The late Reginald Hill wrote twenty-four books about Dalziel and Pascoe, although readers started to panic when Book 22 was called The Death of Dalziel. Ann is still writing her much-loved Vera books and has recently started a successful new series set in North Devon. Ann Cleeves always said that there would be eight Shetland books, and she has stuck to this, although the TV series continues. So, when is the right time to end a long-running series? Ian Rankin has said that he planned to end the Rebus books after Book 17, Exit Music, in which Rebus retires, but he has just published Book 24, A Heart Full of Headstones, which is as fresh and thought-provoking as ever.

Readers will find out in Book 15, The Last Remains (the clue is in the title). There is an on-going ‘will they, won’t they’ love story in the books and, with the best will in the world, there comes a time when you have to say whether they will or they won’t. ‘Please reconsider,’ begged others.īut I thought it was time for the series to come to an end.

‘I’ll never forgive Elly Griffiths’ was a common line. I wasn’t prepared, though, for the avalanche of messages on social media talking about bereavement and betrayal. So, when I announced that Book 15 would be the last book (for now), I knew that some devotees would be upset. had kept them company through months of isolation. This was particularly moving during lockdown when many people told me that Ruth and co. But Ruth seemed to touch a chord and I regularly get messages from readers who love her company and that of DCI Nelson, Cathbad the druid and the rest of the cast. At first, I wasn’t sure if readers would take to a slightly grumpy, unglamorous heroine who frankly prefers cats and books to people. I’ve been so touched by the way that people have taken Ruth to their hearts. It wasn’t until about Book 6 that the series started to sell really well.

The Crossing Places was not an overnight success, but my publishers had enough faith to allow me to write the next book and the next. So many writers start a series with high hopes but are blighted by bad luck and disappointing sales. I knew that theirs would be a long story but I did not know if I’d get the chance to write it.

The bones turn out to be over two thousand years old, but Ruth is drawn into the case and into a very complicated relationship with the officer in charge, DCI Harry Nelson. The Crossing Places tells the story of forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway who is consulted by the police when a child’s bones are found on the Norfolk mashes.

A room full of bones elly griffiths