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The Woman In Blue

The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 8

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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

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
Interesting. I've just finished this and found it quite surprising on more than one level. Norfolk is a lovely, historical county but in all honesty how many archeological murder mysteries can it really provide, and how could Elly Griffiths sustain the theme?

The answer seems to be by subtly changing direction. This, the 8th book, is far less archaeology - hardly any at all. It's also far less about Ruth (though she's still integral), and puts the police team of Nelson, Dave Clough, Tim and Tania into the centre. Even Cathbad has only a minor role and there's more Michelle, less Judy. Relationships move on, but no spoilers.

No spoilers on the plot either, but feels a more mainstream detective story than normal. There is still the myth, legend and mystery aspects, but it's more straightforward murder than the previous seven, if that doesn't sound too callous. It still has the red herrings we can count on from Ms Griffiths. It's a strongly religion based theme, with quite topical aspects around the ordination of women. Overall, far less edge of the seat scary stuff, more Morse. No big yellow rubber duck though!

That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it - I did. I've already googled Walsingham for weekend breaks! In a month or so I'll listen again to see if I should have spotted the perpetrator earlier.

The Arthurian book, The Dying Fall, is still my personal favourite, but this is a good book, worth listening to, and hopefully by that subtle change of emphasis the series can continue and not get stale. Looking forward to seeing if other reviewers agree...

A subtle change of direction for Ruth?

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I love the Ruth Galloway books. These are very well read . highly recommended series

well written as usual.

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Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Jane McDowell?

Clare Corbett or Emma Powell

Any additional comments?

I listen to audiobooks with ear phones which unfortunately picks up EVERYthing...faster than usual dictation, the narrator talking with apparent congested nasal voice and very distinct swallowing between words. I found it very off

Disliked the Narration intently

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love the blend of characters, crime, different lifestyles and it is so different to most of the other books I read. I also enjoy Jane McDowell's narration

What did you like best about this story?

Catching up with and getting back into Ruth's life and work.

Any additional comments?

I was really concerned after Elly Griffiths released the other titles set in the 50's that there would be no more Ruth Galloway. I cannot like or get into those titles. I love the continuity of of this series.

Another excellent Ruth Galloway story

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I enjoyed the reading, but very much disliked the telephone 'conversations'. Please discontinue those. thank you.

Telephone conversations

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