The Woman In Blue cover art

The Woman In Blue

The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 8

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The Woman In Blue

By: Elly Griffiths
Narrated by: Jane McDowell
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About this listen

 The murder of women priests in the shrine town of Walsingham sucks Dr Ruth Galloway into an unholy investigation.

Ruth's friend Cathbad is house-sitting in Walsingham, a Norfolk village famous as a centre for pilgrimages to the Virgin Mary. One night, Cathbad sees a strange vision in the graveyard beside the cottage: a young woman dressed in blue. Cathbad thinks that he may have seen the Madonna herself but, the next morning, the woman's body, dressed in white nightdress and blue dressing-gown, is found in a ditch outside Walsingham. DCI Nelson and his team are called in and establish that the dead woman was a recovering addict being treated at a nearby private hospital.

Ruth, a devout atheist, has managed to avoid Walsingham during her seventeen years in Norfolk. But then an old university friend, Hilary Smithson, asks to meet her in the village,ad Ruth is amazed to discover that her friend is now a priest. Hilary has been receiving vitriolic anonymous letters targeting women priests - letters containing references to local archaeology and a striking phrase about a woman 'clad in blue, weeping for the world.'

Then another woman is murdered - a priest.

As Walsingham prepares for its annual Easter re-enactment of the Crucifixion, the race is on to unmask the killer before they strike again...
(P)2016 Quercus Publishing Plc©2016 Elly Griffiths Amateur Sleuths Archaeology Cosy Detective Fiction Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Scary Village

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Critic reviews

One of my current favourite crime series . . . a pleasure from start to finish (Val McDermid)
Griffiths has become a dab hand at plotting and cranking up the tension. The murders, and the muddled humanity of the characters, keep us turning the pages
Crime that doesn't sacrifice good writing and clever characterisation for the sake of the plot (Sarra Manning)
Elly Griffiths writes ever-more ingenious detective stories with a powerful sense of place and a varied cast of sympathetic and unusual characters. Her heroine is a winner.
Griffiths weaves superstition and myth into her crime novels, skilfully treading a line between credulity and modern methods of detection
All stars
Most relevant
Another good story and more interesting developments in the ever changing Ruth and Nelson relationship. I did miss the archaeological elements however. I know it's difficult to continuously find a connection between Ruth's archaeological work and active police investigations, but Ruth felt a little sidelined in this story. The religious elements were interesting but lacked the usual depth of the historical plotlines.
The narrator was fine and it was good to return to the original voice for Ruth, but I was really irritated by the decision to add sound effects for people speaking on the phone. The volume was considerably lower and sometimes hard to hear, particularly when driving in the car. A good narrator should be able to convey that someone is talking on the phone without resorting to dodgy sound effects.
All in all though an enjoyable listen and I look forward to the next installment.

Missed the archaeology

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this is a good must read to the end book. A sound stiry line based on Easter in Walsingham and lady vicars. Probably more enjoyable if you have read previoys books in series. I have and enjoyed number 8.

thrills in Walsingham

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I really love this series! Another great mystery to devour. I feel like Ruth is someone I ought to know!

Great storytelling x

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Would you listen to The Woman in Blue again? Why?

I would not listen to this book again, I got rather fed up with all the religious stuff in it. I am neither Catholic nor Anglican, having much more sympathy with the practices of Cathbad, so found all this religiosity rather tiresome.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the quest for the murderer, but found the ending rather disappointing. I always enjoy hearing about the relationship between Ruth and Nelson

What about Jane McDowell’s performance did you like?

I thought the reading was excellent, except, as has been mentioned, the change of voice for the phone calls.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The only emotional reaction was irritation with constant references to religion. I suppose, since the murders occurred in a churchyard and the story included a group of women priests this was somewhat unavoidable, but it did rather take over.

Any additional comments?

I look forward to reading these books. I have been following the adventures of Dr Galloway from the first book and look forward to my next one.

Entertaining

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Mild murders with humour with interesting facts . Listened to the 1st boik and hooked.

Great series.

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