My rating: 3 of 5 starsA woman is found dead in a ditch in Walsingham. It seems that she is a model and she has been treated for addiction in a close by hospital. Nelson is investigation the case and soon his path will cross with Ruth again who is in Walsingham meeting an old friend that she studied with and then changed her career and become a priest. She has gotten threats and wants Ruth's help since she works closely with the police. Then, another woman gets killed and this time, it's a female priest.
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There were some things that irked me with this book, not so much the case itself with the dead women as the preconceived attitude towards female priests and religion that pervades this book. Especially Ruth Galloway is extremely anti-religion and it was for me very frustrating to read because the attitude bothered me. This is not something new, she has been wary about religion since she was young and this is something that has been addressed previously in the books. But since this book is about threats against female priests and also a murder that seems to be connected to the treats are the preconceived attitude that Ruth is displaying quite frustrating for me to read who is so used to the ecclesial world (or, at least, was). Ruth's attitude towards her old friend Hilary that changed her career and decided to become a priest felt a bit condescending.
This is something that probably will not bother everyone that reads the book. But I do prefer Cathbad's more open attitude towards religion than Ruth and Nelson's quite closed attitude. I can be quite tired about Ruth whining about Nelson called their daughter Katie instead of Kate. Come on Ruth. Don't be so sensitive it's just a nickname. At least, she wasn't whining that much about her weight in this book.
Alright, I needed to get that off my chest. Let's return to the case itself. I was really looking forward to this book since this is one of my favorite series (yes, despite that I find Ruth a bit too whiny sometimes) and this case sounded interesting. And, in a way it was, I mean there were several possible candidates for whom could be the killers. The police, of course, found themselves a possible suspect early one, but I was quite sure that was a red herring. But, the book was never really thrilling, it was an OK read. However, still I felt that something was lacking, could be that my annoyance with Ruth and Nelson that took away some excitement with reading this book or that the story just not to my liking. Probably a mix of it.
But, still, I'm going to look forward to reading the next book in this series. I love the mix of crime and archeology. And, now when I think about is it probably what made this book less interesting to read. Too little archeology involved in the story.
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
This is something that probably will not bother everyone that reads the book. But I do prefer Cathbad's more open attitude towards religion than Ruth and Nelson's quite closed attitude. I can be quite tired about Ruth whining about Nelson called their daughter Katie instead of Kate. Come on Ruth. Don't be so sensitive it's just a nickname. At least, she wasn't whining that much about her weight in this book.
Alright, I needed to get that off my chest. Let's return to the case itself. I was really looking forward to this book since this is one of my favorite series (yes, despite that I find Ruth a bit too whiny sometimes) and this case sounded interesting. And, in a way it was, I mean there were several possible candidates for whom could be the killers. The police, of course, found themselves a possible suspect early one, but I was quite sure that was a red herring. But, the book was never really thrilling, it was an OK read. However, still I felt that something was lacking, could be that my annoyance with Ruth and Nelson that took away some excitement with reading this book or that the story just not to my liking. Probably a mix of it.
But, still, I'm going to look forward to reading the next book in this series. I love the mix of crime and archeology. And, now when I think about is it probably what made this book less interesting to read. Too little archeology involved in the story.
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
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