The House at Sea's End (Ruth Galloway Mysteries)

There is already a neat trench in the narrow gap between the tall cliffs. Nelson looks at it with pleasure . . . Then he looks closer. The trench appears to be full of bones.

Elly Griffiths€s Ruth Galloway novels have been praised as €œhighly atmospheric€ (New York Times Book Review) and €œremarkable€ (Richmond Times-Dispatch). Now the beloved forensic archeologist returns, called in to investigate when human bones surface on a remote Norfolk beach.

Just back from maternity leave, Ruth is finding it difficult to juggle motherhood and work. The presence of DCI Harry Nelson€"the married father of her daughter, Kate€"does not help. The bones, skeletons of six men with their arms bound, turn out to be about seventy years old, which leads Nelson and Ruth to the war years, a desperate time on this stretch of coastland. Home Guard veteran Archie Whitcliffe reveals the existence of a secret the old soldiers have vowed to protect with their lives. But then Archie is killed and a German journalist arrives, asking questions about Operation Lucifer, a plan to stop a German invasion, and a possible British war crime. What was Operation Lucifer? And who is prepared to kill to keep its secret?