The Night Hawks (Ruth Galloway, #13)

by Elly Griffiths

'THE MOST LOVABLE OF CURRENT CRIME SERIES' Sunday Express

Dr Ruth Galloway returns to the moody and beautiful landscape of North Norfolk to confront another killer. A devastating new case for our favourite forensic archaeologist in this acclaimed and bestselling crime series.

The Night Hawks, a group of metal detectorists, are searching for buried treasure when they find a body on the beach in North Norfolk. At first Nelson thinks that the dead man might be an asylum seeker but he turns out to be a local boy, Jem Taylor, recently released from prison. Ruth is more interested in the treasure, a hoard of Bronze Age weapons. Nelson at first thinks that Taylor's death is accidental drowning, but a second death suggests murder.

Nelson is called to an apparent murder-suicide of a couple at the isolated Black Dog Farm. Local legend talks of the Black Shuck, a spectral hound that appears to people before they die. Nelson ignores this, even when the owner's suicide note includes the line, 'He's buried in the garden.' Ruth excavates and finds the body of a giant dog.

All roads lead back to this farm in the middle of nowhere, but the place spells serious danger for anyone who goes near. Ruth doesn't scare easily. Not until she finds herself at Black Dog Farm ...

• ISBN10: 035823705X
• ISBN13: 9780358237051
• Publish Date: 29 June 2021 (first published 4 February 2021)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Mariner Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Night Hawks is the 13th Dr. Ruth Galloway archaeology murder mystery by Elly Griffiths. Released 29th June 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.

This is one of my "must read" series, so much so that although I am often allowed to access and review pre-release copies, I always buy my own physical copies to keep and revisit. There are only a couple other mystery series in that category for me. I like that Ruth is unapologetically intellectual, resourceful, and realistic. She's also loyal and fairly brave. She is a realist and competent and broad minded, but also vulnerable where her emotions are concerned. I adore slightly goofy but pure Cathbad and his family as well as the interrelations and families which have developed over the course of the books.

The ensemble cast of returning characters are so well rounded and clearly written at this point that they seem to have internal lives of their own and are utterly believable. They speak, behave, and react in character and the dialogue and actions are believable and realistic. The writing and plotting are seamless and develop at a good pace. I never felt that the book was dragging or slow. The climax and denouement were mostly expected, but there were a few subtle twists which I definitely didn't see coming.

This is not really a standalone book. I adore the series and would recommend reading them more or less in order, especially since the books reference things which have happened in the previous books. It is possible to understand the plot with this book as an entry point, but be warned there are spoilers aplenty if you read them out of order.

Wonderful book, wonderfully well written and engaging series.

Five stars

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Mystereity Reviews]

I was lucky enough to get this on Netgalley (Thank you, Quercus!) and just finished it last night. This was a superbly written, edge of your seat suspenseful thriller, and the one thing I find most difficult about this series is closing the book when it's done, knowing I'll have to wait until next year to get the next book!

In The Night Hawks, Ruth and daughter Kate have returned to Norfolk from Cambridge. Now the head of the archaeology program after Phil retired, Ruth is settling in to her new position when Nelson calls her in to help on a new case; metal detectorists, looking for buried treasure, find a man's body washed up on the beach. Soon after, a scientist and his wife are found dead in their home, a probable murder-suicide. As the case unfolds, secrets, lies and murder are slowly uncovered, throwing everyone involved into danger.

13 books into this series and it shows no sign of slowing down. As with all the other books, I expected sinister folklore, druids, auras, Nelson's bad temper, a dizzyingly twisty plot and an explosive ending - and that's exactly what I got! The legend of the Black Shuck (I think a version of it can be found on every continent, if not every country) made for a creepy element to the site of the murder-suicide and upped the eerie factor for sure. I also loved Cathbad and his unwavering dedication to the myths and legends and how he honors them (actually, I'm a huge Cathbad fan, so that probably goes without saying.)

As for the plot, the young man's body washed up on the beach and the murder-suicide, that's where the dizzyingly twisty comes in. Thinking back over the book and "watching" the whole story being pieced together scrap by scrap - wow! Lots of surprises, leading to many suspects and in the end, the whole mess wasn't anything near what I sleuthed out. It all led up to an explosive, exciting ending and if you've been reading this series from the start like I have - get ready for a cliffhanger.