The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths

The past is reaching out to both Nelson and Ruth - in ways that are strange as the author of the previous missives is now long dead. Who could be knowing the style of writing, the cryptic poetry and the messages it conveys other than Erik himself and they both know he is dead.

When the body of a little girl is found within a henge (a circle of stone) and when carbon dating proves that it is of recent origin the detectives get their cold cases together to find out who would fit the profile.  Apart from solving the case of the missing Margaret, there are many threads from previous cases which link all the characters together. From Michelle Nelson's wife who is about to give birth and does not know whether it is her husband's or her lover's child she is expecting to Ruth who finds it bitter sweet because Nelson is the father of her Katie. So much of inner tension in the story underlying the professional relationships which have to be maintained at all costs and impersonally, if the case is to be solved.

This was a different take on a mystery murder story. The detectives themselves had a convoluted history and apart from the main two, several others were also involved in the story. It added a different structure to the story.

Very much of a page turner in a different style this was a very good read.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.