The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
Keen to know what happened to forensic archaeologist Ruth
Galloway after the end of Elly Griffiths’ crime début The Crossing Places, I
started reading the second instalment in her story, The Janus Stone, straight
away. Much as I did with The Crossing Places I raced through The Janus Stone, in
which Ruth is called into determine the age of a child’s skeleton unearthed
beneath a house with a chequered past. This time, however, things are further
complicated by Ruth’s unexpected pregnancy, the result of a one-night-stand with
Harry Nelson, the gruff (and happily married) DCI in charge of the case.
Much as I enjoyed The Crossing Places, there were plot
elements that I found faintly ludicrous, and I must say the same applies
(perhaps to a slightly lesser extent) here. The story follows much the same
formula as its predecessor – bones are discovered, Ruth helps Harry in his
investigation along with a supporting cast of recurring characters, Ruth ends up
in jeopardy as a result – but it’s all good fun. There’s dark creepiness aplenty
and a few shocks, but don’t come to these books looking for gritty realism.
There’s a touch of pantomime about the character eventually revealed as the
villain, and it all gets a little bit Hammer Horror in places.
Ruth and Harry’s relationship – now platonic – remains
convincing, and Harry manages to remain largely likeable despite being a man who
has cheated on his wife. His slim, attractive hairdresser, that Griffiths could
lazily have depicted as a airheaded cow, is in fact intelligent, kind
and interested in the arts, a wise choice on the author’s part as it stirs up
all sorts of conflicting emotions for not just Harry and Ruth (who, while fond
of each other, are in many ways profoundly unsuited to one another) but also the
reader. However fond you are of Ruth, it’s hard to want Harry’s apparently
happy marriage to end.
Several more characters return to The Janus Stone from the
previous book, most of whom are welcome. I could live without Ruth’s flighty
friend Shona, who strikes me as something of a stereotype and contributes
little, but the rest of the cast – as I tend to think of them; these books do
have the feel of a quality TV crime drama – are three-dimensional and engaging.
The setting isn’t as richly described as it was in The Crossing Places, but I
should be fair and point out that in The Crossing Places the geography was
integral to the plot, which isn’t the case here, so that’s probably to be
expected.
Once again, then, a gripping if unlikely story, a bit of
Roman mythology thrown in, some genuinely funny observations, and characters I wanted to greet like old friends.
I’ll be saving the next book in the series for a rainy afternoon or perhaps a
long journey, rather than getting stuck in straightaway, as for me the recurring
plot structures and characters won’t benefit from being read in quick
succession, but I’ll certainly be continuing to follow Ruth’s
progress.
My next read? Um... a young adult novel about teen bullying and witchcraft. I'm not really looking for depth in my reading at the moment, am I? Stay tuned for my review of James Dawson's Hollow Pike, a book I may have to pretend to be 15 to get my head round.
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