The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths

Someone is trying very hard to scare her to death... And they're doing a good job at it, too!

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will publishing this story in hardcover next January, 2011. I downloaded a copy from Net Galley for review. This is another in the Ruth Galloway mystery series, and was new to me. I like to check out new authors and see how they "taste" to me. This author's style pleased me and I'll watch for more of her work.

Ruth is called into the case when the body of young child is found in the doorway of house that is being demolished for reconstruction. She is a forensic archaeologist and can date bones. This body appears to be murdered since the head is missing. But it could have been a very old murder because there are Roman ruins about. However, there had been a children's school on the site last and that's another possibility.

The case brings Ruth back into contact with Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson. They had worked on a previous case and were friends. They also were both so stressed about the case that upon conclusion of the case, they spent one night together. Now poor unmarried Ruth realizes that one night was all it took...

Ms. Griffiths paints portraits of her characters: Strong areas, weak areas, explains their belief systems and throws a bit of Celtic legend in, too. The story flows well and you really have no idea how the child got buried there until the very end.

The plot teases you with suspects. And thrown in the middle of this is Ruth trying to decide how to tell Nelson she's pregnant. She doesn't want to marry him, but he is the child's father. Then someone begins trying to scare Ruth off...

Ms. Griffiths characters are richly described and the story line is open enough I expect there will be more in this series. I enjoyed this read and look forward to seeing another story where I can follow up on the characters.

Add this to you TBR list, and look for it at the end of January. It will be worth your time to read it.