Published by
Allison & Busby,
21 June 2018.
ISBN: ISBN: 978-0-7490-2362-1 (HB)
21 June 2018.
ISBN: ISBN: 978-0-7490-2362-1 (HB)
A missing Bronze Age artefact; an archaeologist with a mission; a
modern dental filling in an ancient pot of cremated remains. You could be forgiven
for thinking Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway has unearthed another case.
But no; there's a new kid on
the archaeological mystery block. Dr Nick Snashall, the National Trust's expert
on ancient remains at Stonehenge, has turned her hand and her unique skills to
crime fiction. Under the alias of Nicola Ford, she has picked up all the
elements listed above, added a thirty-year-old excavation that was never
properly recorded, and set archaeologist Clare Hills to work on unravelling the
resulting enigma.
Wiltshire is a haven for
Clare and her ilk – ancient tombs and ruins abound there, simply begging to be
explored, and, unsurprisingly since it's Nicola Ford's stamping ground in her
other life, it all feels very real indeed. She also proves herself well up an
essential task for the crime writer: ramping up the tension level. What starts
as a trawl through decades-old dig records and a search for a missing artefact
soon develops into a cold-case murder investigation which sends both the police
and the protagonists on a hunt for the killer – and that's only the first half
of the book.
If landscape and setting form
the bones of fiction, the characters are its lifeblood, and. Nicola Ford's cast
members have plenty going for them as well. Clare herself is damaged by the
past and looking for a new direction. Her former degree supervisor Dr David
Barbrook has problems of his own. Fellow archaeologist Professor Margaret
Bockford, ancient bones specialist Jo Granski and Detective Inspector Sally
Treen share a no-nonsense approach to life, and at the same time reveal
themselves, each in her own way, as independent women with their own styles and
agendas. Even the long-dead characters come across loud and clear, as do minor
players such as Tony the pub landlord.
Nicola Ford may lack a little
of Elly Griffiths's light touch with words, but she more than compensates with
her knowledge of the archaeological world and her ability to weave it
seamlessly into a pacy, gripping narrative. The Hidden Bones is a
surefooted debut, and I look forward to following Clare Hills's new career in
the series promised on the cover.
------
Reviewer: Lynne Patrick
Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen,
and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but
never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher
for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now
burgeoning. She lives on the edge of rural Derbyshire in a house groaning with
books, about half of them crime fiction.
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