The Crossing Places

A body has been found in the salt marshes near King's Lynn and DCI Harry Nelson has asked Doctor Ruth Galloway, a forensic archeologist, to examine it in situ.  What she finds, she is sure is a Bronze Age child.  Nelson was hoping that it was a recent murder, a missing child, that would allow the parents to finally grieve.

It is just before the new year when Ruth is called back to the police station in King's Lynn.  Another child has been abducted in similar circumstances to the one Nelson was investigating.  He asks for help.

One stormy night later, Ruth opens her door looking for one of her cats.  She finds it at her feet with its throat slashed.  She is frightened and Nelson tells her this could be a threat from the person who has taken the two little girls.

Using her knowledge of archeology and information from the letters Nelson had received regarding the two little girls, Ruth surmises where the second girl is buried.  She is correct.  Later she makes a surprising discovery in her own library.  People she knows seem to be tied into the murders.  What is she to do now?

Author Elly Griffiths has written an excellent novel here.  I am looking forward to reading the sequel.