The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

I have just read The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths which was the first in her Ruth Galloway series. She has nine stories with Ruth Galloway and another shorter series entitled Stephens and Mephisto. She was long-listed in 2016 at the Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival for her 'Ghost Field'

I only picked this book up because she is the 2017's programming chair for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival at Harrogate in July. The marketing blurb tells us that she has gathered together some titans of the genre and that will include a Vera TV event with Ann Cleeves and the actors Brenda Blethyn and Kenny Doughty

The story is set in around the marshes on the Norfolk coast and there she makes good use of the myths, the legends and weaves them into her story. This wild place, of shifting sands and water, and the people that live and work here all add to the mystery of the place. Of course it is a crime novel and there are periods of tension. A young girl goes missing and after several years another one disappears. Galloway is the archeologist that has the knack of being closely involved with the local police and she adds the expertise they lack. Griffiths paints a stern picture of the investigating detective inspector, but eventually he is shown to be human. This poor image irks me as they cannot all be uneducated and gruff.

There are elements within that are difficult to accept and therefore the reality is poor. The culprit is one that is known to us and after eliminations it is fairly easy to work out. It is all nicely tied up at the end and most appear to live happily afterwards, but not all survive.

It was an easy read and enjoyable. My wife refers to such a book as a 'palate cleanser' and one to clear the mind after having read a really good one. I agree with her.