Title: The Deepest Grave
Author: Harry Bingham
My
Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟
Book Description:
British detective Fiona Griffiths, one of the most engaging
female protagonists in crime thrillers, is back with a new case to solve.
DC Fiona Griffiths is bored. It's been months since she had
a good corpse, let alone a decent murder to deal with, and it's frankly driving
her nuts. And then comes the news, and she has to literally stop herself from
jumping with joy: not just a murder but a decapitation, with an antique sword
no less, and a murder scene that has been laid out like a particularly gruesome
crossword clue.
Gaynor Charteris was an archaeologist leading a team
excavating a nearby Iron Age site. Genial, respected, well liked, it was hard
to see why anyone would want to kill her in such a brutal way. But as Fiona
starts to dig beneath the surface, she finds evidence of a crime that leads
back to King Arthur and his final battle - a crime so bizarre that getting her
superiors to take it seriously is going to be her toughest job. Especially
since the crime hasn't yet been committed.
My musings:
I am so happy that I discovered the Fiona Griffiths series
back in 2012, because I have been totally addicted to it ever since and it
never disappoints! Everyone who has read Bingham’s books will know that Fiona
is a very different character. Having suffered from a mental illness in her
teens, she still struggles to fit into society, or “Planet Normal” as Fiona
calls it, and in times of stress her illness recurs in feelings of dissociation
from her own body and a strange connection to her dead victims, which makes her
all the more determined to fight for justice for them. With the impulsiveness
and sometimes lack of common sense that has characterised her since Book 1 in
the series (Talking to the Dead), Fiona usually goes against police protocol to
solve her murder cases, which often gets her into trouble with authority as
well as putting her own life in danger. However, her intelligence and ability
to connect with her victims in ways no other detective can usually brings
results, and over the last five books, she has earned herself a grudging
respect amongst her colleagues.
I was very excited when The Deepest Grave was finally
released, and found it to be a worthy continuation of a series I love. True to
form, Bingham delivers a most unusual murder case for his protagonist, who has
been impatiently counting the days (462) since her last murder case. Set in
Wales like its predecessors, the book offers a fair amount of armchair travel
to this mystical place, which makes the series even more irresistible for me (I
will never forget the tense and terrifying caving scene in The Dead House, Book
5 in the series). Bingham always manages to incorporate a special interest
theme into each story, which saw me learning a lot about archaeology, medieval artefacts
and the King Arthur legend in this latest instalment. With a brutally beheaded
corpse setting the scene, the peppermint-tea-drinking and weed-smoking Fiona
has her work cut out for her to solve this murder case before more people are
killed, and she does so in the unconventional, thinking-outside-the-square way
that has endeared her to followers of the series.
In his blog, author Harry Bingham stated that he wanted his first
book to revolve as much around the mystery of Fiona’s character as it does
around the crime she’s investigating, and he is staying true to this original
idea by revealing little snippets of Fiona’s past in each book in the series.
Fans will be pleased to hear that the great cast of supporting characters from
Fiona’s work and private life are all back in The Deepest Grave, and that we
get to know a few more interesting characters who may feature in future novels
(I would love to see Katie back and see how she fares).
Siriol Jenkins’ narration was perfect for Fiona’s voice, and
I was very happy that she continued narrating the series!
Summary:
The Fiona Griffiths series is one of my all-time-favourite
police procedural series, and will appeal to anyone who likes unusual murder cases
with an oddball detective who doesn’t fit any mould. Bingham’s style to revolve
his cases around different, interesting subject matters and incorporating
details about the case that broaden the reader’s knowledge base on the subject
whilst thrilling and entertaining, have made this series stand out from the
fray. Whilst The Deepest Grave can be read as a stand-alone, I highly recommend
starting the series at Book 1, which will give all the necessary background
into Fiona’s life that makes her character so special. Highly recommended, and
I am already looking forward to the next book in the series.
Other books in the series: link
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