This is a wonderfully woven crime mystery that is based on a police procedural in the stunning location of Norfolk, England. From the opening prologue the sense of menace never eases up and the story unfolds like a well wrapped Christmas present. There is no tearing away of sheets of paper. It is like a dance of the seven veils as layers are laid bare, like an expectant game of pass the parcel. From tales of ghosts and ghouls to phantoms dogs that roam the countryside, we're delving deep into our county's terrifying folklore. But we've managed to piece the tale together for you. So, get cosy, grab a cuppa, and get ready for the terrifying tale of the 'lantern men'. Who are the 'lantern men'?

Elly Griffiths brings us in touch with familiar characters in this latest edition in the series. Dr. Ruth Galloway, senior lecturer and forensic archaeologist, has set in motion many changes in her life. She's now teaching at St. Jude College in Cambridge. She and nine year old daughter Kate are living with Ruth's American love interest, Frank Barker. This means a distance in miles from DCI Harry Nelson who is the father of Kate. There is tension and there will always be tension between Harry and Ruth. The fisherman felt such a terrifying attraction to the light that he instantly feared it had an evil presence with deadly intent. A local fisherman recounted to parapsychologist Peter Underwood how he had once thrown himself to the floor to escape the attention of a lantern man which had been drawn to his whistling. [1] [3] No discussion...just telling her...bad in any relationship, but when you consider their circumstances, even worse! He feels deeply aggrieved. He is surely within his rights to tell Ruth not to take Katie, HIS daughter, to a house that once belonged to a murderer? How dare Ruth hang up on him like that?"It danced and twisted over the mere in a frantic and terrifying presence. This was not a light that was controlled by a human.

Another way that Griffiths brings things to life is with her descriptions of the Norfolk landscape. Everyone in our group commented on her skill in this regard because you can really picture the locations in your mind’s eye. Want more news direct to your inbox? Sign up to our daily newsletter here. Read More Related ArticlesAs the team look into the goings-on at a writers and artists retreat of which Ivor March was a part of they discover a local myth about the lights of the so called Lantern Men leading the lost to their deaths and March and his ‘spiritual brothers’ real life interpretation, supposedly without the dark twist. Nelson thinks otherwise and sets about investigating the individuals involved, only for the murder of young female cyclist fitting March’s chosen profile in a remote area of marshland to present the team with a fresh enquiry.. but it is a copycat killing or does it prove Ivor Marsh’s innocence? It is believed that one of the only ways to protect yourself against the lantern man is to lie face down on the ground with your mouth in the mud to avoid making a noise that might attract him to you as a victim, or you become attracted to his light. All change for forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway and the gang in a terrific twelfth instalment! So much for the setting, what about the story? Well, someone has murdered several tall, blonde, bright young women. The court has convicted him of two murders. But what of the other unsolved disappearances. And… how many other tall, blonde, bright young women are going to be entangled by the culprit? Nelson’s daughter? Other people’s daughter’s? Or is it even a syndicate, who used to be an artistic group working together and calling themselves the lantern men. I even pegged the women for it at one point. And the convicted murderer draws Ruth into his maniacal maze, which is really not good for her, not at all. Nelson’s snarky side

In the book 'Cambridge Folk Tales', available from Waterstones and other online suppliers, Maureen James tells of a local man who had attracted the attention of a lantern man while whistling to his dog who he was walking on the Fen. Can it really have been 12 books, and 10 years of Ruth's life pining away for Nelson? I first fell in love with Ruth, a forensic archaeologists, by her forward thinking, completely genuine, intelligent, yet self-deprecating attitude. But I'm tired of waiting for the Nelson drama to fix itself. Their simmering passions, and in earlier books, their frantic coupling (that produce their daughter while Nelson was married), have turned into a soap opera and I'm done wondering when they'll either realize they are perfectly imperfect together, or let the whole thing go, and be happy in other relationships.

Games

As with all the Ruth Galloway novels, readers are drawn to the whole cast of characters and their lives and relationships. The changes that Ruth has undergone in the two years since The Stone Circle, #11 in the series, carries over to other characters. Nelson is focusing on his two-year-old son George, but he misses Katie, his daughter with Ruth. DI Cloughie has left Norfolk and got his own patch at the Cambridgeshire CID, but he becomes involved in the Ivor March case, much to readers‘ delight. DI Judy Johnson is still in Norfolk and dealing with Tanya Fuller and her ambition to outshine Judy and everyone else. Of course, Judy has Cathbad, our favorite Druid to keep her calm and centered. A new member of the Norfolk Police is Tony Zhang, who promises to be a great replacement for Cloughie. Cathbad’s oldest child, Maddie, is gaining favor as a character, too, in her job as a journalist. Frank has achieved a major accomplishment in convincing Ruth to move to Cambridge, and he isn’t too pleased about her involvement in the Ivor March case and working with Nelson, but Ruth is still very much her own person. She’s changed where she lives, but there are limits to her compromises. In the book 'Cambridge Folk Tales', available from Waterstones and other online suppliers, Maureen James tells of a local man who had attracted the attention of a lantern man while whistling to his dog who he was walking on the Fen. In an attempt to escape the man had taken shelter at the home of a friend, who hung out a horn on a long pole to distract the spirit. The following morning the horn was found to have been burnt up. The untimely demise of Joseph Bexfield When Joseph failed to return home, or show up to work the following morning, a search of the marshes was carried out.

There’s nothing ‘noir’ about these books but neither are they ‘cosy crime’. Yes, there are murders and they’re sometimes gruesome. The plots can be tense and quite dramatic. But the writing is never gratuitous – no lingering, grisly descriptions of dead bodies, gore, or violence. The clues are revealed and unravelled and the stories are an enjoyable read. Everything has changed for Dr Ruth Galloway. She has a new job, home and partner, and is no longer North Norfolk police’s resident forensic archaeologist. That is, until convicted murderer Ivor March offers to make DCI Nelson a deal. Nelson was always sure that March killed more women than he was charged with. Now March confirms this, and offers to show Nelson where the other bodies are buried – but only if Ruth will do the digging.The boulder hit All Saints Church in the little village of Tilney in Norfolk, and this is indeed where Tom was buried.