I know that I say this for the majority of series books but this time I really do strongly believe that you would be better off starting from book one and reading in order. I say this for two reasons: one, these books are very character driven and there is a lot of personal stuff going on in the background with the main characters and what they get up to now, and have got up to in the past; and two, events in this book are very interconnected with things that have gone before so, at the very least, you really need to read book one - The Crossing Places - before tackling this one. Yes there is the obligatory catch-up to be found within this book but this is more directed as memory links rather than a complete fill in.
So, Nelson receives a letter that feels very familiar. It alludes to a body and, lo and behold, said body, well the bones of at least, is found near that of a dig. Turns out that the son of the author of the original letters is spearheading said dig. On investigation, Nelson and his team think that the bones could be part of a cold case, still unsolved some 30 odd years later; the disappearance of a young girl during a street party celebrating Charles and Di's wedding. Obviously with only skeletal remains found, Ruth gets involved. But with the impending birth of Michelle's baby looming things are strained between her and Nelson. Especially with Frank back on the scene. And then another child goes missing, this time a baby not even a month old and it becomes a race against time to get to the bottom of things.
I do love Ruth, well, actually I have a soft spot for the majority of the main characters in this series. We've been together for so long and I have invested so much of both my time and emotions on them that I kind of consider them all to be almost friends by now. Yes, we do have quite a lot of personal stuff going on in each book but that's part of the beauty of reading a series; for its familiarity. If you're not a fan of this then maybe this isn't the right series for you, but for me, the whole is definitely more than the sum of its parts.
The crime(s) in this book are especially interesting as we have to go back in time to 1981, the year of the Royal Wedding, to get to the original crime. We also revisit the events in the first book, when the gang were just starting to come together.
I can't fail to also mention the setting. The salt marsh especially is almost a character in its own right. Usually I am not a fan of too much description but here, this goes hand in hand with the rest of the story and adds so much colour and atmosphere that I absolutely love reading about it.
Also in this book, Nelson and Michelle welcome the new addition to their family. Not going into detail with this but just to say that this new addition makes things a bit awkward for both Ruth and the rest of the Nelson clan. It's going to be interesting seeing how the author takes this thread further...
All in all, another cracking instalment of one of my favourite series. Can't wait for the next one. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Firstly thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for this advanced copy. Wow.. So glad that Dr Ruth Galloway and the gang are back. This is the 11th book in the series and is still as good as the first. Elly Griffiths draws you into the story and what a story it is. It is fast paced and doesn't let go until the very last page. The events are all woven into each other and you are gripped right up until the end when they all untangle at the end to reveal the guilty parties. This book is a welcome edition to the series and I hope there are more to come. You really get a feel for the places she is describing and it is great to see the characters develop over the course of the series. Absolutely brilliant and it was a privilege to read this book. Roll on the next one.

I admit that I was disappointed with my own reaction to this book, but I think at this juncture Ruth and I must part. The last book was already very borderline, I am just soooo tired of the Ruth and Nelson thing and the relationships that have descended into melodrama and remind me of a telenovela. I adored the first 9, book 10 not so much and book 11, not at all. The re-hashing of the plot of book 1, the same old themes, the characters all starting to turn into stereotypes and cardboard cut-outs of themselves.

SPOILERS

Oh it's good to be back with the gang.

There's a girl in a burial site,that feels a bit like we've done this before,but she soon gets pushed aside by a more recent murder and a kidnapping..

To be honest,it wasn't even those things,but the whole catching up with characters that has me reading these books.
Finding out who's baby Michelle is having,what crazy ideas Cathbad might come up with... how many times ruth complains about being fat (not once I believe,but I did enjoy the comedy fitbit moments).
There felt like the characters moved on a bit... especially with Kate being introduced to her sisters.
The crimes were solved... all good.

I *love* Ruth Galloway but have to admit this book feels like a re-run of the first couple: *yet another* girl's body is found out on the seahenge (how many is than now?) and yet again Ruth advises the police team. A cold case is re-opened of a girl who went missing in 1981, we have more weird letters, Erik's son appears to act in a suitably sinister fashion, and everyone (it seems) has a new baby. There's even the obligatory 'face the killer alone and with no back-up' scene, followed by the killer's confession...

What makes the whole thing so enjoyable isn't the reworked plot but the characters who are a joy. Their relationships are so intertwined and complicated now that while this can be read as a stand-alone, so much of the resonance would be missing. Griffith's sly humour and fluent prose add to the pleasure.

Circles seem important: literal and material stone circles but also the circling back into the past, and relationships going round in circles... we think, briefly, that Ruth might break out, but no, there are too many things holding her where she is. This is a 'more of the same' book: if you've not gelled with this series before, this one won't change your mind. For me, I loved being back in the company of Ruth, Nelson, Cloughie and the others.