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In 1867, a woman known as Mother Hook was hanged for supposedly murdering some of the unwanted children she took in to raise. When Ruth Galloway discovers bones near Norwich Castle, excitement builds that the body of the infamous killer has been found. Soon the dig is overrun by historians and news media all eager to be there when and if the body is positively identified. And then a popular television show comes in to add a new twist. The show is going to debate the issue of whether Mother Hook was indeed guilty or a victim of mob hysteria. Ruth, unhappy that so many people are tromping around the site, is really unhappy when the producers want her to appear on camera multiple times during the program. Her uneasiness before the camera is nothing compared to the angst she feels when children of working mothers start disappearing. The father of Ruth's daughter, DCI Harry Nelson, becomes involved in the investigation of the missing children as well as the death of the third baby from the same family.
One of the joys of reading mysteries with an archeologist as a protagonist is the opportunity for the author to write parallel stories from both the past and modern day. The challenges for the author are to make both of the stories interesting enough for the readers to care about both and to keep both plots moving while transitioning between the two smoothly. Griffiths does both quite nicely. Rather than taking readers back to the 1800s and having them "with" the characters in that plot, she intertwines the two stories by having Ruth read the diary of Mother Hook so the reader finds out the details of her story along with Ruth. The television filming program also helps to link the two stories.
Over the course of the series, Ruth has become a more likeable character. Motherhood has changed her a bit - made her a tad more social and a good bit warmer. Her relationships with others are not as harsh as in the earlier books. This is interesting because while Ruth has changed, the other two main characters, her child's father, Harry Nelson, and her best friend Michael Cathbad don't seem to have changed all that much. Cathbad, probably the most interesting character of the series, has a little bit more of himself revealed in THE OUTCAST DEAD, but Griffiths has left a lot of his mystique in place.
THE OUTCAST DEAD is the sixth book featuring Ruth Galloway. While the mystery plot stands alone quite nicely, nearly all of the characters and their various storylines are reoccurring from the other books, which would probably leave readers new to the series a bit puzzled. To really appreciate this book, readers should start with the first book in the series, THE CROSSING PLACES, and proceed from there.
§ Caryn St.Clair resides in University City, Missouri and is a former elementary school media specialist, President of the Parks Commission and a docent at the St.Louis Zoo.
Reviewed by Caryn St Clair, February 2014
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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