The Crossing Places
by Ellie Griffiths
Mysterious AND full of detection. And creepy to boot. The heroine--a forensic archaeologist (or is that anthropologist? I forget)--
Anyway, she's an expert on old bones, so she gets called in when the police detective needs to know the age of a set of bones found buried in on a lonely beach. The boggy, spooky, tidal marshes with quicksand, mud and sticky ooze. And, it just so happens, the home of a long-dead civilization who revered the place and marked it as magical--the boundary between land and sea, a place where spirits ruled.
As to the book, the pacing and action are great. And the history, too--I hope she got most of it right. I won't fidget on her making up a detail or two, such as the specific burial and the trappings thereof, but I assume the general history of the iron age civilization and their burial rites and the sacrificial offerings is somewhat accurate.
If so, then this is a winner for me. It didn't get especially good reviews, mostly due to bad writing. And yeah, when I skimmed through what other people had to say just now, I have to agree. There were places where her writing irritated me, too. I'm hoping that as she advances at her craft she'll clean that up, so I'll give her another try. I also notice at least one person objected to her digs at religion--and probably others did, too, but were too cowardly to admit it. There are some narrow-minded readers who absolutely won't approve a book that disagrees with their beliefs even in the slightest. All I can say to that is that your faith must be pretty precarious if it can't endure a minor snub. Very minor, in fact, and not so much about religion in general as the annoying behavior of her parents in particular. Give me a break.
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