Book Review: The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths

The Woman in Blue (Ruth Galloway #8)

By Elly Griffiths

Published and Sold by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 6, 2016

Purchased and read on Amazon Kindle

Links: Amazon, B&N, Powell's

Rating: Two and a Half Stars (out of five)

Note: This is the eighth book in a series.  I suppose some of what’s contained in this post could be construed as spoiler-ish if you haven’t read the first seven, though I do not discuss the actual mystery plots of any book besides The Woman in Blue (and do not spoil the resolution).

Hmmm.   So, I usually really like the Ruth Galloway mysteries.  Ruth is an archaeologist whose skills the police put to use on occasion, and since part of me is still a twelve-year-old girl who wants to be an archaeologist when she grows up, they’re right up my ally.  I do not and have never loved the primary “romance” (if that’s what it is) in these books, though I do like that Ruth is a single mother.  Maybe that’s why this book ultimately just didn’t work for me; there’s really no archaeology at all and the personal relationships have a central role to play—and a strange one at that.

The plot centers around two murders and one assault in the town of Walsingham, where there are Anglican and Catholic shrines.  Ruth gets a call from a grad school friend who’s now an Anglican priest right around the same time a young woman receiving treatment at a nearby hospital is murdered.  It turns out that Ruth’s friend, Hilary, has been receiving threatening letters from someone who doesn’t like women priests.  She’s in Walsingham on a conference for women who might want to become bishops, so she and Ruth meet up.  The second murder victim is another priest, a friend of Hilary’s who was also attending the conference.  DCI Nelson has to figure out what, if anything, a cult of the Virgin Mary has to do with the murders and/or the letters.  Also complicating the situation is that Nelson’s wife, Michelle, is assaulted by the murderer—leading to the revelation that she’s been having an affair with Tim, one of Nelson’s assistants.

Clearly, there’s a lot going on here.  Sadly, none of it has anything to do with archaeology, though Griffiths does gesture toward Ruth’s skills by having her dig around in a basement for some old artifacts.  While Ruth finds a clue that ends up being important to the case, she really doesn’t have much to do besides listen to Hilary’s worries and pass the information she learns along to Nelson.  Because of Michelle’s affair, Ruth and Nelson’s always awkward relationship gets even more awkward, and there’s some stuff here that I felt embarrassed to read.  It’s probably realistic, given that Nelson is married to Michelle and he and Ruth have a child together, but yikes!  The longer Griffiths drags that relationship on without some definite “we parent a shared child and nothing else” resolution, the less interested I get in reading these books.

The whole point of this series is supposed to be (I thought) that Ruth helps the police solve crimes by using her archaeology skills, and that didn’t happen here.  For me, this is the weakest entry in the series so far.  If there’s another new entry next year I’m sure I’ll read it, but if it’s not a stronger novel, I’ll no longer rush to read these right after they’re released.

Special Feature: Inspector Lewis: The Academic Body Count, Season 3 Part 2

The Oxford University of ITV/PBS's Inspector Lewis is a dangerous world for academics, and in this series I bring you the lowdown on who in the academic community is most likely to kill be or be killed.  This post gives the details for episodes 4-5 of US Season Three.  Here’s a link to all previous posts in the series (in reverse order).

Ah, Season 3, we hardly knew you!  It’s only two episodes shorter than Season 2, but the difference feels much greater for some reason.  These two episodes bring us five murders.  One victim is an undergrad, one is a faculty member (of sorts), and three are unaffiliated with the university.  There are no university-affiliated murderers here, but the events of both episodes have everything to do with the victims and/or murderer’s college days.  This theme of the past coming back to haunt you is very prevalent here and episode 3.5, in particular, is very creepy in that regard.

Season 3 brings us a total of thirteen victims (two episodes have three victims instead of the usual two).  Of those, one is an undergrad, three are faculty, one is an administrator, and one is staff.  The remaining seven (just over 50%) are unaffiliated with the university.  Of the six murders (episode 3.5 has two), only one, a staff member, is university-affiliated.  I have to say, season three suggests that the university is a pretty dangerous place, but not because of those who work and go to school there!  You’re much more likely to be killed by someone outside the university than someone within it, and employees are in a lot more danger than students this season.  Also, I’m curious to rewatch seasons 5-7, because I remember thinking that there were quite a few grad students murdered on this show, and to this point not a single one has met his or her end at the hands of one of Oxford’s many deranged killers.  Maybe it’s just that grad school feels so deadly that one assumes that on a show like this, it must be.  Hmmm…  Anyway, Season Three suggests that while it’s probably safe to go to school at Oxford, you might want to think twice about working there, and watch out for your old college friends.

If you haven’t seen the season, here’s the Amazon link.  It’s included with Prime if you have it.

Details for Episodes 3.4-3.5 below the cut.  Contains spoilers.

Special Feature: Inspector Lewis: The Academic Body Count, Season 3 Part 1

Special Series: Inspector Lewis: The Academic Body Count, Season 3 Part 1

The Oxford University of ITV/PBS's Inspector Lewis is a dangerous world for academics, and in this series I bring you the lowdown on who in the academic community is most likely to kill be or be killed.  This post gives the details for episodes 1-3 of US Season Two.  All previous posts in the series (in reverse order).

I’m back, after an unanticipated hiatus induced by a combination of novel-writing, family insanity, and other things, and I have for you another Lewis post.  Season 3 is shorter than Season 2—five episodes—so I’ll break it down into two posts.  This post covers episodes 1-3, and I’ll cover episodes 4-5 in the next installment.

Having gotten the formalities out of the way, let’s move on to the season!  We have a total of eight victims in these episodes, of whom four are in some way directly affiliated with the university.  None are students, but two are faculty, one is an administrator, and the fourth is, nominally at least, staff.  Of a total of three murderers, one is staff and two are unaffiliated.  So, once again, Oxford is more dangerous to academics than in danger from them.

I’d forgotten until this rewatch how many of my favorite episodes are in Season 3.  We have rockstars, war reenactors, and a community orchestra, and we learn about both Hathaway and the M.E., Dr. Laura Hobson.  Also, I’ve learned since my last Lewis post that there are new episodes airing in Britain, as we speak.  We should have them here at some point (I’m looking at you, PBS), so there’s even more deadly fun ahead.  But, without further ado, onward to the Season 3 details!

If you haven’t seen the season, here’s the Amazon link.  It’s included with Prime if you have it.

Details for Episodes 3.1-3.3 below the cut.  Contains spoilers.

Special Feature: Inspector Lewis: The Academic Body Count, Season 2 Part 3

The Oxford University of ITV/PBS's Inspector Lewis is a dangerous world for academics, and in this series I bring you the lowdown on who in the academic community is most likely to kill be or be killed.  This post gives the details for episodes 6-7 of US Season Two.  Previous posts in the series: Intro, Season One, Season 2 Part 1, Season 2 Part 2.

 The final two episodes of Season 2 give us one undergraduate victim, three community victims (one an Oxford alum, though), and two—yes, two—faculty murderers (one for each episode).  So we’re back to the Season One problem, it would seem, insofar as Oxford is in more danger from academics than it is a danger to academics.  If it’s any comfort (and I’m not sure it is!), only in “The Quality of Mercy” do the murders directly relate to university life; in “The Point of Vanishing,” the murderer is just a murderer who happens to have “professor” as his job title.

As this is the last season 2 post, it’s time for some overall season totals.  Over seven episodes, we have fifteen victims (only episode 2.3 breaks the “two victims per episode” norm).  Three of those victims are undergrads, two are faculty, three are administrators, one is staff, and six are unaffiliated with the university.  Of eight murderers, four are faculty members (two in episode 2.1, remember) and four are unaffiliated with the university.  A variety of faculty, staff, and students assist Lewis and Hathaway in their investigations, so the university isn’t all bad for the community, but I have to admit that these episodes make faculty look pretty scary.  It’s even more worrying to this humanist that three quarters of the faculty murderers are in the humanities.  And we like to think our fields of study improve our behavior toward our fellow humans!  The good news, I guess, is that while grad school often feels like a kill-or-be-killed kind of world, not one grad student has done either—yet (though to be fair it’s kind of a grad student’s fault that everything goes so badly wrong in “The Quality of Mercy”).

If you haven't seen the season, here's the Amazon link.  It's included with Prime, if you have it.

Details for Episodes 2.6 and 2.7 below the cut.  Contains spoilers.

Special Feature: Inspector Lewis: The Academic Body Count, Season 2 Part 2

The Oxford University of ITV/PBS's Inspector Lewis is a dangerous world for academics, and in this series I bring you the lowdown on who in the academic community is most likely to kill be or be killed.  This post gives the details for episodes 4-5 of US Season Two.  Here's the Intro post; here's the Season One breakdown; and here’s the first three episodes of Season 2.

In the first three episodes of season 2, things look pretty grim for Oxford faculty, staff, students and administrators.  We have victims in all four categories, and two faculty murderers.  Thus far in Season 2, undergrads aren’t as dangerous as they are in Season 1, but the community of Oxford is still pretty dangerous, what with all the murderous ex-Communists and, in these episodes, vengeful parents running around.

Episodes 4 and 5 contain a total of four victims (two in each episode).  Only one—a faculty member—is a member of the university community at the time of his death, but most of the murders connect to Oxford U in some way.  Neither of two murderers is directly affiliated with the University.  These episodes suggest that you can’t escape your past (even by becoming an English professor).  Your high school and college days may or may not be the best of your life, in other words, but they will haunt you forever whether you like it or not.

If you haven’t seen the season, here’s Amazon link.  It’s included with Prime, if you have it.

Episode-by-episode details below the cut.  Contains Spoilers.

Special Feature: Inspector Lewis: The Academic Body Count, Season 2 Part 1

The Oxford University of ITV/PBS's Inspector Lewis is a dangerous world for academics, and in this series I bring you the lowdown on who in the academic community is most likely to kill be or be killed.  This post gives the details for the first three episodes of US Season Two.  Here's the Intro post; here's the Season One breakdown.

My Miss Fisher-induced euphoria cased me to neglect my favorite British inspector, but have no fear, I have not forgotten my commitment to assessing the dangers of Oxford for academics and would-be academics.  Season Two of Inspector Lewis is inexplicably long.  At seven episodes, I believe it’s the longest season of the series.  In fact, I think it might have been two different “series” (seasons) in Britain that were combined into one for us Americans—so maybe not “inexplicably” long, but long.  For that reason, I’m breaking the season in to three posts, covering episodes 1-3, 4-5, and 6-7.  Onward with the first installment!

While Season One had only 25% university victims, in Season Two things are looking a little bleaker for academics, at least in the first few episodes.  We have, in total, seven murder victims (plus a suicide) and four murderers.  Two victims are undergrads, one is faculty, one is a staff member, and three (count them, three! And all in one episode!) are administrators.  That means all the victims are affiliated with Oxford University in some fashion.  Two murderers are faculty members, and the other two are unaffiliated community members, though one is the parent of an undergrad.  So, Oxford University is definitely a dangerous place to work or study, and the town/gown issues dwarf those in most US university towns!  It’s far from certain that you’ll die in Oxford, but you might want to invest in some Mace or something.

If you haven’t seen the season, here’s Amazon link.  It’s included with Prime, if you have it.

Episode-by-episode details below the cut.  Contains spoilers.

Special Feature: Inspector Lewis, the Academic Body Count, Season 1

The Oxford University of ITV/PBS's Inspector Lewis is a dangerous world for academics, and in this series I bring you the lowdown on who in the academic community is most likely to kill be or be killed.  This post gives the details for Season (series, if you're British) One.  Here's the Intro post, if you missed it.

In the first season of Lewis, the university remains fairly safe.  Of eight murder victims, only one is a faculty member, and one is an undergrad.  No staff, administrators, or grad students are murdered.  However, the community of Oxford is not necessarily safe from the university; taking into account the past murder in “Whom the Gods Would Destroy,” we have a grand total of five undergraduate murderers (out of eight murderers total; the past murder in “Whom the Gods…” was a team effort).  Both “Whom the Gods Would Destroy” and “Expiation” feature professors who assist Lewis and Hathaway in their investigations, so the university isn’t a complete drain on the surrounding community, but (as you may know if you’ve ever lived in a university town), it’s wise to be wary of the undergrads. 

If you haven’t seen the season, here’s the Amazon link.  It’s included with Prime, if you have it.

Episode-by-episode details below the cut.  Contains spoilers.

Special Feature: Inspector Lewis: The Academic Body Count, Intro

If you’re a fan of mysteries, you might well watch PBS’s Mystery (does anyone who’s not a fan of mysteries watch that show?  If so, why?).  If you watch Mystery, there’s a good chance you’ve seen at least some of Inspector Lewis, which chronicles the crime-solving adventures of DI Robert Lewis.  Lewis might be my favorite British TV mystery franchise, and the title character is certainly my favorite British TV police inspector.  This blog series won’t review Lewis, exactly.  Rather, it will analyze a particular aspect of the show: its relationship to academia.

Of course, Lewis is set in Oxford, England, home of the one of the world’s most famous and prestigious universities, so the crimes Lewis and his “dishy sergeant” Hathaway solve often involve students, faculty, and staff.  In fact, according to Lewis, Oxford is a very dangerous place to study or teach. 

But how dangerous, exactly, and for whom?  Should you give up all hope of that most prestigious of degrees or jobs if you wish to remain alive?  Are students or faculty more likely to be killed?  And what about staff and administrators?  And who among your university acquaintances is most likely to kill you?  Clearly, there are a lot of questions to be answered, here, and in the coming weeks, The Mysterious Scholar will break down the numbers and let you know who, in Lewis’s world, is most likely to be murdered and, even more importantly, whom to watch out for.

Note: This series of posts will contain spoilers for Inspector Lewis.  I’ll tell you who died and reveal the identity of the killer.  If you haven’t seen the show or a particular season/episode and plan to, I recommend watching it before you read.  The whole show is available with Amazon Prime streaming.  If you’re not a Prime member, you can get it electronically or on DVD at Amazon or from your preferred video source.  Also, I’ll be using the American series breaks and numbering, which are for some reason different from the original British ones.

Review: The Angel of Losses by Stephanie Feldman

The Angel of Losses

By Stephanie Feldman
Published by Ecco, and distributed by HarperCollins  (2014)
Purchased and read on Amazon Kindle
Links: Amazon, B&N, Powell's
Rating: Four Stars (out of five)

I very much enjoyed this book, even though it isn’t the kind of thing I normally read (it was another Amazon sale book—an August monthly deal, I believe).  It’s not the kind of thing I’ll normally review here, either, but I’m doing so because there’s an academic connection.  The Angel of Losses is a Jewish magical realist narrative about family, faith, and the enduring power of stories.  It is very well written and compelling, but the narrative style might not be for everyone; Feldman intersperses her first-person narration set in the present day with folk tales as written down in the main character’s grandfather’s notebooks, and some readers might find this cumbersome or confusing.

The main story in The Angel of Losses follows Marjorie, a grad student in English who is writing her dissertation on the Wandering Jew.  Marjorie’s sister, Holly/Chava, to whom she used to be very close, converted to Orthodox Judaism when she married a man from the obscure Berukhim sect, and there has been a rift between the sisters ever since.  Marjorie desperately wants to feel close to Holly/Chava again, but she doesn’t like her sister’s husband, Nathan.  When she discovers that their grandfather concealed important parts of his past, Marjorie embarks on a quest to discover the truth, hoping that the information she finds will help her reconcile with her sister.

This isn’t really an academic novel.  Marjorie’s status as a grad student is important because her personal quest connects to her academic work, but the story centers on family and folk tales.  I really appreciated how positive the novel was about literary study, though.  At one point, Marjorie thinks, “Theory was killing literature, people said, but it had allowed me to see a whole subterranean world: every text meant something profound, if you would only follow it into the dark” (63).  The texts she follows into the dark aren’t literary classics but her grandfather’s notebooks, which contain stories of a magical White Rebbe, but Marjorie nonetheless uses her analytical skills to discover the stories’ meaning.  She also meets and dates a librarian who is working on a digital map of the Jewish diaspora, and digital humanities wind up being crucial to the plot.

For the most part, this is a very good story about family, especially the relationship between sisters.  There are some elements of fantasy; Feldman writes squarely in the magical realist tradition.  In some books, this bugs me, but I was able to accept the fantastic elements of The Angel of Losses without much difficulty.  The novel also deals with some fairly obscure aspects of Judaism, but Feldman handles these pretty well.  Marjorie isn’t Jewish, and since we follow the story mostly from her perspective, we discover what she discovers and learn alongside her.  Overall, this is an accessible, enjoyable novel, and I recommend it.