THE LAST REMAINS Dr. Ruth Galloway, Book 15

In Elly Griffiths's Dr. Ruth Galloway/DCI Harry Nelson mystery series, narrator Jane McDowell handles the convoluted plot and subplots with confidence. Human bones have been found behind an old wall. Ruth, a Cambridge archaeologist, is asked to date the remains. Shockingly, they are the bones of missing Cambridge student Emily Pickering, who was last seen on a field trip with other students and Professor Leo Ballard 20 years earlier. McDowell handles the sexual tension between Nelson and Ruth with sensitivity, and her delivery of minor characters always sounds authentic. From Cambridge's decision to cut the Archaeology department to the suspects and motives for Emily's murder and the upheaval in Ruth's and Nelson's lives, McDowell gives listeners much to unravel in this tangled mystery. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2023]