Such a good series, just the right combination of archaeology, ancient sites, history, crime and personal relationships. A great series.

Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

When Ruth's friend Cathbad sees a vision of the Virgin Mary, in a white gown and blue cloak, in the graveyard next to the cottage he is house-sitting, he takes it in his stride. Walsingham has strong connections to Mary, and Cathbad is a druid after all; visions come with the job. But when the body of a woman in a blue dressing-gown is found dead the next day in a nearby ditch, it is clear Cathbad's vision was all too human, and that a horrible crime has been committed. DCI Nelson and his team are called in for the murder investigation, and soon establish that the dead woman was a recovering addict being treated at a nearby private hospital.
Ruth, a devout atheist, has managed to avoid Walsingham during her seventeen years in Norfolk. But then an old university friend, Hilary Smithson, asks to meet her in the village, and Ruth is amazed to discover that her friend is now a priest. Hilary has been receiving vitriolic anonymous letters targeting women priests - letters containing references to local archaeology and a striking phrase about a woman 'clad in blue, weeping for the world'.
Then another woman is murdered - a priest.
As Walsingham prepares for its annual Easter re-enactment of the Crucifixion, the race is on to unmask the killer before they strike again...

*2.5 stars*

What should have been quite an interesting mystery instead became a bit of a mish-mash of different ideas and characters.

As far as the plot goes, I was okay with it. I think it did get a little convoluted at times but, in the end, it did come together quite well with a believable resolution. That was good.

What was odd was that the author chose to write this book, with this plot, with a MC that is so anti-religion, it is painful to read. All I got from Ruth was whining...Also, the "relationship" between Ruth and Nelson is still going nowhere after a number of books. The "will they, won't they?" thing with this relationship is pointless.

A decent story that could have been much better...


Paul
ARH

I should start by saying that this is the first book I've read in the series, and that may have colored my opinion on it. Unfortunately, even though it does work as a stand-alone, I found it quite disappointing, especially after all the recommendations I had gotten regarding this series.

There were a number of things I had difficulty with. And most of it stems back to the fact that it is written in the first person. I'm not really used to reading books written in the first person unless it is non fiction (as in an epistolary or autobiography), which reads very different to fiction. The problem I have with it is that the characters can feel very flat to me, as is the case here. I found it difficult to care about them or be interested- with exception to the cat, which I quite enjoyed. And though first person can Really help with pacing in a novel, I found the storyline a bit of a let down. Certain sections of the novel didn't flow very well and others seemed to be put in for no good reason.

Because I haven't read this author before I don't know if this is just her writing style or if it specifically this book. Perhaps if you've read the series than it all makes more sense.

I love Elly Griffiths and I have followed this series from the start. Brilliant.

The Woman in Blue is the eighth entry in the Ruth Galloway series, and probably my least favourite. I was really looking forward to this book as this author is a favourite of mine, along with Billingham, and I couldn't wait to continue the adventures of Ruth, Harry, and Cathbad. Unfortunately, there were some things that really set me on edge in this one, and I couldn't seem to get past them and just enjoy the story.

As always though, I liked the setting. Set in an old medieval town, I liked the descriptions of the buildings and the surroundings; and since Little Walsingham is famous for its religious apparitions, it seemed like it had the perfect ambiance for a good little murder/mystery, with all of the political and religious wrangling that would entail. What I didn't count on was the close-mindedness of both Harry's and Ruth's characters to the religious fanaticism and beliefs of others, and how annoying and irritating it was in this book. To be honest, at times, Ruth's tone was pretty condescending, and it got old, fast. I was almost ready to go back and listen to her whine about her weight again rather than listen to her put down those who believe. And considering the mystery was about threats against female clergy and a murder that was connected to those threats, the anti-religion attitude got really annoying, and I would have just rather read about the investigation. It's not that I'm against Ruth and Harry's beliefs, and the author has been very open in previous novels about them, but that's as far as it went, while in this novel the tone changed quite a bit, almost with a condemning voice. Maybe I was just being more sensitive than usual, but I tend to think that if you're investigating a crime, you should always keep an open mind about someone else's beliefs.

The plot itself never really got off the ground the way the other books did, and I never got invested into the story. Although there were a lot of twists and turns, it wasn't too difficult to pick out the murderer. I wonder if the author got too caught up in trying to portray the religious fanaticism of some of the characters in this book while trying to ensure the reader that her main characters were not like them that the actual plot kind of got away from her. That and trying to ensure that Cathbad retains his ever-present open mind, which I much preferred.

The Woman in Blue is one of those books that I'm sure will have mixed reactions such as I had; either people will really love it or will question Ruth's annoying behaviour. For die-hard fans of this series, I would recommend you skip it and wait until the next one comes out as will, of course, read it, as I'm not yet ready to give up on this series. I usually enjoy the characters tremendously, and the plot enormously, but this one just didn't interest me like the others, which is a shame as I really liked the setting.