The Janus Stone - The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 2 by Elly Griffiths (Paperback)

The discovery of a child's skeleton lays bare terrible secret's from Norwich's past in the second gripping mystery for Dr Ruth Galloway

A gruesome discovery at an old children's home lays bare terrible secret's from Norwich's past in the second gripping mystery for Dr Ruth Galloway.

'The setting is enticingly atmospheric . . . a really intelligent murder story' Independent

Dr Ruth Galloway's forensic skills are called upon when builders, demolishing an old house in Norwich, uncover the bones of a child - minus the skull - beneath a doorway. Is it some ritual sacrifice or just plain straightforward murder? Ruth links up with DCI Harry Nelson to investigate.

The house was once a children's home. Nelson traces the Catholic priest who used to run the place. He tells him that two children did go missing forty years before - a boy and a girl. They were never found.

When carbon dating proves that the child's bones predate the home and relate to a time when the house was privately owned, Ruth is drawn ever more deeply into the case. But as spring turns into summer it becomes clear that someone is desperate to put her off the scent by frightening her to death...

About the Author

Elly Griffiths was born in London. She worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer. Her bestselling series of Dr Ruth Galloway novels, featuring a forensic archaeologist, are set in Norfolk. The series has won the CWA Dagger in the Library, and has been shortlisted three times for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Her Brighton-based mystery series is set in the 1950s and 1960s. Elly has also written a standalone mystery, The Stranger Diaries, which was a Richard & Judy bestseller and won America's most coveted accolade for crime fiction, the Edgar Award. Elly lives near Brighton with her husband, an archaeologist, and their cat, Gus.