I had a hard time connecting with the story. I'm sure this book is perfect for many readers but it was just not my type of book.

The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths is book number 14 in the Ruth Galloway series. This is the first book by Elly Griffiths I have read. With that being said, I don't think you necessarily have to read the series to understand what is going on. I felt like I understood the plot, maybe not all of the background relationships but I felt like I could read the book without knowing the series.
The Locked Room is more about COVID-19 and the lockdown than anything else. There is a murder mystery in the background but I felt like this book was more about how the pandemic affected the world than anything else. The suicide/ murder mystery took a back seat. I really didn't find it all that interesting. And I will say, this book had the potential to be amazing! I loved the premise Griffiths attempted to take with the mysterious photo, the archeological dig, and University; but this book missed the mark for me. As a frontline nurse working in the ICU, I really don't want to re-visit any of the early pandemic era. Special thanks to Elly Griffiths, Mariner Books, And NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 3.5 stars
#TheLockedRoom #NetGalley

Elly Griffiths' "The Locked Room" presents Dr. Ruth Galloway with a puzzling discovery: an old photograph linked to her family's past, leading her to an unexpected excavation near Norwich Cathedral. As Ruth navigates this mystery amidst the backdrop of Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, DCI Harry Nelson investigates a series of suspicious deaths, uncovering troubling connections.

Griffiths masterfully weaves together historical intrigue, character depth, and contemporary challenges, immersing readers in Ruth's introspective journey and Nelson's relentless pursuit of truth. With sensitivity and relevance, the novel explores themes of isolation, resilience, and human connection, offering a compelling blend of mystery and social commentary. "The Locked Room" delivers a gripping narrative that both series fans and newcomers will appreciate, promising a satisfying read with thought-provoking twists and a glimpse into life during the pandemic.

Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway mysteries have captivated me since I read the first in 2009. Ruth herself is such an excellent character – an independent, academic woman that looks like an everyday person, one who makes mistakes and changes as time passes. Her world in Norfolk, England, is populated by a wide cast of memorable characters, and Griffith’s writing style feels unique, perfectly suited for story telling. I never regretted a minute spent with Cathbad the Druid, cantankerous DCI Harry Nelson, or determined officer Judy.

So, naturally, holding the final installment in this series in my hands, The Last Remains, was a bittersweet moment. Ruth stands on the precipice of change, faced with massive changes in her department and reckoning with some in her personal life, too. For those wondering what will happen between her and Nelson, this book will deliver answers. But she has been avoiding him lately, and avoiding making a permanent sort of choice where he is concerned, when a body appears.

Builders at a café in King’s Lynn find relatively modern bones, and they call in now frequent consultant Ruth. She reports them as modern, and police soon identify her as Emily Pickering, an archeology student who went missing roughly twenty years ago. Emily was part of a close knit group that all shared the same personal tutor, renowned scholar Leo Ballard. However, though he is a well known academic, he is far from a perfect person, and the relationships between both himself and the other students were incredibly charged.

To complicate matters further, Cathbad was a teaching assistant at the time of the disappearance. He was there at the dig where Emily was last seen. At this point, Cathbad is family to both Nelson and Ruth. Neither wants him to be involved with what happened to Emily, but it becomes clear that Cathbad knew her well. And then Cathbad, who is still weak from having Covid in the last installment, simply disappears.

As the mystery unfolds, Ruth and her friends encounter multiple brushes with the past. They visit old scenes of crimes from previous novels, and make connections to things they’ve gone through before. An unexpected character even returns before the end of the book, who was very important in a previous one. The story is both a good one on its own, but also a good capstone to the series at large.

Needless to say, my eyes were not dry for most of this read. Griffith wraps this journey up beautifully, and I didn’t feel like any threads were left untied. It’s hard to believe that this is the last Ruth Galloway book we’ll get to read, but it was such an amazing journey from start to finish. Whether you started back with the first book in the early 2000s and read all the way through, have picked up a few here and there, or are considering giving the Galloway mysteries a try for a first time, I can wholeheartedly recommend not just this installment, but the whole series. Do yourself a favor and start at the beginning – or maybe do another reread. You won’t regret it.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MarinerBooks for allowing me to read this book.This is book #14 in the Ruth Galloway series.Ruth Galloway and DCI Nelson are on the hunt for a murderer when COVID rears its ugly head. But can they find the killer despite lockdown?Another enjoyable read in the Ruth Galloway series.

This is my first Ruth Galloway book, but I am excited to go back and read the rest of the series! The Locked Room is set during the pandemic, and Ruth is going through old photos at her dad's home when she finds one of her cottage taken years before she owned it.
Some suspicious deaths are made to look like suicide are happening and the women all are of a certain age and demographic. Someone goes missing. Meanwhile someone is trapped in a locked room. How does all this connect? Interesting take on a mystery set during Covid and lockdown.
Other characters-Judy and Cathbad (local druid) and Nelson, the father of Ruth's daughter.

This mystery is part of a series featuring archaeology professor Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson. I would have appreciated it more if I had read other books in the series. The story starts at the beginning of the COVID epidemic when Ruth and her daughter Kate shelter in place at their cottage next to new neighbor Zoe. Louisa has discovered a photo of her cottage with a strange inscription that her mother took years before Louisa owned the cottage. She has also been working on a mystery related to an archaeological discovery. Nelson contacts her to help solve the case of a woman who committed suicide in a locked room. It becomes a murder investigation when more dead women are discovered. All of these incidents intertwine and lead to a solution after Louisa, Kate and Zoe go missing.

I've dipped in and out of this series, which I've really enjoyed and plan to read more of based on what I've read so far. In this offering, Ruth Galloway, along with the rest of the world, finds herself grappling with the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns that went into effect in the spring of 2020. The story begins slightly before the world goes into lockdown and then proceeds into the throes of it. A modern-day mystery and a mystery from the past are presented, and are equally interesting from start to finish. The author did an excellent job of capturing the isolation and uncertainty that we all felt as the pandemic unfolded, and I liked getting a chance to read about it from a non-U.S. perspective and seeing how a police investigation would be carried out under these circumstances. While I'm sure that I'm missing out by not having all of the recurring characters' backstories by reading these novels out of order, I have found it easy to pick up any of the Ruth Galloway novels and dive in, reading them more as standalone novels. I feel that enough details from prior books in the series are included for me to understand the relationship dynamics and to want to go back and read the earlier books.

Many thanks to William Morrow and the Scene of the Crime Early Read program for the chance to read a NetGalley copy of this book!

This is my first book by this author which I enjoyed reading. This is a suspenseful story that had me turning pages fast just to see what would happen next. This is a well written story where the author used details to bring the story to life. The twists and turns had me sitting on the edge of my seat. I also found the characterrs to be relateable and brought so much to the story. I enjoyed how they pulled me into their story from the start. They have not only great growth but also made the story easy to read. This is a fast paced, engaging story about murder-suicides and the mystery of missing people I enjoyed reading this suspenseful story and I highly recommend it.

This is a new to me author and I have to say I am looking forward to reading more by this author! I loved this book

A totally unputdownable thriller, this book will have you gripped from the very first page until the jaw-dropping final twist. Flawlessly plotted, the story unfolds in layers, each one more shocking than the last. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.

This is part of a series and I have not read the other books. I think that may have been helpful but i was able to figure out what was going on.

The book did not pull me in like some do. It takes place at the start of the pandemic and some of that took over the true story plot. I got through it and it was a decent book but not my favorite. I may go back and read some of the earlier books in the series.

I got this from NetGalley as an advance eKindle addition in exchange for an honest review.

I had no idea this was part of a series before downloading, this was my very first time reading Elly Griffiths! I have to say now I will go back and read the other books in this series! The plot pacing was great and her build up of events kept me engaged. I definitely recommend this book for any fellow mystery lovers!

The pandemic comes to Norfolk, finding Ruth sorting through her late mother's things. She is surprised to find a photo of her cottage--from quite some time ago. Why would her mother have a picture of Ruth's place long before she lived there? As the pandemic forces Ruth and her daughter Kate to shelter at home in said cottage, they befriend a new neighbor, Zoe, a nurse working at a nearby hospital. But soon Nelson needs Ruth's help in investigating an ancient murder-suicide and before they know it, a more modern one.

A Ruth Galloway book is perfection, as always. I was dreaming of more Ruth and Nelson drama (updates, progress?), but this was an excellent read with a surprising and twisty modern mystery that kept me guessing! There were the usual appearances from the superb supporting cast, but Cathbad and Judy really had a main role in this one--Griffiths' characters are truly friends, and at points, this book had me in tears as I care for everyone so deeply. I also very much love Nelson and his sarcasm, which provides the perfect antidote of humor.

ROOM gives us a chance to explore more about Ruth's family and her past friendships, which was different and interesting. Nelson is still grappling with the future and potential retirement, and we get to see his wonderful and diverse team at work helping him solve cases.

Overall, this is a great, atmospheric mystery featuring a beloved group of characters that blends the pandemic well into the setting. Please note a trigger warning for mentions of suicide.

Love foreign settings. This was perfectly written about a couple of “suicides” that had similarities. During the investigation though Covid broke out. It is still a little too soon for me to read in depth about the lock-downs and fears associated with all of it. However, this can be easily skimmed over. This is more of a slow burn but well worth it to see the twists at the end.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

This is part of a series and I've not read the previous books in this series so I was a bit concerned that I would not be able to follow along. There was nothing to worry about. There are several characters (and had I read the previous books I would know why the different nicknames for some of the characters) but it wasn't terribly difficult keeping track of them all.

There are a couple storylines here: Ruth is an archaeologist who was on a dig and found a body that was buried outside of a graveyard's site plan because it was probably buried during (or after) a plague.

DCI Harry Nelson is investigating a murder, made to look like a suicide. Then they learn of a few more bodies and then....COVID hits and the country goes into lockdown. I wondered if I could read a book about COVID but the author did a really good job describing the fear of the unknown, food shortages, hoarding toilet paper, closures of both schools and businesses, zoom, empty streets, mask wearing, social distancing and the frustration of not being able to visit loved ones.

Nelson and his team continue to investigate despite being on lockdown and Ruth figures out a way to teach her students while her daughter is home from school. When Ruth's new neighbor, who looks a little like Ruth, disappears, Ruth calls Nelson in to look into that.

The story was a bit hard to get into...again, I struggled with the COVID references...but once I was able to put that aside, it was a pretty good mystery.

Very interesting setting and timeline, fleshed out and meaningful characters. Some tropes were predictable. Surprised that I enjoyed the Covid timeline so soon - possibly engaging since my experience was in the US so I enjoyed the comparisons. Well written and fun!

Somehow, I had completely missed the fact that The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths was book 14 of a series, so when I said yes to reading it, I had no idea I was committing myself to 13 other books (plus future books I'm sure). Because that is exactly what I did now that I have finished and seriously enjoyed this book. I already put the first 3 books on hold at the library, and I officially need more of Ruth Galloway. There are a few different viewpoints and a lot of characters, so it was hard to follow along at times, especially in the beginning. However, by the end I felt like I had a mostly good grasp of them all. I did see reviews that said this is fine as a standalone, but personally I felt like I was missing certain relationships and pieces of characters by not having read from book 1. This is another reason I am starting from the beginning while The Locked Room is still fresh in my memory.

I also want to note that if you listen to the audiobook as I did, you will want to make sure to pay close attention, so you don't miss anything. I thought the narrator Jane McDowell was great and she did a wonderful job bringing the book and characters to life, but it is a lot of characters for only 1 narrator, and there is quite a bit going on. It was easy to miss things and I found myself rewinding at times, so I would say it might be best to read The Locked Room as opposed to listening to it. I thought there were quite a few very likable characters in the novel, and of course, I loved both Ruth and Nelson. It was a little weird reading a book that spoke about Covid 19 so heavily as I don't LOVE reading about it, but it ended up really working for the plot and I was pleased to find that I didn't mind it at all. I was shocked by the conclusion, and I loved the mystery as much as I loved the characters. I am looking forward to reading more of this author and more of this series!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a well crafted plot set at the beginning of the pandemic. It was very intriguing.
Many thanks to Mariner Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Unfortunately, when I requested The Locked Room, I didn't realize it was #14 in a series. I hate starting a series midway, especially one that looks so good, now that I've gone back and read the synopsis for the earlier books. I want to read all 14 in the series, but it will take me a long time to catch up. I'll come back and edit this review when I do!