I love Ruth Galloway. I'm pretty sure we'd be great friends.

Audiobook.

An enjoyable continuation to the series.

I enjoy these stories, but I find the characters a bit wooden and the writing in the present tense it's a bit odd. This has been my last favorite of the series so far.

I snagged this from a Little Free Library because the blurb sounded interesting. I had no idea it was part of a series; the plot and characters are strong enough to stand on their own. Cathbad and Kate are probably my favorite characters, although the rest are also well-fleshed-out.

However, I had a couple nitpicky gripes:
1. It seemed like a leap to me that an academic automatically assumed that "North African" meant "Black." Um, Carthage was in what's currently Tunisia now, and usually people from North Africa are of Arab heritage.
2. There are numerous instances of self-shaming and/or internalized misogyny/fatphobia that went hand-in-hand with skinny shaming—Ruth assumes that thin people starve themselves and that fat people eat too much.

Diminishing returns on this series.

I really enjoyed this one! It's difficult for me to give it a 5 star, as these books are more cosy reading than anything else, but this has been my favourite one in the series so far.

As always, I adore the character of Ruth. So down to earth and practical and likable. This story was full of twists and turns. Although it seemed obvious one of the characters was having financial difficulty, I didn't expect the allegiance that was uncovered at the end. One thing I wasn't too thrilled with - putting a child in danger. That's really pulling out the big guns, as far as suspense is concerned. Seemed like overkill to me, as if the author couldn't think of another way to up the ante.

Having said that, the archeological mystery in this one was the most intriguing one yet. Definitely made me wish we knew the real truth! And the relationship between Cathbad and his secret lover went to a whole new spiritual level. I'm not a romance person, but I enjoyed this new dimension to his character.