The setting is a small village on the northern bank of the River Tyne during the 1941 Blitz. The protagonist, Grace Baxter, is not only a policeman’s daughter, she comes from a long line of ‘wise women’. While many of the menfolk have gone to fight in the war, women are hired for the auxillary program. Grace recently moves to the ‘big city’ from the country and is assigned to investigate the identity of a young ‘tart’ who is found dead in an old Roman ruin in the village. She sees what the other police officers do not, mainly due to her family history of ‘wise women’…a ritual aspect to the case.

With her one ally on the force, Wallace, Grace solves the crime! With the clear descriptions of the cold nights, the foggy streets, the German Blitz, the strange behavior of the citizens, use Geordie terms and dialect, the reader is left with the feeling of being there working the case with Miss Baxter!

The plot writing is fabulous. Lots of questions to answer and leads to unfold right up to the end.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

With the men away at war, women took on many jobs traditionally held by men, including police work. Grace Baxter is a newly minted WPC just assigned to Newcastle-on-Tyne. As a woman, her capabilities are suspect, but every hand is needed. When an unknown prostitute’s body is discovered carefully arranged in the ruins of a Roman temple, Grace suspects murder. Her superior feels it is an accident, but is happy for Grace to occupy herself. The villagers are reluctant to share their secrets - even more so when a second body is found, that of Grace’s roommate’s ne'er do well husband. Complicating the murder inquiries are the village’s inherent suspicion of incomers and the fear and prejudice against refugees.

Grace’s inquisitiveness, as well as her good sense and ability to approach people, serve her well as a constable. But that doesn't mean she receives the same respect that a man would. On the other hand, women are more comfortable speaking with her, particularly about domestic issues. Ruined Stones is definitely a police procedural, even though it departs from the normal formula. It is fascinating to see the effect of the Blitz on village life and how it affects behaviors and attitudes. I enjoyed reading Ruined Stones and look forward to seeing what Eric Reed has in store for Grace next.

4 / 5

I received a copy of Ruined Stones from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

If it hadn’t been for the war, Grace Baxter would never have been able to be a police officer or a detective. But since all the abled bodied men are fighting the Germans, Baxter has a chance to follow in her father’s footsteps. In Ruined Stones, by Eric Reed, we see Baxter begin her career as a constable in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne with a tricky case involving Roman ruins, possible occult shenanigans, and a lot of intersecting motives.

Newcastle is an insular place, even though it’s one of Britain’s largest cities—or so Baxter discovers as she starts to walk her beat near the Bedwell ruins. It might be because she’s a woman doing what everyone considers to be a man’s job, but I doubt that many of the people in this little neighborhood would go blabbing to the police anyway when a woman is discovered in the ruins with her body twisted into the shape of a backwards swastika. Meanwhile, she’s getting little help from her sergeant and some surreptitious training from a copper who’s come out of retirement for the duration. Baxter is mostly on her own, however, and this case gets twistier by the chapter.

Ruined Stones follows a lot of the normal trajectory of a detective novel. More evidence appears. Suspects are ruled out or become more suspicious. But I’ll admit I was stumped for most of the book because no simple solution developed to explain everything. Some readers might be frustrated by how this novel turns out, but I was kind of refreshed by how messy the solution was—even if there were a few too many red herrings. It seemed more realistic to me than some mysteries I’ve read where it turns out to be a criminal mastermind who was playing some demented kind of chess game with the protagonist. Ruined Stones is a chaotic novel that I rather enjoyed once I got used to the Geordie accent that so many of the characters used.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

Ruined Stones by Eric Reed will do little to educate your mind or edify your soul, but it will take you away for an adventure to another time and place for a little while. Now and again – just what you need.

The book is set during the 1941 Blitz with mysteries to be solved first of the death of an unidentifiable woman which leaves much speculation for a motive and then another of a man hated by enough people to create a cast of suspects. Both bodies are left in a backwards swastika formation. Are they related or is there a copycat in place?

Grace Baxter, new constable for Newcastle-on-Tyne, gets assignments that reflect the dismissive attitudes of her superiors toward a new rookie – and a woman at that – until she takes it on herself to start following leads.

Plenty of possibilities for the perpetrator exist with one man who is Dutch (or is he German?), one who works outside under cover of night while the rest of the village observes the blackout inside, and any of the group of people who are interested in the spirit world. The setting with a ruined Roman temple and a church in close proximity adds to the tension. Grace questions whether her own ability to sense the spirits of the dead, inherited from her grandmother, will help her find the culprit and wrestles with whether the murderer is the same for both victims.

I received this adventure that will be published on July 4 in an ARC from Net Galley and enjoyed a trip away and back in time. One helpful hint: Flip to the back matter before you begin reading to get an explanation of the Geordie dialect and definitions. While Reed writes with enough context to figure out the words he uses, knowing the terms will save some time and distraction.

In the sequel to The Guardian Stones, Grace Baxter is in Newcastle at the end of 1941 where she is now an auxiliary police officer. It is a particular position created to fill vacancies left by men who are now in the armed services. She can interview people, but she has no authority to arrest them.

Grace is assigned to a police substation in a Newcastle neighborhood, rather than a large station. The staff is diminished, but she is not welcomed with open arms and when a murdered woman is found in the ruins of a small Roman temple, her body laid out in a reverse swastika, Grace is expected to go house to house interviewing the locals while the men do the gritty police work. The problem is that the locals do not trust an outsider and the regular police are quick to decide that the dead woman tripped and her limbs just happened to fall into the swastika position. Grace does not buy this but there is little she can do until a second murder, this time a man found in the same position, occurs.

I found the murders the least interesting part of the story. What was the most interesting to me was the description of how the citizens of an average working class neighborhood coped with the stresses of war, the bombings, and the lost lives both military and civilian.

The sergeant in charge of the station is on the verge of a mental breakdown because his entire family was wiped out in a bombing raid while he was not at home. An eccentric academic is trying to recruit volunteers to create a mystical power cone to defeat the Nazis. Unfortunately, most of his fellow students of mystical forces balk at dancing naked in midwinter to channel the power. The head juvenile delinquent is ready to kill anyone he suspects of being a German in retaliation for the death of his brother in action. The best and the worst come out in people.

One particular scene impressed me for its social history. The body of a serviceman on leave is brought to the home of his estranged wife and laid out in her bedroom where his friends come to pay their respects. Since this is where Grace is renting a bed, she and her landlord are forced to sleep in the kitchen while people view the corpse in the bedroom. I found it interesting that corpses were kept at home, even an unwelcome home, as a matter of course in the 1940’s.

A very good description of wartime Newcastle with the murder less compelling than the social history of the area.

I couldn't finish this book, I am not sure why but I have read so many detective books in the north east area and this wasn't a bad book by any means just not something I really enjoyed, but if you like detective style with some history thrown in then this will be enjoyable to you.

Excellent book. Great main characters and plot. I would recommend this book.

4 stars

During WWII there were not enough men to populate the police force, so they hired women. No one it seems had more of a plan for them to do anything but type, answer phones and make tea. But Grace Baxter joins the force through the WAC Program and plans to make a difference.

Her first “case” is one of a woman who died in an old Roman ruin. Put down as an accident, the men on the force have more or less written it off. She immediately recognizes from the photos taken at the scene that there may be a ritual aspect to the case. She doesn’t believe that the woman’s death was an accident.

Some of the citizens she encounters are downright hostile and suspicious of her. Fighting sexism, mistrust and dismissiveness Grace fights to keep an even keel in her new job. Is someone seeking to cover their crime? What about the area in which she was found? Is that significant?

With little to no assistance from her colleagues, Grace solves the crime, but at some risk to herself.

This is a nicely written and plotted book. I enjoy reading period pieces from the WWII era. While the action is a little slow in places, it is still not too badly paced.

I want to thank Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for forwarding to me a copy of this book to read.

After her close encounter with a psychopath in her little British village, Grace Baxter has moved tp the “big city” of Newcastle-on-Tyne. The city has a fascinating history dating back to Roman times and Grace enjoys exploring the town when she’s not working for the city’s police force. Not everything is sunshine and roses, the Germans are still dropping bombs and a young woman’s body has been found in the ruins of a Roman temple. With so many men off fighting, women have had to step in to fill jobs formerly held only by men, and that seems to have irked some of the locals, who believe women belong in the home. There are plenty of suspects for the young woman’s murder, and with the ongoing war, Grace often seems to be fighting a losing battle in her search for the killer, but determined to prove she’s her police officer father’s daughter, Grace won’t give u until the truth comes out. This is such a good historical mystery series. reed hits all the high notes with a spunky, savvy heroine, small town idiosyncracies and a tumultuous time in world history