My maternity leave reading

I've been saving these for my maternity leave. I wonder how many I can get through before the baby arrives and I never have time to read again? One down so far - review to follow - and 2nd book started today....

The Ruth Galloway Mysteries by Elly Griffiths

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

This is another one of my catch up posts.  Now that I am on maternity leave I really should be a bit better at writing - at least until the baby comes - but I have still been feeling very tired.  I read these during the summer as a sequence, as I found them very addictive.

The titles in this series, in order, are:
"The Crossing Places'
"The Janus Stone"
"The House at Sea's End'
"A Room Full of Bones"
"Dying Fall"

Elly Griffith's heroine, Ruth, is a forensic archaeologist, working at the University of North Norfolk.  In "The Crossing Places" she is approached by Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson to help in his investigation of some bones that have been discovered on a desolate beach.  This begins a partnership that spans the series of books, as Ruth becomes embroiled in Nelson's life and work.

For me, the main appeal of this series is the character of Ruth - intelligent, dedicated to her work, independent, strong, self-deprecating - and her relationships with Nelson and other recurring characters.  In terms of the mystery element, I found the first novel to be the most satisfying but I still enjoyed the others and I intend to keep reading further entries in the series.