The Last Remains - Book Review

 Ruth Galloway series #15

 

The Last Remains
#15 in the Ruth Galloway series
by Elly Griffiths (2023)

The author has been forewarning readers (on Facebook) that this, the 15th book about forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway in Norfolk (and DCI Nelson and his team, and their friends and families), is meant to be the last in the series - at least for now. (She's not closing the door entirely for the possibility of returning to them again at some point in the future, though.)

The intention of the book serving as a sort of closure can be felt throughout, though. A lot of things in the lives of the main characters seem to have come to a sort of balance point. At the same time, their past is also catching up with them, either in the form of memories, or by people from past cases turning up (or both). And I find that the author manages all this very well - if this should indeed turn out to be the last book in the series, it makes a good sum-up. But at the same time I'd say that enough doors are still left open to make a continuation possible.

The mystery at the heart of this story is the discovery of a human skeleton behind a wall in a local café, in connection with a renovation. Ruth Galloway is called in as forensic archaeologist, but the bones turn out to be modern, and DCI Nelson and his team take over the investigation. However, the remains are identified as a young female archaeology student who went missing in 2002 - and may have been murdered. This still leaves Ruth sort of connected to the case, as she is head of the Archaeology department of the university, and knows several people who in turn knew that girl back in the past - including Ruth's and Nelson's mutual druid friend Cathbad (who is in a long-term relationship with one of Nelson's team members, Judy). On top of that, in the background there is talk of closing the Archaeology department of the university for good, which means Ruth has to give some serious thought to her future career. And Nelson's boss has long been trying to persuade him to retire...

Meanwhile, Ruth's and Nelson's personal relationship - "on and off" for many years - still continues to be in the balance. He's the father of Ruth's daughter, but he also has two grown-up daughters + a much younger son with his wife Michelle. Nelson and Michelle have split up and are now living apart - but a Father's Day celebration brings to light how many complications there still are to the tangled web of relationships. And sorting it out is not made any easier by Ruth and Nelson again being involved in a case together...

In the midst of everything else, their friend Cathbad (in recovery from a severe case of Covid) is behaving a bit weirdly ("even for him") - and one day simply goes missing, causing worry and distress for everyone.

If you have read the previous books in the series, you definitely should not miss this one. On the other hand, if you haven't yet read any of them - I'd recommend that you to start from the beginning, with The Crossing Places. (Link to my review of the first two books, back in March 2015.) For my own part, I'm considering going back and re-read them all...