A Room Full of Bone by Elly Griffiths

When Ruth Galloway arrives to supervise the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop, she finds the museum’s curator lying dead on the floor. Soon after, the museum’s wealthy owner is also found dead, in his stables.

DCI Harry Nelson is called in to investigate, thrusting him into Ruth’s path once more. When threatening letters come to light, events take an even more sinister turn. But as Ruth’s friends become involved, where will her loyalties lie? As her convictions are tested, Ruth and Nelson must discover how Aboriginal skulls, drug smuggling, and the mystery of the “Dreaming” hold the answers to these deaths, as well as the keys to their own survival.

Series: Ruth Galloway Mysteries #4 | Publisher: William Marrow Paperbacks | Genre: Mystery | Source: Publisher | Rating: 2.5

While I’m always eager to pick up a Ruth Galloway mystery, sadly, this one wasn’t my favorite.

This one wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t even a bad book, but I do feel as though some of the plot was out of place and didn’t fit into this series, which gave the book a disjointed feel. One of my favorite things about this series is the way it combines history, mystery, and archeology and while the mystery was there, the history and archeology fell flat.

What I enjoyed about this book is the personal aspect. There’s a lot going on with Ruth, Nelson, and his wife. I’m not going to get into everything as I don’t want to ruin the book for readers. They’re trying to figure how to navigate things in a professional aspect only rather than the friendship they had before. There’s also someone who has re-entered Ruth’s life and I hope it’s developed throughout the series because they are really good together. I think it would be a healthy relationship for Ruth.

Overall, I struggled a bit with this one. I found it hard to get in to and parts of the plot failed to hold my attention. I picked this one up on June 16, read a few chapters, and had to force myself to pick back up at the end of June.

While I’m struggling to recommend to this one, it is important to read each book in the series in order to understand the dynamics. Read this one to see how Ruth’s personal life is evolving.