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The Ghost Fields

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

The chilling discovery of a downed World War II plane with a body inside leads Ruth and DCI Nelson to uncover a wealthy family's secrets in this Ruth Galloway mystery.

It's a blazing hot summer in Norfolk when a construction crew unearths a downed American fighter plane from World War II with a body inside. Forensic archeologist Ruth Galloway determines that the skeleton couldn't possibly be the pilot, and DNA tests identify the man as Fred Blackstock, a local aristocrat long presumed dead—news that seems to frighten his descendants. Events are further complicated by a TV company that wants to make a film about Norfolk's deserted air force bases, the so-called ghost fields, which the Blackstocks have converted into a pig farm. As production begins, Ruth notices a mysterious man loitering at Fred Blackstock's memorial service. Then human bones are found on the family's pig farm and the weather quickly turns. Can the team outrace a looming flood to find the killer?

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 30, 2015
      The unearthing in Norfolk of a WWII-era U.S. plane, with its pilot in his seat and a bullet hole in his temple, propels British author Griffiths's well-crafted seventh mystery featuring forensic archeologist Ruth Galloway (after 2014's The Outcast Dead). The pilot is identified as Frederick J. Blackstock, a scion of a prominent Norfolk family, who served in the American air force, though Fred was supposedly lost at sea in a different plane and presumed dead. The decision of an American TV company to do a program about Norfolk's abandoned airfields brings Frank Barker, an academic Ruth was attracted to while working together on an earlier case, back into her life. The arrival of the film company and Fred's American daughter, Nell Blackstock Goodheart, sets the stage for a series of deaths and personal revelations that culminates in Ruth's being trapped in massive Blackstock Hall during a terrible storm. Griffiths nicely blends history and romance with gothic elements.

    • Library Journal

      May 1, 2015

      When a body is found in a downed World War II plane that was accidently uncovered by a construction crew, forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson are called in to investigate. The corpse is unusually well preserved, and there is a bullet in the pilot's forehead. In Griffith's seventh Galloway mystery (after The Outcast Dead), the historical focus this time is on the "ghost fields," abandoned airfields once used by the U.S. military during the war. The surrounding land has been in the hands of the Blackstock family for generations and DNA tests link the corpse to the family. No one is talking to the investigators, but attacks on family members and another murder raise the stakes. Even the encroaching sea and Norfolk's dramatic weather add to the suspense as Ruth gets dangerously close to a killer. VERDICT Series fans and readers interested in World War II history will enjoy the detailed research; Ruth and Harry are engagingly human protagonists, and Griffiths neatly wraps up her intriguing mystery to satisfy the pickiest of crime fiction buffs. [See Prepub Alert, 11/1/14.]--Cheryl Bryan, Orleans, MA

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Library Journal

      November 1, 2014

      When a construction crew inadvertently digs up a downed World War II plane with a body inside, forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway quickly determines that it's not the pilot but local aristocrat Fred Blackstock, reportedly lost at sea. Family members turn white as sheets at the news. Mary Higgins Clark Award winner Griffiths had her strongest showing yet with last spring's The Outcast Dead, a Top Ten LibraryReads pick in March 2014.

      Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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