As with all of the books in this series, this one didn’t disappoint. The central characters are so real and beautifully drawn they feel like old friends now. I hope she continues with this series forever.

The Ruth Galloway series is my current favourite and this book was equally as good as all of the others.

I really like the combination of archaeology, crime and the the characters. The pace is appropriate to the genre.

The author tackles some difficult themes which she handles with sensitivity..

Her characters are flawed but realistic and are easy to engage with. With each new book I feel like I am meeting old friends. Another excellent title from Elly Griffiths.

I love this series by Elly Griffiths and enjoy each and every book in the series.
This time Ruth is helping DCI Nelson to investigate some bones found in the tunnels beneath the city of Norwich while another investigation is going to look into the disappearances of some homeless people in Kings Lynn. Are these two cases connected? Are the bones a little less old than Ruth usual haul?
I really enjoyed reading about the people in this book, there were the usual suspects of Ruth, Nelson etc, but I also loved how the author made us think about the homeless people. We start out with the viewpoint which many people have that they are almost invisible, no-one misses them if they disappear. But as we went further into the book we the reader along with the characters change our viewpoint and realise that everyone is worth looking for.
I did feel that there wasn't as much archaeology and historical facts both generally and about the Fens in particular as I've seen in previous books. I do hope that we get more of that kind of information in the next book as that's really the USP of this series.
Overall I really enjoy this series (more so than Elly's other series) and I'm going to continue to gobble up every other book as and when it comes out!

I always learn something new in Elly Griffith's books either about the setting ( Norfolk), history or archeology based around a gruesome discovery and this book didn't disappoint.
Again we become immersed in to Ruth Galloway & DCI Nelsons complex world as they investigate the underground chalk mining tunnels under Kings Lynn due to the discovery of human bones.
A well written book with plenty suspense that kept me engaged to the end.
My thanks go to Netgalley in providing me with with this ARC.

Another great Norfolk murder mystery.

Book 9 the Ruth Galloway series and this centres around murders of homeless people and a mysterious underground community. As always archaeology and history play a significant part in the story.

Having read previous books in the series this is like a comfortable pair of shoes as I’m already familiar with the great cast of characters and their complicated personal lives. New readers will find it easy to pick up, but best to start from the 1st book in the series.

The character of Ruth works really well. She's strong, but with the human frailties we all have and prefer to keep hidden and the book captures the beautiful Norfolk coast well with a blend of fictional and real locations sprinkled through the story.

There are plenty of twists to keep you guessing and I for one didn’t guess the culprit at all!

I’d recommend the whole series for fans of Midsomer Murders, Morse, Endeavour, etc.

A return to form for these books - I loved the slow pace of this and thought it was really atmospheric.

This was the 9th book in the series and they just get better and better!! Great read!

My first experience of Dr Ruth Galloway and her friends DCS Judy Johnson and DCI Nelson and I enjoyed the characters and the story. It s a good mix of modern policing, science, archeology and human relationships. There are threads picked up from previous stories but it is easy to jump in here.
An entertaining and untaxing read-perfect for the weekend or holidays. I look forward to catching up with Elly Griffith's other novels.

Boiled human bones have been found in Norwich’s web of underground tunnels. When Dr Ruth Galloway discovers they were recently buried, DCI Nelson has a murder inquiry on his hands. The boiling might have been just a medieval curiosity – now it suggests a much more sinister purpose.

Meanwhile, DS Judy Johnson is investigating the disappearance of a local rough sleeper. The only trace of her is the rumour that she’s gone ‘underground’. This might be a figure of speech, but with the discovery of the bones and the rumours both Ruth and the police have heard that the network of old chalk-mining tunnels under Norwich is home to a vast community of rough sleepers, the clues point in only one direction. Local academic Martin Kellerman knows all about the tunnels and their history – but can his assertions of cannibalism and ritual killing possibly be true?

As the weather gets hotter, tensions rise. A local woman goes missing and the police are under attack. Ruth and Nelson must unravel the dark secrets of The Underground and discover just what gruesome secrets lurk at its heart – before it claims another victim.

When I was a wee girl, ‘Judy Johnstone’ was going to be my ‘nom-de-plume’ when I became a famous writer so I was delighted to read the latest instalment in the adventures of my literary dopplelganger in The Chalk Pit, Elly Griffiths’ latest Ruth Galloway novel.

Another thing that delighted me was reading on Twitter that if Elly Griffiths was casting Dr Ruth Galloway, that she’d love to have Ruth Jones – and that’s EXACTLY how I see Ruth so I was delighted. The release of the latest Galloway novel has been eagerly awaited by many of her fans and they will definitely not be disappointed by The Chalk Pit

I love Ruth’s character: her worries and issues are so well-drawn. The school-gate politics, her creepy boss Phil and her complicated relationship with Nelson are all lightly handled – but done in such a way as to make the story feel truly ‘real’ and make us feel for her as she navigates some of these choppy waters. I love that this book fits perfectly into the crime genre – but manages to be a book that people who don’t love crime novels would also love at the same time. This is largely down to Elly Griffith’s skill in characterisation; Ruth definitely is a character that you’ll be rooting for.

This is definitely a mystery to get your teeth into. Firstly, Barbara Murray’s friend – aka Aftershave Eddie – reports her missing to Nelson after puzzling about her mysterious disappearance. Sam Foster-Jones a young mum of four also disappears into thin air and Dave Clough’s partner, Cassandra Blackstock vanishes after a play rehearsal. After this third woman disappears, the team begin to search for the connections to try and piece together the mystery.

A born-again Christian who runs a local mother’s group appears to have links with all the victims and this sets the team off on one investigation. Then when the story of the underground tunnels emerges it seems as if the past and the present are about to collide for DS Johnson and her team.

This book drew me in and kept me there. It was a satisfying blend of intriguing mystery and well-developed characters that you actually care about and root for. Elly Griffiths skilful plate spinning means that it zips along at a great pace and it's very difficult to put down. It’s safe to say that my marking took a hit last week as I raced to its exciting finish.

Some people label Elly Griffiths’ novels as cosy crime, but I think that they’re the right mixture of familiarity and the unexpected. The Norfolk setting is fantastically realised and you get a real sense of where they’re from as you read these novels and drink in the atmosphere. Nine books in and I’m well and truly hooked. If you haven’t read them yet, you should begin straight away with the amazing The Crossing Places and I guarantee that you’ll be drawn into Ruth’s world and race through them.

I'd rank Elly Griffiths easily along side the likes of Peter Robinson and Ian Rankin. Her books feed you little snippets of the main case entwined with the family lives of the main characters. Having started a few books in, I definitely feel the need to pick up the first couple of books to fill in the gaps in my in knowledge!

I requested this book as I saw the references to Norwich and I live close by, to my delight I found the town it's mainly based in is my hometown! The references to Kings Lynn in the book are perfect. I found this book particularly gripping, and I'm sure I would have done even without the references to my hometown. I have now bought the second book in the series and I have already recommended this book to my friends and family. A real page turner. 5 stars!

This is the ninth Dr. Ruth Galloway story and like all of Elly’s novels, can be read as a standalone. In The Chalk Pit the reader explores some underground tunnels in Norfolk, a couple of murders, some missing people and the plight of the homeless.

Ruth Galloway works closely with the Police in their investigations and also mixes with them socially. This is not a crime thriller in the usual sense, it is not a gritty novel with a heavy plot. What we have is a gorgeous character driven novel. Elly builds her characters up with style and you can identify with each and every one of them as though they were your workmates, friends and family. Through your reading sessions, you feel as though you are living your life alongside them. You get so strongly drawn into their lives and relationships that you wish them all well. Elly has this magic to draw her readers into the story. The fact there is a crime and criminal elements involved, just adds depth to her story. My wife loves watching a lot of television but I am not bothered. One of her favourite programmes is the popular hospital drama on BBC1 television called Holby City. But whenever it is on and I am reading my Kindle or using my Chromebook, the strong characterisation written into the script of Holby City just draws me in and I end up watching part of it! The Chalk Pit is told in a similar style to Holby City were the day job of the characters is not the main pull but the relationships between them are the focal points.

I really enjoyed reading The Chalk Pit and it gave me a lot of pleasure with a nice cosy feeling. It is a lovely soft read that does not have a WOW! factor or shocking bits but is very engaging and I liked how you got the whole picture with it’s comments on social trends. I look forward to the next Ruth Galloway story and vote The Chalk Pit 4 stars for being such a good read. Oh and I loved the use of urban legends that make you wonder where those homeless people you see in doorways etc sneak away to at night.

Forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway has been called in after bones are discovered during building works for an underground restaurant in Norwich. She's assuming that they'll be old bones of interest only to historians - but, as you'd expect as this is a crime novel, she's wrong.

Meanwhile the police led by DCI Harry Nelson have 'underground' problems of their own - a man is reported having disappeared in the vicinity of a hole which suddenly appeared in a road, and, in a separate case, a local rough sleeper has gone missing, perhaps gone 'underground'. As they follow up on rumours, the network of tunnels left behind after chalk-mining under Norwich come to figure prominently in enquiries, and the bones discovered by Ruth take on a much more sinister interpretation.

This is the ninth 'outing' for Ruth Galloway and Harry Nelson, and it hasn't lost any of the pull of the earlier books - in fact, I think that helped along by their personal stories the series actually gets more gripping. I've come to the series late, and, despite my best intentions to start at Book 1(The Crossing Places) and read my way through sequentially, I'm darting about the ongoing story of Ruth and Harry in a rather higgledy-piggledy order. It doesn't really matter though - the 'crime' aspect of each book is self-contained, and I've found it nice to be able to jump ahead and find out where Ruth and Harry's relationship is heading before going back and reading how it developed. I'm not entirely sure how I want it to progress - Ruth I feel deserves a happy ending; Harry I'm less convinced about.

Meanwhile there are crimes to solve.This time, everything is pointing towards the tunnels under Norwich as the location of nefarious goings-on. Seemingly unconnected events join up in a way that is credible rather than far-fetched, and there's quite enough in the twists and turns department to keep the reader guessing. The tunnels seem fascinating but its one story location I shan't be hurrying to visit. Griffiths is excellent at capturing atmosphere but whereas I've previously loved her windswept marshes, I wasn't so happy about narrow tunnels. Like Ruth, I'm not happy with small, claustrophobic spaces or people who merrily talk about the tonnes of rock above one's head ... Fortunately most of the action takes place above ground in King's Lynn, in places I recognise from holiday visits there, and Norwich (which I must visit now) and there's a mention or two of lovely Wells next the Sea. I'm starting to think I should plan a little Galloway and Nelson-themed tour of Norfolk for summer, though preferably without any crime :)

A new Ruth Galloway novel is always cause for celebration, and the latest is no exception to the brilliance of this Norfolk-set series. When forensic archeologist Ruth is called in to examine some bones found in an ancient tunnel under Norwich town centre, neither she nor DCI Nelson expect her case to intersect with his investigation into a series of disappearances and murders in Norwich's homeless community.

The joy of these books lies less in the detecting - although there are some moments of genuine tension and fear in The Chalk Pit, and there are a number of satisfying twists to the tale - but in the wonderfully real characters. From academic Ruth, the irascible Nelson, eccentric druid Cathbad, his partner and Nelson's DS Judy, to the unreconstructed, McDonalds-munching policeman Cloughie, each character feels more like a friend as the series develops. Combine this with Griffith's wonderful descriptions of the North Norfolk coast, and you have all the ingredients for a perfect crime novel. Come on television companies, when will you pick up this series? It's surely ripe for adaptation to the screen.

It’s risky to begin reading a series part way through its run. I knew when I opted for The Chalk Pit, the ninth in the Dr Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths, that I’d be missing a lot of the background details about the characters and their relationships. But the premise of a crime/mystery series whose central character is a forensic archaeologist, seemed rather different so I was willing to take the chance that I could get up to speed fairly quickly without having to go right back to book one.

The publishers Quercus are clearly aware that this could be an issue since they provided a handy ‘who’s who’ at the back of the book. This wasn’t of much help to me however since, by the time I discovered the guide, I had already finished reading the novel. Not that it proved a problem because within the first few chapters Elly Griffiths succinctly provided everything I needed to know about Dr Galloway and her tangled relationship with Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson. The two have worked together on several cases but they have an even closer connection – they have a six-year-old daughter though Harry still lives with his wife.

In The Chalk Pit, the two are thrown together once more when Ruth is called in when some bones are discovered in a tunnel under the city of Norwich. They look as if they’ve been there for hundreds of years but there’s something odd about them – they might have been boiled, a practice Ruth knows is associated with cannibalism. Harry meanwhile is wrestling with his own mystery – who has killed two homeless men who live on the streets of Norwich? And is this somehow connected with the disappearance of a female rough sleeper? His team don’t have a lot to go on other than the rather strange remark that she had ‘gone underground’. Progress is slow which doesn’t please the new (female) Superintendent who wants Harry focused on higher priority matters instead of wasting time on this investigation. The pressure mounts further when two other women go missing.

Two elements of this book were disappointing. One was the pace at which the plot progressed. Books are like cheese in my view – they need time to mature. This one felt rather rushed. Just when I was having my imagination fired up with the idea of homeless people forming a new community to live in old chalk pits underneath the city of Norwich, Ruth announces she knows the identity of the killer. From there we get a bit of rushing around the city and then the killer is in custody and it was all over. I could happily have spent more time exploring the underground world. The second disappointment was that we didn’t get to experience Ruth at work as much as I would have expected. Yes she examines the bones and sends them off for various types of analysis and has a few conversations about the history of chalk pits and different underground societies around the world. But I wanted more of this – and less about her daughter and their life together in a remote seaside cottage.

Where The Chalk Pit really scored highly for me was in the way it treats the issue of homelessness. Elly Griffiths avoids the easy option of portraying the street dwellers as ‘salt-of-the-earth’ type figures who are ranged against a society that doesn’t care. Instead she shows them as people who have sadness in their lives but also character flaws that led them to nights in doorways.

This nuanced handling comes through also in the way that the police officers respond to these homeless people. Early on in the novel one of the street dwellers, a guy nicknamed “Aftershave Eddy’ by police who have experienced his less than fragrant body odour, is found dead on the steps of the police station. Harry castigates officers who had walked passed the man, assuming he was asleep though he had a knife in his chest. The deliberate disregard is however modified once the investigation is underway however and officers come fact to face with the reality of the world of the homeless. One female detective, visiting a day shelter remarks:

"The homeless are like the remnants of a long-forgotten army, still dressed in their ragged uniforms reminding their more-fortunate neighbours that there is a battlefield out there, a place of violence and fear and dread."

Through their investigations the officers come to see these figures as human beings who had a life before they took to the streets. They learn how small gestures such as talking about football or playing a game of chess can make a difference in helping a homeless person feel part of society. Unfortunately the majority attitude is to treat street dwellers as an inconvenience. “Nobody cares about the homeless,” one man tells a detective. “They just want us to go away so they don’t have to see us and feel guilty.” Faced with that reaction, it’s understandable why, for some of the characters in this novel, life underground is far more attractive than an existence above.

Footnotes

The Book: The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths was published in February 2017 by Quercus . itis the ninth in the Dr Ruth Galloway series which began in 2010 with The Crossing Places.

The Author: Elly Griffiths is the pen name of Domenica de Rosa. She was inspired to write the Dr Ruth Galloway series by her husband who swapped his career in the City for a job as an archaeologist. Discover more about Elly Griffiths on her website.

Why I read this book: Although I don’t read a huge amount of crime, I’m often on the look out for a novel in the genre that is slightly different from the usual fare. I’ve never read anything featuring a forensic archaeologist and in fact had little idea what that job could entail – I thought this book could enlighten me. Seems like I will need to read some of the earlier titles in order to be further enlightened. I received a copy from the publishers via Net Galley in return for an honest review

I love checking in with Ruth, Kate and the rest of the "family" that populates these novels. Fascinating forensic pathology details add to the interest, and of course there's a top-notch crime story guaranteed to be at the centre of every novel. (When's the next one due?!)

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths

The streets of Norwich lie above a maze of tunnels and quarry pits and when a restaurant owner decides he wishes to turn one of the caverns into a trendy, moody restaurant he’s more than a little put out to have his plans put on hold by the discovery of human bones. Dr Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist, is called in to take a look and she discovers that these bones might not be medieval or even old at all. Not only that, they rather have the look about them that they’ve been boiled. DCI Harry Nelson is intrigued but his intention is focused on Barbara Murray, a kind homeless woman who has disappeared off the streets amid rumours that she has gone ‘underground’. And she isn’t alone. It’s not long before the police find themselves with a murderer to hunt.

As with all the books in this wonderful series (The Chalk Pit is the ninth), the detective case forms just one part of the novel, engrossing though it certainly is. The heart of The Chalk Pit lies with its characters and their absorbing relationships, especially the long-running, complex relationship between Ruth (a single mother) and the married Nelson. But there are others, too, that are just as significant. This does mean that you’re better off reading the series in order because these are relationships you’ll want to watch develop (or un-develop).

Having said all that, The Chalk Pit does stand alone perfectly as a crime novel and it isn’t difficult to pick up what’s happened with Ruth, Nelson and the others. This is one of those series that I’m relatively late to (I’ve read four, normally while on camping holidays in Norfolk where these books are set!) and so I’m reading it in a very strange order (from the beginning and from the end, hoping to catch myself up in the middle) and this hasn’t stopped me from falling in love with Ruth and Nelson, little Kate, Judy and Cathbad, and even Cloughie.

Although The Chalk Pit deals with serious crimes the book itself, like the others, has a warm feeling to it. The mystery isn’t entirely plausible, nor are all of the characters, and not all of the loose ends are tied up, but this is all part of the sizeable charm of the book and of Elly Griffith’s wonderful writing, which clearly cares for the people it describes. The issue of homelessness is treated with feeling, not grit. Ruth’s involvement in the main plot is almost incidental but she is still central to the novel and she gives it such heart. She has her flaws, as do we all, and they only add to her appeal, and the same can be said for Nelson.

It’s no insult to describe this series as cosy crime. It’s how I think of it and I adore it. I love the Norfolk setting, I love the eccentricity of the characters and the way that they relate to one another. Nelson is having a bit of a hard time understanding his new boss (and possibly women in general) and I rather enjoy his bewilderment. The historical element, although not as present in this book as in some of the others, is also something I love. It always takes me a chapter or two to get used to the present tense but after that I’m completely enthralled by Elly Griffith’s prose.

I will never tire of Ruth and Nelson. I’m looking forward to following them to their retirement at the very least!

I’m delighted to post this review as part of the Blog Tour. For other stops on the tour, please take a look at the poster below.

Another outing for Ruth Galloway and this time the action is firmly set in Norwich when bones are found in an underground tunnel under Guildhall, which is something of an inconvenience for Quentin Swain the architect who is looking to use the space to build a swanky restaurant. Ruth overcomes her dislike of enclosed spaces to take a trip below the city to take a look; she’s fairly sure that they are old bones so sends them off to be tested.
Meanwhile the police are investigating the disappearance of a homeless woman, Babs in Norwich who has disappeared without trace. Eddie who has made the police station his bedroom, has reported her missing and it is clear when the police starts talking to the other members of the community, that they are worried about her too, but many are cautious of the police. And then a housewife goes missing in very suspicious circumstances and the police are forced to consider whether there can be a link to Babs.
I have to say that this book treats the subject of homelessness with far more nuance than any other that I’ve read. Elly Griffiths has given each of the many men, and they usually are men, a realistic story of how they came to be on the street, and why they are unwilling to accept the help offered to them but she has resisted the urge to make them all out to be saints which means that her attempts to make them realistic characters is so much more effective.
One of the many aspects of this series which I love is the link between Ruth and DI Nelson through their daughter Kate and the peek behind their working lives into what can only fairly be described as muddled. These insights leak around the side of the main investigation, never overwhelming it but often cleverly linking or echoing the themes.
In this book Kate is offered the part in a play. Ruth isn’t too sure whether this is a good idea but a few words from her mother and outright disapproval from Nelson means that Kate winds up playing the child Alice in a quirky adaption of that famous story called Alice Underground. The adult Alice being played by Cassandra wife of DS Clough.
The other aspect I really enjoy is that upon opening up the latest in the series I feel like I’m meeting old friends with the characters, distinct and engaging as ever, we had plenty of news to catch up on while underground tunnels were being searched and pits opening up in the road are causing chaos in Norwich. Ruth Galloway also links back to past books with little asides so this really is one of those series which is best read in order although there is a helpful who’s who guide at the back of the book for those of you reckless readers who are happy to dive in straight at book nine!
The familiarity of the characters alongside the first person narrative really make me feel that I am part of the book. So I know what’s going on and I can often predict the individual character’s response, but the plotting is so devious that I am no match for the detectives, I am merely on the side lines waiting for them to crack the case in indomitable style.
Although to be honest there isn’t one of these books that I haven’t enjoyed, the plotting in this one seemed tauter and the links more robust than some of the previous books. When you combine the excellent mystery with some intriguing personal lives and a look at a community which rarely has an accurate spotlight trained on it whilst seamlessly providing the history of the underground tunnels in Norwich, The Chalk Pit was a sure fire winner.

Elly Griffiths – Sara Reeve
Dr Ruth Galloway Books in Order
The Crossing Places
The Janus Stone
The House at Sea’s End
A Room Full of Bones
Dying Fall
The Outcast Dead
The Ghost Fields
The Woman in Blue

Under a building in Norwich bones are found and Ruth Galloway is called in to look at them, the building is due to be converted into an underground restaurant. Meanwhile a homeless woman has disappeared and DCI Nelson has been called in to investigate. His team are talking to the homeless of Norwich but two of them are murdered in quick succession. Then two more women disappear, one of them from Nelson's own team, and the case becomes even more serious.

There is something comforting about Griffiths' Galloway novels. Galloway herself is clever but is homely and has a complicated life as a single mother, Nelson is also complicated and the 'what next?' for the pair of them is intriguing. Despite the fact that there seem to be vast numbers of serial killers at large in North Norfolk, it never seems that the stories are overly far-fetched and the level of research is excellent. In this book the theme is the underground tunnels in Norwich and groups of outsiders. Elly Griffiths never fails to engage the reader with a strong narrative, interesting characters but a grounding in reality often missing from police procedurals.

Having read all of all of the Ruth Galloway Series, I'm happy to say I'm still enamoured with them and they are my true comfort reads.

In 'The Chalk Pit', the disappearance of a homeless woman has been reported and it is rumoured that she has gone 'underground' and two homeless men who knew her have been found murdered. Meanwhile Ruth has been called to investigate the discovery of human bones in the tunnels under the city of Norwich. I was fascinated to learn about the tunnels under many major cities and the communities that live in them.

I really enjoyed being reacquainted with these familiar characters. I did enjoy this book more than the previous one, of which I'm really glad as I worried I was I may have been growing bored by them. These books don't set my heart thumping, or have me chewing my nails but they are just a nice steady pace. And in this case there is a new twist to Nelson, Michelle's and Ruth's relationship that has me wondering what will be next. Each book is a self contained story but I think to appreciate the characters themselves, it is best to start at the beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read and review, I look forward to to next instalment.