I'm in awe of Griffiths' talent at her craft. I was kept guessing until the very end. 10/10 recommend!

The character development throughout this series has been fantastic. I always enjoy diving into a new book in this series and catching up with the crew. This installment was no different and I was quickly immersed in the plot. I enjoyed the mystery and found the character driven aspect of this one very enjoyable. I look forward to another book in the series!

The last book of a series that I began when the first book was published. I have enjoyed all fifteen immensely. The main characters, Ruth and Nelson, have grown and mellowed throughout the years.
Cathbad has remained the same Druid throughout. The mysteries are well-planned and executed. Satisfying ending to one of my favorite series.

Elly Griffiths continues the saga of will they won't they with Ruth and Nelson, and while we are all rooting for them, I was starting to feel a little sad. However, EG does it again, working through emotional upheaval and murder and intrigue side by side- a giddy combo that satisfies every time.

In this 15th in the series, forensic archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway is called when a skeleton is found during a café renovation. It turns out to be that of a student, missing since 2002.

Ruth's close friend Cathbad comes under suspicion. Investigators find links to Neolithic flint mines in Grimes Graves.

Then Cathbad goes missing and it becomes a race against time to save him.

As always, Griffiths delivers a solid police procedural, with an ever growing and intriguing coterie of characters, and a fascinating archaeological base.

Elly Griffiths continues her Dr. Ruth Galloway mysteries with The Last Remains. A mysterious body is found in the renovation of a cafe. When identified it was a missing student of archaeology with ties to Ruth's friend Cathbad and other neighbourhood people. DCI Nelson investigates while trying to update his relation with Galloway. Her archaeological department is under threat and her colleagues fight to keep it open while Ruth pursues a corpse. Enjoy

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Regardless of how many bones are found by the local builder requiring Ruth and the police to investigate, I love this series. Many things happen in this installment where the engaged reader can sigh with relief, be happy that things work out, and it could easily end here (except I don’t want it to as the characters are so lively and endearing). Four stars.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I have read this entire series and was really excited to get this book. Ruth Galloway is such a wonderful realistic character and she shines in this book. If you love a great mystery pick this one up you will not be disappointed

THE LAST REMAINS marks the fifteenth book in the Ruth Galloway series, and things keep getting better. Griffiths brings us back to a world I have come to look forward to revisiting even though there is always murder and mayhem around the corner.

In this book, Ruth, with the cast of characters we have come to love, is sent to investigate a body in a wall. How the author unravels the mystery propels the story forward at just the right pace. And, there are always the right amount of breadcrumbs to lead the reader to a fabulously suspenseful and stunningly plotted conclusion. As with the previous books, the interactions between Ruth, DCI Nelson, and Cathbad enrich the narrative. There are others who pop in, but these three are what make me keep coming back for more. I also love that Ruth brings an archaeologist’s perspective into the mix. So many times, there are only the police or government agencies. This series rounds out the team with diverse, complex, and well-rounded characters.

Though I did come late to the party (at book 12), the Ruth Galloway books have become one of my top crime fiction series. Griffiths holds a special place right next to Karin Slaughter, J.T. Ellison, and C.S. Harris on my must-read list.

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths finally gets Ruth and Nelson together while trying to solve the mystery of recent remains discovered while renovating a cafe. With Cathbad under suspicion and Ruth's department under threat of closing she struggles with everything while trying to solve the mystery of the bones. Another very good addition to this series.

THE LAST REMAINS by Elly Griffiths (The Locked Room) is another (actually, book 15) in the Ruth Galloway series. Here, the archeologist and sometimes forensic consultant is called upon when a skeleton is found behind an added wall in a local pub. Events of twenty years ago, including some archeological studies and potentially inappropriate relationship between a professor and student, feature in the efforts to verify the identity and motive for a young woman's disappearance. Ruth's employment situation and her relationship with DCI Harry Nelson also are moving towards a resolution of sorts and mixed feelings play out in contrast to long ago events when even Ruth's Druid friend, Cathbad, was involved. Griffiths has succeeded in tying up a number of loose ends ... but will they unravel in the next book? THE LAST REMAINS received well-deserved starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. 4.5 stars

This final installment of the Ruth Galloway mystery series finds Ruth lending a hand with excavating skeletal remains discovered behind a brick wall during renovations. Nelson and the Serious Crimes Unit team discover Cathbad has ties to the victim. Griffiths refers back to previous entries in the series and works to tie up loose ends. Fans of the series will be sad that it's come to an end, but several loose ends are finally tied up.

I read the review that said Griffiths had tweeted that this is her last Ruth Galloway novel, for now. I'm counting on that, "for now." It is true that Griffiths brings closure to a number of long-standing issues and relationships in the series, but she also leaves room for new ones. Therefore, as one who has read the full series and anxiously awaits the next one each time, I am hopeful that we will see more of Ruth.

In this 15th of the series, Ruth grapples with both professional and personal decisions as she helps DS Nelson work a cold case centered around ancient flint mines. The archaeology is interesting and the setting is daunting. As Ruth tries to figure out how her life will proceed, backstory necessary to understanding the plot is filled in through characters' reminiscences. In addition, the disappearance of a major character in the series allows for Ruth's and other characters' visits to the scenes featured in prior books. In this manner, Griffith makes THE LAST REMAINS accessible to new readers as well as particularly rewarding to devotees of the series.

This is a great book that is hopefully NOT the end to the series.

This is the 15th in the Ruth Galloway series; it is the first I have read. How have I missed this author? The book worked well as a standalone and although the author did a good job of filling in background information, I wished I had read some of the earlier stories to know more about the characters’ histories.



Taking place just after the worst of the Covid pandemic, archeologist Ruth Galloway is called in to assist on a case when a skeleton is found encased behind a wall in a shop being renovated. Her life is complicated as the university where she teaches announces they are going to close the archeology department while she is also trying to her figure out her relationship with DCI Nelson. When the bones are identified as belonging to a young woman who went missing twenty years earlier, they lead to links within the world of archeology and a close friend of Ruth’s.



This was a well written, engrossing read. I didn’t want to put it down. I enjoyed all the richly drawn characters in this well plotted and quite atmospheric novel, as well as some of the folklore from the Norfolk area.



I have read that this may well be the last book in this series. While loose ends were tied up at the conclusion of the book, I hope that there will be more! Ruth is a strong, intelligent, capable female main character. I’m sorry it took so long for me to meet her!

Dr. Ruth Galloway is faced with a number of challenges in this edition in the ongoing series. Her daughter, is now a teen--her boyfriend, father of her child, the very married Detective with whom she often works, the shaky health and near death experience of her friend, Cathbad, and eth imminent closing of the Archeology Department she heads up at her University--oh yes, toss in an unrequited love by one of her staff for her along with an offer to teach in Sweden--all of this while she must solve the mystery of who killed a young student (archelogy) whose twenty-year lost/buried body is found in the opening pages of the book
If all of these plot elements and complications have your head swimming, never fear. Griffiths leads us through the conglomeration of main story, side plots and character development with the ease of a practiced guide. We come out of the forest of detail in good shape--the main mystery and side plots have been resolved. We are happy, the characters seem happy but we want more and so we hope that sometime soon, Griffiths will slip another pebble in the shoe of our heroine Ruth and bring us yet another wonderful story.
Griffiths is one of my favorite writers. She never disappoints--character driven mysteries filled with tension, (personal as well as relating to the murder) excitement and as a bonus, filled with interesting details about archeology.

When the skeleton of a young woman, who has been missing for a couple of decades, is found behind a wall, the investigation leads Ruth and Nelson toward one of their friends. Will Ruth and Nelson be able to find out what really happened before it is too late? Read The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths to find out.
The Last Remains is the latest release in the Ruth Galloway Mystery series by Elly Griffiths. Unfortunately I would not recommend this book because I didn’t really care for any of the main characters to pull for them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this installment of the Ruth Galloway series as I have all of the previous titles. The wonderful character building the author has been doing really shines through in this one. The only thing I didn't really like was that the ending could possibly be the ending of the series... I haven't googled so I'm not sure.
Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy!

I love the characters that Griffiths creates. After reading The Last Remains, I want to go back and read all of her previous books in the series! Just as in real life, DCI Nelson, Professor Galloway, and their friends and colleagues deal with job loss, complicated relationships, school worries, moving house, ancient legends, blended families, long Covid—and in the midst of all this, the discovery of a body, found when an old building is being renovated. Never a dull moment.

When builders discover a human skeleton while renovating a café, they call in archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway, who is preoccupied with the threatened closure of her department and by her ever-complicated relationship with DCI Nelson. The bones turn out to be modern--the remains of Emily Pickering, a young archaeology student who went missing in 2002. Suspicion soon falls on Emily's Cambridge tutor and also on another archeology enthusiast who was part of the group gathered the weekend before she disappeared--Ruth's friend Cathbad.

As they investigate, Nelson and his team uncover a tangled web of relationships within the archaeology group and look for a link between them and the café where Emily's bones were found. Then, just when the team seem to be making progress, Cathbad disappears. The trail leads Ruth to the Neolithic flint mines in Grimes Graves. The race is on, first to find Cathbad and then to exonerate him, but will Ruth and Nelson uncover the truth in time to save their friend?

The fifteenth in the Ruth Galloway series has so much going on. Nelson is trying to get Ruth and Kate to move in with him, the university has decided to close down Ruth's department, bones that are identified as a former love of Cathbad's surface, and then he disappears. This is just what's a fraction of what's going on and not a complaint. Life is messy and people seldom only have to handle one thing at a time.
The mystery itself is well constructed and I enjoy Ruth and Nelson's complicated relationship. I appreciate the development of characters in this series and always look forward to seeing what is going to happen next.
Definitely not a starting point, but a very good addition to the series.

Perfect ending to this series, loved it so much. If you have not read these books, do yourself a favor and start from the beginning!