The Locked Room: the thrilling Sunday Times number one bestseller (The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries Book 14)

So sad this series has ended. I loved the characters in the Dr Ruth Galloway series and desperately want Ruth to get her happy ending!I will miss these books. So descriptive, you feel like you are beside the characters throughout the books.As usual a brilliant read.

I love reading everything by Elly Griffiths and I have read all the Ruth Galloway books in order following this author’s writing from book one.I did struggle to get into this book. The investigation seemed stalled by the first lockdown and the links with the Plague and COVID while interesting appeared to be a stretch.Of course I was never going to abandoned the book; as a longtime fan, I inhabit Ruth Galloway’s world and all the characters are part of my literary family.My perseverance has been rewarded. This book set within a pandemic is a tour de force. Almost historical fiction in what were “unprecedented” times (Sorry Elly your humour made me smile and at times shed a tear in the Davina and Nicky piece).The Locked Room is a clever title as we have several locked doors and even a ‘ghosts’ passing through one. The many links and tie-ins to the past are cleverly woven into this story. I particularly liked that all the aspects surrounding the pandemic as they were referenced to this fictional world. From masks to social distancing. Isolation on Covid wards without visiting rights to restricted numbers at funerals.The plotting is meticulous to keep all these much loved characters true to themselves within the most difficult and demanding of times. A very brave novel that carries Ruth’s and Nelson’s story forward but does real justice to our own recent difficult times. How quickly we forget, this isn’t a diary of COVID times but a book that demonstrates the quality of one of our finest novelists. Elly uses her imagined Norfolk amid a time overwhelmed by a life changing virus and enforced lockdown to weave a wonderful fiction.Consequently the story will be forever set in a timeframe we lived through, which never dominates the narrative but will in passing bring remembering, thankfulness and a sense of those darker days. In the process I smiled, laughed and became tearful while delighting in the scope of writing and compassion of a great author.

I'd read all the books prior to this one in the series and was looking forward to this novel. This is the 14th and I know that the 15th is the final book so I'm starting to feel sad that the end is close.The book is 357 pages split into 44 chapters and was first published in 2022. The recurring characters are strong and I was looking forward to seeing Elly Griffiths could write another great story.I was impressed that the author had decided the set the story during the initial lockdown period. It was a mad time for everyone and she does a great job of allowing covid to be another element of the plot without taking away from the police investigation.The start of the book has the shadow of the pandemic everywhere. Ruth and Nelson aren't taking the threats seriously but there are signs of serious escalation and, of course, the reader know what is going to happen. EG has chosen to use parallels with historical plagues as the link for Ruth's involvement which is effective (although she is so closely linked to everyone now that a formal connection isn't completely necessary).I found the descriptions of the lockdown and the various ways in which households adapted brought back lots of anxiety from the time. EG has a natural way of describing an unnatural situation and illustrates that here.Although the plot is about serious matters set in difficult times, there is a gentle rhythm to the narrative that makes this an easy story to read - I think that EG is relaxed with these characters and her narrative is an illustration of that.What lifts this book (and this series) above many in this genre is the humanity and sensitivity of the relationships between characters that any regular reader will know so well. They are a family - dysfunctional yet caring - sometime distant but always in each others thoughts.Every single book in this genre seems to have a moment when at least one of the characters is in mortal danger. There is a moment of extreme drama in this novel but, to the book's credit, the author has learnt to play down the length and effects of the seemingly inevitable plot development.Looking forward to the next one!

The Locked Room written by Elly Griffiths is Book #14 of the Dr. Ruth Galloway Mystery series.The Last Remains written by Elly Griffiths is Book #15 of the Dr. Ruth Galloway Mystery series.I am writing reviews/recommendations of these two titles together, as they are the last two titles (as of 2024) of this magnificent series.The Locked Room, published in 2022. “Pandemic lockdowns have Dr. Ruth Galloway isolated from everyone but a new neighbor - until Nelson comes calling, investigating a decades-long string of murder-suicides.”The Last Remains, published in 2023. “The discovery of a missing women’s bones force Ruth and Nelson to finally confront their feelings for each other as they desperately work to exonerate one of their own.”I read the entire series and procrastinated a bit with these last 2 titles. I just didn’t want the series to end! The characters had become so realistic, so familiar to me that I felt I would be saying goodbye to very close friends when I read the last few pages. (I am not very good at goodbyes.)The books did not disappoint and I was very happy with the ending.In fact, Book #14, The Locked Room, included a ‘Who’s Who in the Dr. Ruth Galloway Mysteries’. Excellent. And an extract from’Whittaker the time-traveling cat’. And a well-loved quote used many times in the series by Julian of Norwich.“All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”* Julian of Norwich (c.1342-c.1416) is known almost only through her book, The Revelations of Divine Love, one of the great classics of the spiritual life.Why I love this series so much.Very clever plots. Suspense. Excitement. Realistic and endearing characters who grew and developed along with the series. Fascinating tidbits of Mythology, Celtic lore, History & Cultureof the Norfolk area. Fascinating, lovely location. Down-to-Earth dialogue. An excellent investigative team. Academic life. Police life. Cathbad’s character. The children - Kate, Miranda, Michael & Maddie. Archeology. All the quotes from Julian of Norwich.My thanks to Ms. Griffiths for her very lovely writing and characters.

Covid-19 has hit Norfolk, and Ruth Galloway and her daughter Kate must shelter in place at their remote home; luckily they have a new neighbour, a nurse who joins in their yoga practice and tennis games on the beach. Meanwhile, DCI Nelson is hampered in his investigation into the deaths of several women, all seeming to be suicide but something just doesn’t smell right to him. And while his wife is away at her mother’s home, Nelson finds he has time to play, with Ruth that is…. Reading the Ruth Galloway series (of which this is the fourteenth, I think) is like visiting with old friends after a time apart - we can catch up on our friends’ lives and sometimes just sit in mutual quiet contemplation for a while as well. This is one of the first novels I’ve read where the pandemic is front and center, rather than being kind of in the background, and I had a few quibbles along that line. For example, a week into the first lockdown nobody knew it was an airborne illness (remember people washing their groceries just in case?) and masks were discouraged because they were needed for essential personnel. But by and large, Ms. Griffiths captures the anxiety of the early days of the crisis, while also providing a complex mystery to solve and a continuation of relationships that her readers have come to know and love. I think it is vital to have read these books from the beginning (“The Crossing Places” is the first one), but if you haven’t read them before, you’ll be in for a treat; very highly recommended!

I’ve enjoyed one more time the last Ruth G series new novel. I considered the last two, the best.

This was a very relevant story, since it was told against the background of the Covid crisis. The illness of one of the most beloved characters was heart- wrenching, and the mystery (a bit less enthralling than others) was interesting, tied as it was to the region’s history. I always love the Ruth Galloway mysteries. She’s such an individual, unique and bold. I hope we won’t have to wait too long for another!

Zoals gewoonlijk weer een boek wat ik niet kon wegleggen, hoewel het verhaal me terugbracht naar de onzekerheid en angst van de eerste maanden van corona