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Ruth Galloway
The Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths has 16 known books (16 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Crossing Places (2009).
- Books
- 16 known books (15 novels + 1 short story)
- Published
- 16
- First published
- 2009
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: The Crossing Places (2009) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Crossing Places
The Crossing Places (2009) opens the series when bones surface on Norfolk's bleak Saltmarsh coast and DCI Harry Nelson calls in forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway to date them -- the start of a partnership, and a complicated on-and-off relationship, that runs through the next fifteen books. It runs 303 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Crossing Places - Book 2:
The Janus Stone
The Janus Stone holds the second spot in the series, published in 2010, continuing Ruth Galloway's forensic archaeology work for DCI Harry Nelson against the vividly rendered marsh and tide of the East Anglian coast. It runs 327 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Janus Stone - Book 3:
The House at Sea's End
The House at Sea's End holds the third spot in the series, published in 2011, with Ruth Galloway's expertise in ancient burials once again drawing her into a modern murder investigation. It runs 376 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The House at Sea's End - Book 4:
A Room Full of Bones
A Room Full of Bones came out in 2012, holding the fourth spot in the series, part of Elly Griffiths' ongoing build-out of the supporting cast around Ruth Galloway -- Druid and TV personality Cathbad among them.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Room Full of Bones - Book 5:
Ruth's First Christmas Tree
Ruth's First Christmas Tree (2012) is a short novella slotting in around book 4, A Room Full of Bones, in the series' publication order -- a light holiday-set extra rather than essential reading, running just 24 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Ruth's First Christmas Tree - Book 6:
A Dying Fall
A Dying Fall came out in 2013, book 5 of the series, continuing Ruth Galloway's slow-burn, unresolved relationship with the married DCI Harry Nelson alongside the book's own archaeological mystery. It runs 390 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Dying Fall - Book 7:
The Outcast Dead
The Outcast Dead holds the sixth spot in the series, published in 2014, with Ruth Galloway once again called on for her expertise in ancient burials as a modern investigation unfolds around her. It runs 384 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Outcast Dead - Book 8:
The Ghost Fields
The Ghost Fields is the seventh entry, published in 2015, continuing the series' balance of genuine archaeological mystery with Ruth Galloway's long-running domestic and romantic story. It runs 377 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost Fields - Book 9:
The Woman in Blue
The Woman in Blue is book 8 of the series, published in 2016, set against the same East Anglian landscape of marsh, tide and buried history that runs through every Ruth Galloway novel. It runs 358 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Woman in Blue - Book 10:
The Chalk Pit
The Chalk Pit is the ninth entry in the series, published in 2017, continuing the rich supporting cast Elly Griffiths built around Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson. It runs 360 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Chalk Pit - Book 11:
The Dark Angel
The Dark Angel is the tenth entry in the series, part of Elly Griffiths' long-game slow-burn between Ruth Galloway and Harry Nelson that develops steadily across the whole run. It runs 357 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Dark Angel - Book 12:
The Stone Circle
The Stone Circle came out in 2019, holding the eleventh spot in the series, with Ruth Galloway's forensic archaeology once again pulling contemporary murder out of Norfolk's ancient past. It runs 384 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Stone Circle - Book 13:
The Lantern Men
The Lantern Men was published in 2020, book 12 of the series, continuing the domestic and romantic story that runs alongside each book's own archaeological mystery. It runs 368 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Lantern Men - Book 14:
The Night Hawks
The Night Hawks was published in 2021, holding the thirteenth spot in the series, set against the same Saltmarsh and East Anglian landscape that's anchored Ruth Galloway's cases since the first book. It runs 352 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Night Hawks - Book 15:
The Locked Room
The Locked Room is book 14 of the series, continuing Ruth Galloway's investigations alongside DCI Harry Nelson and the rest of the series' recurring cast -- Cathbad, Judy, Clough -- as the run heads toward its close. It runs 352 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Locked Room - Book 16:
The Last Remains
The Last Remains (2023) was written and marketed as the conclusion to the main Ruth Galloway sequence, bringing her long, unresolved relationship with DCI Harry Nelson to a deliberate close after fifteen novels. It runs 325 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Last Remains
About the Ruth Galloway series
Dr. Ruth Galloway is a forensic archaeologist at the fictional University of North Norfolk, more comfortable with bones in a dig site than with people, whose expertise in ancient burials keeps drawing her into distinctly modern murder investigations. When bones surface on the bleak Saltmarsh coast in The Crossing Places (2009), DCI Harry Nelson calls her in to date them — and finds himself relying on her again and again as the marshland around Norfolk's Iron Age past keeps yielding contemporary bodies. Elly Griffiths builds the series on real archaeological texture (she's a keen amateur herself) and on Ruth's prickly, self-deprecating voice: overweight, single, sharper about the past than about her own romantic choices, not least her complicated, on-and-off relationship with the married Nelson, which produces a daughter and years of unresolved tension across the series.
Around Ruth and Nelson, Griffiths assembles a rich supporting cast — Druid and TV personality Cathbad, Nelson's colleagues Judy and Clough, and a rotating parade of university and police politics — set against a vividly rendered East Anglian landscape of marsh, tide and buried history. Sixteen books deep (fifteen novels plus a Christmas novella), the series balances genuine archaeological mystery with a long-running domestic and romantic story that pays off slowly across the whole run, closing with The Last Remains in 2023.
Frequently asked questions
How many Ruth Galloway books are there?
Sixteen entries: fifteen novels from The Crossing Places (2009) to The Last Remains (2023), plus the short novella Ruth's First Christmas Tree (2012).
What order should I read the Ruth Galloway books in?
Publication order, starting with The Crossing Places. Ruth's relationship with DCI Harry Nelson, her daughter Kate, and the wider cast all develop continuously across the series.
Is the Ruth Galloway series finished?
The Last Remains (2023) was written as the conclusion to the main sequence, resolving the long-running Ruth/Nelson storyline, though Elly Griffiths has not ruled out revisiting the characters.
Do I need to read Ruth's First Christmas Tree?
No — it's a short, optional novella best read around book 4 (A Room Full of Bones) by publication date, adding a lighter holiday-set extra rather than plot essential to the main series.
Is Ruth Galloway connected to Elly Griffiths's other series?
No — the Harbinder Kaur and Brighton Mysteries (Stephens & Mephisto) series are separate, with different characters and settings, though all are written by Elly Griffiths.
If you like the Ruth Galloway series
Reading order last verified .