Review: The Woman in Blue

The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths

An ethereal vision of a woman in blue in a graveyard one night leads to the body of a beautiful young model found dead in a ditch.  DI Nelson and his crew  find themselves in a new investigation to find who is strangling blonde women in the medieval pilgrimage town of Little Walsingham. At the same time, Ruth is contacted by an old university friend who requests Ruth’s help in tracking down the author of several threatening letters.

I really enjoyed this latest installment in the Ruth Galloway series. The main plot, the murders of two blond women, tied in with the sub-plot of the threatening letters so well that it was impossible to see a connection at first. All the clues were there, neatly woven into the story so well that you didn’t realize until much later how pertinent they were.

The great locale, the medieval pilgrimage town of Little Walsingham, oozed Ye Olde World Charm (I admit I fall for it every time. I’m a sucker for hedge lined country lanes, medieval churches and quaint English villages.)

Also, this time on Cheaters, Nelson and Michelle are forced to re-evaluate their relationship, while Ruth waffles between hating Nelson and hating herself for loving Nelson. Ruth is starting to irritate me; I just want to give her a shake and tell her to move on. I have to say, Ruth’s attitude towards Hillary was a little surprising to me. I know Ruth’s staunch disapproval of religion is a mainstay of the series, but I thought that her feminist ideology would at least recognize that female vicars don’t have it easy and to have some empathy.

Let me just say that I feel my life is severely lacking without a Cathbad to pop up randomly in a purple cloak to spout arcane wisdom and I’m not sure who to call to remedy that.

And just what did Nelson say to Ruth at the end?!

Overall, another great book in a series I highly recommend to readers.

The Woman in Blue is available at book stores everywhere and on Amazon