The Night Hawks

Forensic anthropologist Ruth Galloway finds herself in the midst of three investigations in the 13th entry in this series (after The Lantern Men). A group of metal detectorists calling themselves the Night Hawks stumble across both a corpse and a skeleton along the Norfolk coastline. Galloway and her university colleague David Brown are called in to study the skeleton. The next evening, the Night Hawks are at the scene of a murder-suicide at a country home; shortly afterward, one of the detectorists is murdered. As DCI Harry Nelson and his team work to find the links among the three incidents, Brown’s name keeps coming up as a connection. Brown is also meddling in Ruth’s life and her longstanding relationship with Harry, so Ruth is inevitably drawn into the investigations. Griffiths once again presents a well-plotted mystery, nicely blending historical elements with a contemporary take on the classic whodunit. There’s enough background about the web of characters, so newcomers to the series can catch up. The denouement further raises the stakes in Ruth and Harry’s will-they-or-won’t-they relationship.