The Night Hawks

Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, Book 13

By: Elly Griffiths

Narrated by: Jane McDowell

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dr Ruth Galloway returns to the moody and beautiful landscape of North Norfolk to confront another killer. A devastating new case for our favourite forensic archaeologist in this acclaimed and best-selling crime series. 

The Night Hawks, a group of metal detectorists, are searching for buried treasure when they find a body on the beach in North Norfolk. At first Nelson thinks that the dead man might be an asylum seeker, but he turns out to be a local boy, Jem Taylor, recently released from prison. Ruth is more interested in the treasure, a hoard of Bronze Age weapons. Nelson at first thinks that Taylor's death is accidental drowning, but a second death suggests murder.

Nelson is called to an apparent murder-suicide of a couple at the isolated Black Dog Farm. Local legend talks of the Black Shuck, a spectral hound that appears to people before they die. Nelson ignores this, even when the owner's suicide note includes the line, 'He's buried in the garden'. Ruth excavates and finds the body of a giant dog.

All roads lead back to this farm in the middle of nowhere, but the place spells serious danger for anyone who goes near. Ruth doesn't scare easily. Not until she finds herself at Black Dog Farm....

©2021 Elly Griffiths (P)2021 Quercus Editions Limited

Critic Reviews

"The most lovable of current crime series." (Sunday Express)

"Set in divine North Forfolk. Intensely atmospheric and great." (India Knight)
 

Great summer listening

One of the best books in the Ruth Galloway series after a few middle of the road books from Elly Griffiths.

Enjoyably involving next stage in Ruth's life

Elly Griffiths manages, yet again, to weave a satisfyingly involving and complex tale around the life of Dr. Ruth Galloway. I fact, I enjoyed this book even more than the previous one because various candidates for "chief villain" took centre stage as the story unfolded and the uncertainty that that presents to the reader makes the journey hard to put aside for the mundane task of daily life. Jane Mc Dowell gives her usual superb performance as the storyteller.

Disappointing

Have enjoyed this series but found this one a tad boring and protracted. Was hoping that The Nelson/Ruth dilemma would be resolved and moved on but no... we have another wait And am beginning to think “who cares”.

Come on Elly - let’s get back on track....

Satisfying for fans

Good story, continuing character narratives etc and a good performance as ever from Jane McDowell. However this was on the edge of what I can tolerate in relation to mouth noises and noisy sibilance. If this book had been the first in a series I would not have persevered. More sound quality control please.

A welcome return for Ruth and the full cast

In a world dominated by Covid lockdown the release of a new book in a well loved series in a huge bright spot, so thank you Elly.

As to the book itself, it’s definitely up to standard. By No 13 the series could easily be running out of puff, but it’s anything but.
Ruth is back in Norfolk having taken over as Head of Archaeology at UNN. To compensate us for the disappearance of the irritating Phil Trent as her immediate boss, Ruth’s replaced her own old role with an irritating and arrogant lecturer, David Brown
Ruth has progressed in some ways, no longer seeming to agonise over her weight every 5 minutes, but she’s still fighting a losing battle over Kate’s name and hasn’t yet got enough confidence to stand up to anyone, especially this new lecturer. Her replies are all in her head - one day she may learn to reply out loud, but don’t hold your breath

This is a glorious mix of Bronze Age finds, Norfolk legends, detectorists, murder (of course) and the personal lives of Ruth, Nelson, Michelle, Cathbad, Judy and Clough. Cathbad is a bit more to the fore this time, which is great, but sadly Dave Clough’s move to Cambridgeshire has pushed him to a peripheral role. Jane McDowell reads it beautifully, as always

Red herrings all the way through, a great double twist at the end - but no spoilers. What is fair to mention though is ‘The Great Neil Topham Mystery’. One of the Night Hawks has the same name as the Smith Museum curator who dies at the beginning of A Room Full of Bones. Wasted a lot of time on that red herring... nice one Elly (said through gritted teeth)

I really enjoyed this. Just sorry it’s ended

Not the best

I eagerly awaited the next in the series but was a bit disappointed with this one. A shallow storyline with little of the vibe I had come to love. Not sure I would pre order the next one. Disappointed to have used a credit on this. 🤷‍♀️

The Night Hawks

Since discovering Elly Griffiths I have devoured all of her Dr Ruth Galloway novels in some kind of order. The various characters always make me smile. This book follows the usual rubric: suspicious death, folklore, ancient skeletal remains, Ruth and Nelson's separate domestic lives etc. I often think that the accuracy of the police procedural could be better though - Station Sargeants haven't been a thing since the 1960s! Also, promotion in the Norfolk Constabulary seems to be a case of dead men's shoes.

I purchased this audiobook the day after release but it took me a good week to finish it. I just got rather bored by it all. It was nice to end on a cliffhanger, but it's all getting a bit long and drawn out now.

I found the audio to be too quiet, the narrator annoyingly whispery and please learn how to pronounce 'ELT-HAM' not 'ELF-HAM'!

Struggling with the narration

I can't believe how similar my review is to the last one I gave for a Ruth Galloway book, but here it is - I really like this series; always good to follow the lives of the characters. The plots are great and the mysteries generally twisty enough to keep me guessing. I just find the narrator very difficult to listen to; surely sloppy, sticky mouth noises can be edited out? Not pleasant right in my ears. Trying to decide whether to return or persevere.

excellent as always, gripping, touching

I've read all previous books and enjoyed them emencley. an interesting end to the story. What will Nelson decide? I can't wait to find out.

Great book!

Great book, can't wait for the next one. I'm fully invested in these characters.

Unnecessary music

Excellent narration, reasonable story line. Loud unnecessary music at start and end of recording. Also low volume recording. If the recording was as loud as the music it would have been much better. I thought the cost of the e-book was too high and waited for the audible version which I prefer anyway.

Another top Ruth and Nelson story

I always look forward to new books in this series and they never disappoint. I'm not sure how Elly keeps coming up with fresh ideas but she does and keeps you guessing til the end. Can't wait for the next installment!