020, with Covid-19 becoming a serious threat, Ruth starts switching from in-person classes to Zoom. She is perturbed when two of her students, Eileen and Joe, suddenly disappear. In addition, DCI Harry Nelson, the married father of Ruth's precocious daughter, is looking into the suspicious suicides of previously healthy and active women. Assisting him are the efficient and capable DI Judy Johnson, DS Tanya Fuller, and DC Tony Zhang. Furthermore, there may be a ghostly presence in Norfolk. The Grey Lady is rumored to walk through the walls of an ancient cathedral. It seems that her fellow villagers barred her and her parents from leaving their house during a plague.

In "The Locked Room," Elly Griffiths seamlessly moves between situations involving Covid-19, a homicide inquiry, and the supernatural. Nelson is as grumpy, conflicted, and stubborn as ever; Judy and her partner, Cathbad, welcome his adult daughter, Maddie, back into their home during the Covid lockdown; and Harry's wife, Michele, takes their four-year-old son, Georgie, to visit her mum in Blackpool. This is a fast-paced and engrossing novel and, although the solution to Nelson's case strains credulity, Griffiths does her best to make the outcome seem almost plausible.

The author writes sensitively about the early days of the Covid-19 in the UK. We empathize with Ruth, Nelson, and others who do not grasp the seriousness of the impending public health crisis. Griffiths wisely avoids weighing down the narrative with too much gloom. The dialogue is frequently funny and clever; Nelson and Ruth are strongly attracted to one another, even though they are dissimilar in most respects; and a number of scene-stealing cats and dogs will bring smiles to reader's faces. Interestingly, Ruth has a rare opportunity to discover why her late mother, Jean, was so strict and disapproving. I would have awarded "The Locked Room" five stars had it not ended with such a frustrating cliffhanger.

After finishing this 14th installment in the Ruth Galloway series, I have a confession to make: I no longer think of them as books, let alone mysteries. To me they are like lovely, newsy letters about my good friends in England. I have become so invested in the lives of Ruth, Nelson and all the others that whenever a new book comes out, I can’t wait to see what’s happening in their lives. The mystery that’s there just serves to spice things up a bit.

In this book the mystery was very thin and the culprit quite obvious. The major appeal of the plot for me was, of course, what was happening in the lives of the characters. Since the book is set in February and March 2020, of considerable concern for all was the outbreak of Covid-19.

I thought the author’s handling of the pandemic and the characters’ reactions to it was very well done. This ranged from some characters thinking it was only a severe flu and everything would be over in a few months to others being far more frightened. It was also interesting to remember how foreign things like zoom meetings were just two years ago. If nothing else, it makes you realize how adaptable we all are.

There was emotional upheaval, secrets revealed and an ending that was very much a cliffhanger, so please hurry with the next book, Ms. Griffiths.

The probable suicide of a woman who seemed very happy has DCI Nelson suspecting foul play. He and his team look at other recent deaths of women of a similar age and wonder if there's a pattern. Meanwhile, Dr. Ruth Galloway begins to worry about something called the coronavirus, with cases starting to pop up in England. Ruth wonders how the virus will affect her teaching at the university and if her daughter, Kate's, school and social activities will be curtailed. In The Locked Room, Griffiths deftly combines her usual mystery with the real world events of COVID 19. A worthy addition to this long-running series.

published at https://popgoesfiction.blogspot.com/

Elly Griffiths has done it again. It is always a pleasure to read about Ruth and Elly spins a great mystery intertwined with authentic relationships. It is a very pleasant way to spend a weekend afternoon and I look for war to the next Ruth Galloway novel.

COVID-19 has hit the U.K. It's early days and everyone is adjusting to the new normal. Just prior to the lock down restrictions Ruth is in London clearing her deceased mother's belongs from the family home. She finds a photo of her salt marsh cottage dated 1963. She's called back to Norwich when a skeleton is unearthed during a street excavation located near a medieval burial ground. The area is considered to be haunted by the Grey Lady who died in a locked room during the plague..
Suddenly Ruth is teaching online and her daughter, Kate is attending virtual classes. They are isolated in the cottage except for a new neighbor, Zoe, with whom they strike up a friendship. Nelson and staff are trying to investigate a mysterious spate of suspicious suicides. Michelle, along with little George, is conveniently visiting her mother.
Other plot lines involve a two of Ruth's students and a haunted house.
All of these are much more interesting than the suspected murders being investigated. While it's always fun to catch up with Ruth and Nelson(who take advantage of Michelle's absence) Locked Room seemed less a mystery and more an opportunity to continue to develop the recurring characters' story lines. Despite a weak mystery, Griffiths does a nice job of tying everything together and leaving readers with a cliffhanger.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Publishing for the advanced reader's copy.

Another excellent book in the archaeology mystery series set in Norfolk, UK. This publisher always presents books that are fully vetted and ready for release -- no rewriting necessary in their ARCs. Once again, a hit book with archeologist Ruth Galloway being only slightly involved in what appear to be multiple related suicides instead of in the center of the action. She, however, has a personal mystery to investigate while trying to teach from home. The year is 2020 and the pandemic has thrown everyone's lives upside down - policing and teachers have especially had to adapt. Lots of surprises are involved, including a beloved character in ICU with Covid. Best of all, there are surprises for about half the regular characters and at least one very happy ending.

I have been a huge fan of the Ruth Galloway series since the get-go and this may have been my favorite book so far!!
This was my first "COVID Book" and I think it was done in a really tactful way. It added, rather than took away from the story and it was so nice to see the characters I love navigate the pandemic. I loved the mystery of the Grey Lady and I was so happy to see Janet return, her dynamic with Ruth is amazing!

I cant wait to learn more about Zoe and watch her relationship with Ruth grow. Also this book completely solidified the fact that Nelson and Cathbad are my all time favorite book friendship! I absolutely LOVE them together.

Also THAT CLIFHANGER. I need the next book so badly. 5 stars on my goodreads!!!!

Elly Griffiths does it again with this latest Ruth Galloway installment. At once cozy and unsettling, the Norfolk coast and the tenuous hold humans have against the relentless sea sets the stage for another act of human depravity. Although the humans are terrible and nature is king, it is Covid that sets all the rules for Ruth this time.

This is the first title I've read where Covid was intentionally the backdrop, and already those feelings of uncertainy; masks? handwashing? distance? which were coupled with the feeling of "how much wine is problematic during a pandemic?" are starting to fade. Griffiths has captured the chaos very well, and yet not so much as to deter from the lovely characters and their stories.

Another good addition to the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. Written during lockdown, it conveys the atmosphere and uncertainty of the time. A new book by Elly Griffiths is always a treat to be savored.

A delicious and thrilling mystery. I had a lot of fun reading this and am now looking forward to diving into the whole series.