The Janus Stone

I don't read a ton of mysteries, but I am usually a sucker for a good mystery series. When I saw The Janus Stone: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths I instantly added it to my list. Especially since it was the first in what is going to be a series. Even though I did read a little snippet about the book, I must have missed the part about it being set in Great Britain. While I generally enjoy realistic fiction books set in Great Britain, mysteries with a British setting are not something I would normally pick out. However, I decided to try and get past that and forged ahead.

Ruth Galloway's specialty is bones. When bones are discovered at a construction site she is called upon to investigate. And then more bones are found. Not only is Ruth involved, but so is Nelson, a married detective that is the father of Ruth's unborn baby after one night together while working on a different case. Not only is there the mystery about the bones, but there is also a very important plot surrounding Ruth and her future.

The mystery itself was interesting, although not horribly fast paced. Griffiths did something I think is incredibly smart by focusing a great deal on Ruth and her life. Since the character of Ruth is one that will be in each book in the series, having readers learn more about her and begin to form some sort of attachment to her will help readers want to come back for the second installment.

I have a friend who does not like books set in Great Britain. I would not recommend this book to her. It is full of British spellings, and the characters are....well.....quite British. I'm glad I read this one and when the second installment comes out, I will look into it as well, and this time will be ready for Ruth and the next crime that comes her way.