The Last Remains involves mixed relationships among the various characters. The wrecking crew discovers a skeleton in an old building and Dr. Ruth Galloway enters the picture to identify the bones. Immediately, after dating the bones, a young archaeologist-in-training, Emily Pickering, becomes the skeleton. Nelson and Ruth join forces to find the killer of Emily and the motive for the killing that happened over twenty years ago. Elly Griffiths toggles between the past and the current time which is a nice touch. The story lacks momentum, and happily the story ends before boredom arrives. ( )

The Locked Room written by Elly Griffiths is Book #14 of the Dr. Ruth Galloway Mystery series.
The Last Remains written by Elly Griffiths is Book #15 of the Dr. Ruth Galloway Mystery series.
I am writing reviews/recommendations of these two titles together, as they are the last two titles (as of 2024) of this magnificent series.

The Locked Room, published in 2022. “Pandemic lockdowns have Dr. Ruth Galloway isolated from everyone but a new neighbor - until Nelson comes calling, investigating a decades-long string of murder-suicides.”
The Last Remains, published in 2023. “The discovery of a missing women’s bones force Ruth and Nelson to finally confront their feelings for each other as they desperately work to exonerate one of their own.”

I read the entire series and procrastinated a bit with these last 2 titles. I just didn’t want the series to end! The characters had become so realistic, so familiar to me that I felt I would be saying goodbye to very close friends when I read the last few pages. (I am not very good at goodbyes.)
The books did not disappoint and I was very happy with the ending.
In fact, Book #14, The Locked Room, included a ‘Who’s Who in the Dr. Ruth Galloway Mysteries’. Excellent. And an extract from’Whittaker the time-traveling cat’. And a well-loved quote used many times in the series by Julian of Norwich.
“All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”
* Julian of Norwich (c.1342-c.1416) is known almost only through her book, The Revelations of Divine Love, one of the great classics of the spiritual life.

Why I love this series so much.
Very clever plots. Suspense. Excitement. Realistic and endearing characters who grew and developed along with the series. Fascinating tidbits of Mythology, Celtic lore, History & Culture
of the Norfolk area. Fascinating, lovely location. Down-to-Earth dialogue. An excellent investigative team. Academic life. Police life. Cathbad’s character. The children - Kate, Miranda, Michael & Maddie. Archeology. All the quotes from Julian of Norwich.

My thanks to Ms. Griffiths for her very lovely writing and characters. ( )

One of my absolute favorites mystery series! ( )

Builders renovating a cafe find a bricked-up skeleton, recent enough to have a metal plate in its ankle and hence of interest to Nelson and his team. Ruth has problems of her own as the university wants to close down her department.

The last in the series and it shows, as characters from earlier books pop up all over the place and there is a lot of reminiscing. The actual mystery was intriguing and suspenseful enough to keep me up way past my bedtime. ( )

Modern bones in a wall start this case. Ruth is called in to excavate and she alerts Nelson that the bones are modern. A metal plate in an ankle help identify the young woman who has a connection to Cathbad.

Ruth is preoccupied with the potential closure of her department at the University of North Norfolk. Her colleague David is busy planning rallies and Twitter campaigns and getting letters of support from prominent archaeologists.

Ruth is also concerned about her relationship with Nelson especially since Michelle has come back to help him celebrate Fathers' Day and it looks to Ruth like they are beginning their relationship again. Leaving her beloved marsh is also on her mind since her daughter's growing social life and educational needs are more difficult with them living so far out in the country.

When Cathbad who is still suffering from long Covid disappears, all of the characters try to retrace his steps and in doing so both Ruth and Nelson are reminded of all the cases they have solved in the fourteen years since they first met.

This was an excellent conclusion to a long-running and very engaging series. ( )